This is the second Near Miss of the Day video in as many weeks that has raised concerns about the standard of bus driving in London, today’s video showing a cyclist being overtaken at the approach to a junction, the driver then making a left turn across them, forcing the rider to stop.
road.cc reader Rendel Harris caught the incident on camera this morning on Avondale Rise between East Dulwich and Peckham in south London, and was left disappointed by the danger of the driving.
(1/2) 7/11/23 7.15AM Avondale Rise SE15 P13 bus reg YX11AHF
The biggest killer of cyclists in London is large vehicles overtaking them just before junctions and then turning left across them. This bus driver overtakes a cyclist less than 20 m before the junction and forces (ctd) pic.twitter.com/VQtFIKlVcn
— Rendel Harris (@Rendel_Harris) November 7, 2023
“The biggest killer of cyclists in London is large vehicles overtaking them just before junctions and then turning left across them,” he said, sharing the video on social media. “This bus driver overtakes a cyclist less than 20m before the junction and forces her to stop, turning left over the top of her.
He tagged bus operator Abellio London and asked: “Can you please ask your driver what the hell they think they are playing at here and perhaps give them some better training before they kill somebody?”
road.cc has also contacted Abellio London but had not heard a response at the time of publication.
Last week, another London cyclist shared footage as part of our Near Miss of the Day series, a bus driver overtaking the rider before immediately pulling into a stop, forcing the rider to stop and leading to, what the cyclist described as, “one of the most bizarre conversations” he’s had.
“The driver seemed to think that cyclists approaching a bus stop have to stop and look around to see if it is safe to proceed,” they explained. “We all know this isn’t the case and might wonder where the driver was taught that. If anything this clearly indicates the driver needs retraining at a minimum.”
Back in February, Transport for London launched an investigation after an “unacceptable” close passing bus driver squeezed a cyclist into the kerb in a similar incident to this one.
At the time, TfL’s head of bus operations, Rosie Trew, said “driving that endangers cyclists or pedestrians is unacceptable and far from the required standard of our bus drivers”.
The cyclist said “bullyish” driving from bus drivers in London is common, and that she is regularly forced to brake in order to avoid a collision.
“That kind of thing does happen quite often,” she said. “Where a bus is coming around a cyclist [who] knows they’ve got to stop. It was probably about half five, so the bus was definitely going to have to stop there and drop people off.
“What [bus drivers] do is get to a certain point where they’re sort of halfway past you, then they start indicating, and at that point, you have to make the decision. I don’t want to get squished by a bus, so I’m going to have to make a quick decision to brake, get out the way of the bus before I have a collision.
“It just winds you up so much because it’s bullyish behaviour, you have no option but to brake or you’re gonna get hit by a bus, so they’re putting you in this horrible, impossible situation where you’ve got to just get out their way – which shouldn’t be the case at all.”
> Near Miss of the Day turns 100 – Why do we do the feature and what have we learnt from it?
Over the years road.cc has reported on literally hundreds of close passes and near misses involving badly driven vehicles from every corner of the country – so many, in fact, that we’ve decided to turn the phenomenon into a regular feature on the site. One day hopefully we will run out of close passes and near misses to report on, but until that happy day arrives, Near Miss of the Day will keep rolling on.
If you’ve caught on camera a close encounter of the uncomfortable kind with another road user that you’d like to share with the wider cycling community please send it to us at info@road.cc or send us a message via the road.cc Facebook page.
If the video is on YouTube, please send us a link, if not we can add any footage you supply to our YouTube channel as an unlisted video (so it won’t show up on searches).
Please also let us know whether you contacted the police and if so what their reaction was, as well as the reaction of the vehicle operator if it was a bus, lorry or van with company markings etc.
> What to do if you capture a near miss or close pass (or worse) on camera while cycling
-1024x680.jpg "“Clear anti-cyclist bias”: Lawsuit filed against Toronto police after cop doored cyclist… before ticketing rider over incident")
17 thoughts on “Near Miss of the Day 882: Cyclist calls out bus company for dangerous overtake at junction”
Even if the bus companies are
Even if the bus companies are concerned about the safety of vulnerable road users, presumably the waste of expensive petrol used in the acceleration of the pointless overtake is another motivator for driver training on this issue?
The Might Is Right. Also
The Might Is Right. Also applies to WankPanzers with added lungful of exhaust
Rule 153
Rule 153
Traffic-calming measures. On some roads there are features such as road humps, chicanes and narrowings which are intended to slow you down. When you approach these features reduce your speed. Allow cyclists and motorcyclists room to pass through them. Maintain a reduced speed along the whole of the stretch of road within the calming measures. Give way to oncoming road users if directed to do so by signs. You should not overtake other moving road users while in these areas.
Also 182: “Do not overtake
Also 182: “Do not overtake just before you turn left and watch out for traffic coming up on your left before you make the turn, especially if driving a large vehicle.”
What an appalling example of
What an appalling example of driver behaviour from a so called ‘professionally trained driver’! The employer needs to act on this before the bus driver hurts or kills other road users, alongside their behaviour causing others to be inconvenienced unnecessarily. A totally avoidable situation but all too common.
I did give the company a
I did give the company a chance to comment on this but they’ve chosen not to so it’s going to the police. It’s interesting how many companies would rather hang their employees out to dry instead of accepting an invitation to take action themselves.
it’s a really strange choice:
it’s a really strange choice:
option a) make the problem go away behind closed doors,
option b) get the police and press involved
Siggghhh.
Siggghhh.
Another Rendel episode. Must be slow for NMOTD submissions.
Then again, I guess they do staff bikes, so they may as well do staff NMOTD too.
I’ve seen worse overtakes.
I’ve seen worse overtakes.
I’ve also seen better comments.
Another quote I like in Good
Another quote I like in Good Morning Vietnam is when Captain Hauk tries to take over Cronauer’s show and Garlick reads out the criticism they receive from the troops: “There’s a marine in Da Nang says ‘Captain Hauk sucks the sweat off of a dead man’s balls.’ I have no idea what that means, sir, but it seems very negative to me.”
Sigghhh another stupid
Sigghhh another stupid comment. seriously, do you actually ride a bike? If you did you’d understand how dangerous that manoeuvre is by that bus. This is one of the most common reasons for cyclists getting killed on our roads.
Left_is_for_Losers wrote:
Maybe the crazy Peugeot driver from a previous one was on his way to the bus depot to start his shift?
Cobra blue is another one.
Cobra blue is another one. Just looks like lake placid blue to me.
This site should be called
This site should be called rendelharris.co.uk it’d be more appropriate.
Another great scene in Good
Another great scene in Good Morning Vietnam is when the two racist grunts try to confront Cronauer in a bar and he says, “You’re a big guy. I have never, in my life, come across a man as large as you, with as much muscles, who has absolutely no penis.”
Candy apple red. That’s
Candy apple red. That’s another one.
Yes, a few more comments like
Yes, a few more comments like this and I’m sure someone who agrees with your worldview will turn up..