road.cc live blog: abominable bus driving and more
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Thu, Dec 07, 2017 12:40
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Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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Latest Comments
Rendel Harris 14 minutes ago
@mitsky Just checking the figures and apparently the 2026 average cost is £58,000 per year per prisoner; worth noting that is only the direct cost, you then have to factor in ten years of lost tax income from the prisoner, ten years that the prisoner is making no contribution to society as a worker or as a consumer, plus the fact that if they were the primary breadwinner very likely the costs will include benefits for their family as well. None of which should be a reason for keeping violent recidivists out of prison of course, nor drug/drink drivers who kill, but it is a factor worth considering for lower-level offences.
Rendel Harris 23 minutes ago
@Surreyrider I ride in Surrey a fair bit and absolutely many do look like that but the point is they all *think* they're driving perfectly reasonably (as one discovers when remonstrating with someone who's skimmed one by 30cm, "I gave you masses of room") so deterrent penalties have little effect. That's why we need to strike at the root cause and actually train drivers properly and test them stringently (and more than once over the course of a potential 70+ years of driving, it's absolutely absurd that competence and knowledge in what for most people is the activity in their life that will run the biggest risk of killing people you never have to have your qualifications renewed).
Rendel Harris 31 minutes ago
@mitsky Imprisonment currently costs over £50k p.a. per prisoner and obviously that will rise over the course of a ten-year stretch with inflation. Regarding culpability and mitigating sentences etc, of course I'm not against condign punishment for drivers who kill (and cyclists on the tiny, tiny handful of occasions when this happens), including prison as appropriate; I was objecting to the ridiculous and oft-repeated demand of MM that drivers who kill cyclists must get ten years, "no excuses, no exceptions".
Blackthorne83 4 hours ago
Hey, but their wool blend cycling adjacent t-shirts are/were fantastic.
RoadYeti 5 hours ago
@Surreyrider Still the boss. Ride one, you'll see why
chrisonabike 8 hours ago
@Smoggysteve "Most would happily ride on the roads and be treated with respect by drivers". But people aren't - and as far as I can see they won't be. Not until there is a lot less driving and it's slower around cyclists, and far more people driving have "skin in the game" eg. they sometimes cycle and their friends and family do also. That's what leads to the model - which is perhaps most advanced in NL - where cycling, walking and driving are all seen as separate normal transport modes. Their needs, vulnerabilities and any dangers to others are considered. And *that* leads to "mix / share when possible, separate when necessary". But "possible" is "where your 10-year old would be safe to cycle unsupervised" - so very few motor vehicles, going slow! And AFAICS everybody - even "existing cyclists" - is happy with the result. (I dunno about a few pro cyclists - but don't they tend to have training camps in different counties anyway?)
chrisonabike 9 hours ago
@quiff as an Edinburgh resident I can confidently say he's speaking without moving his lips in one sense: - while as I noted in a separate comment there *is* now some real separated cycle infra, all the examples i can think of have *at least as much space* for pedestrians. The rest of the "cycle infra" is essentially similar to the situation in the rest of the UK: eg. bus lanes*, cycle lanes and shared use paths (eg. "build" infra by sticking up a sign). Edinburgh is one of the places with a moderately extensive network of former railways which have been converted to "shared use" paths (completely motor traffic few). However though shared they are not narrow by UK standards. And this is all effectively a "free extra" for all non- motorised users, not like the "sign a cycle path" where pedestrians do lose space. I think this all comes from the "popular understanding" of cycling in which ultimately cyclists are the "other". They don't fit "motor vehicle" or "pedestrian" (including wheelchairs on the very rare occasions people think about that). Thus "cyclists are cheating" in multiple ways! They shouldn't get their own space as "there aren't enough" of them. And "they can just use the road / path". But being able to *choose* "on the road" or "on the footway" (shared use path) is clearly unfair - nobody else gets to do that! BUT of course even if they did pick just one of road OR pedestrian space it's still not fair anyway because they're "too slow" for the road (don't pay "road tax" etc...) and "far too fast" for pedestrians... * Though some existing cyclists may appreciate them when there are few buses, buses and bikes are a very poor mix for several reasons.
mikecassie 9 hours ago
Whilst a shame for any employees, their bib shorts had the worst chamois pad I’d ever encountered, utter waste of my money. Even though they were Strava challenge discount purchases, still a waste of money.
ktache 10 hours ago
Thanks, just going to have to suck it up. Got next week off and will take the easy, if expensive option...
Rendel Harris 10 hours ago
@ktache Just go for the TNT Sports only package, £30.99 for a month. Alternatively have you considered experimenting with a VPN for a few pounds, allowing you to sign up for a free stream abroad, e.g. SBS Australia which streams the Tour live? If I didn't have a kind mate's login that's what I'd do!
19 thoughts on “road.cc live blog: abominable bus driving and more”
I’d love to know what (if
I’d love to know what (if anything!) was going through that bus driver’s mind as they approached a red light with a bike stopped in front of them… Glad the rider wasn’t injured
brooksby wrote:
I would imagine it was complete surprise – to find one of these damned cyclists not jumping a red light – after all don’t they all jump red lights all of the time!
That Fuji bike isnt ‘totalled
That Fuji bike isnt ‘totalled’.
totalled means completely written off. In the picture, the frame is completely fine as are the forks, the front wheel, BB, Cranks/crank set and shifters.
All she would need is a new rear wheel, cassette, rear derailleur, new chain and the bikes ready to go again as soon as you’ve tubed and tyre’d up.
I estimate the damage is going to cost at least £200-300 to repair but the bike is in no way a complete write off. It just needs nursing back to health.
However… If TFL want to pay for a new bike then thats also very a very welcome outcome.
RoubaixCube wrote:
Bloody hell! You’ve got good eyesight.
don simon wrote:
Just zoom in, the frame doesnt look bent up or mangled at all.
Another thing to consider is the angle of the impact. The bus almost hit it dead on and not from an angle. The bike looks at an angle in the picture is because the bus pushed it there when it came to a stop. There wouldnt of been barely ANY stress to the frame or rear triangle as the pressure was on the back wheel and the backwheel obviously collapsed from it. The frame didnt hit the ground or get dragged under the busses wheels either so its not crushed.
Bike is still fully salvagable and serviceable once its been repaired. Unless the bike has been in several other potentially serious accidents/collisions before that we dont know about. Im saying is the frame still looks pretty much good to go from the picture.
—
You all dont need to agree, but this is just my own opinion based on my observation.
RoubaixCube wrote:
The main issue in all your observations is that you aren’t liable when it all goes wrong. Presume a shop (which will have to fill out a warranty form for TFL’s insurance) says the frame is fine and then something does go wrong, the shop is fully liable.
Also, given most shops don’t have a scanner to confirm the frames integrity it is a write off
RoubaixCube]
And yet you seemed so sure in your first post. I’m just glad that you’re not a bike mechanic.
don simon wrote:
I still am pretty sure actually. I think the bike is OK apart from the mangled wheel
RoubaixCube wrote:
My arse.
I would say that the cassette, rear derailleur & chain will have a better chance of being ok than the frame.
Biggest surprise for me is that the seat looks ok, if that had been my bike I think I’d have made a mess of it…
RoubaixCube wrote:
If the cost of repair is greater than the value of the item then it’s a write off.
*I don’t know the value of this bike though
Oh yes, no stresses will have
Oh yes, no stresses will have been passed through to the rear triangle (at minimum) at all.
1961BikiE wrote:
I was rear ended by a car which turned into a hit and run, the rear wheel, a 36 spoke Open pro/Dura Ace was completely pringled so the forces were pretty significant. Bike frame has being going strong with no alignment issues, or any other physical signs or out of place feelings in the 6 years since. Massive carbon seatstays IMO were the saving grace, that and the effect the tyre and wheel itself has at taking out some of the forces. People in the twatter thread were saying it would be on the axle/dropouts but actually it’d be a lot on the spokes/tyre/rim as they deform. You’d be surprised how much can be put on a well built wheel, I croggied a friend whilst fully loaded on a 32 hole OP/Ultegra, total all up weight on the bike was 190kg, not even a murmour.
It certainly wouldn’t surprise me if the frame was useable but for most they simply wouldn’t trust it even if it was and rightly so.
Why the polic were not called is anyone’s guess as a criminal offence has being committed.
Rear hub could have easily
Rear hub could have easily knocked rear triangles out of true.
Is it relevant that the
Is it relevant that the Twitterer’s freind (the cyclist) is a doctor?
simonmb wrote:
Absolutely. It means that if DM picks up the story, it can lead on heroic member of our beloved Nhs surviving terror attacks by (insert derogatory label based on bus driver’s origins here). Or bloody cyclist holding up traffic gets just desserts. Either works at Fail Towers.
Looks like the wheel’s been
Looks like the wheel’s been twisted enough for it to be touching the seat stays and the rear mech looks like it’s touching the ground.
I’d want a new frame, rear wheel, rear mech, chain, brake disk and reflector at the very least.
And a P45 for the driver!
LastBoyScout wrote:
It’ll buff out.
Exactly the same happened to
Exactly the same happened to me at London Bridge, with less damage. Bus driver just looked at me and shrugged. Amazing.
drosco wrote:
Did TFL or the bus company pay for the damages?