Here’s an innovative approach to teaching bus drivers how to share space safely with cyclists – by getting them to pedal on static bikes while one of the vehicles they would normally be driving passes a bit too close for comfort.
The video below was posted to Facebook by Spanish-language site Avanzamos TV, which says it comes from Brazil.
The training was carried out in Cariacica in the state of Espirito Santo on the Atlantic coast by non-profit organisations SEST (the Social Transport Service) and SENAT (the National Transport Training Service).
Innovador Curso para Conductores de autobuses, le hacen sentir lo que sentimos los ciclistas. MIren sus caras lo dicen…
Posted by AvanzamosTv. Sport & Nature Experience on Saturday, 12 March 2016
Set up by the Brazilian government in 1993 with the backing of the National Transport Confederation, SEST and SENAT aim to encourage people into the country’s fast growing public transport sector and develop their skills as well as addressing the welfare and other needs of their families.
Here in the UK, a number of businesses in the haulage and public transport sectors, often with the backing of local authorities and transport bodies, encourage drivers of the vehicles they operate to experience life from the saddle with the aim of reinforcing how important it is to give cyclists room.
We’ve yet to hear of any deploying deliberate close passes so their employees can find out what that feels like at first hand – although judging by the guy who hops off his bike halfway through the Brazilian video, it’s sometimes way too close for comfort, as any cyclist knows.




















13 thoughts on “Video: How to teach bus drivers to give cyclists space”
Scared the life out of me
Scared the life out of me just watching the video.
The youtube link:
The youtube link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT74IMdBi3I
Whilst I applaud the effort,
Whilst I applaud the effort, they will never know how it feels until they have this happen whilst riding in the wind, or trying to avoid some type of hazard in the road, or trying to turn and having this happen when not expecting it with no horn and a busy street of sounds.
forcrz6 wrote:
if you are turning without looking you really are in for a shock.
Colin Peyresourde wrote:
The two camps on the Wiggo comments thread are starting to become clearer to me.
On the one hand is the perfect bunch of perfect cyclists who always follow all the rules perfectly and never encounter situations that are beyond their control because of their perfect cycling.
The rest of us ride a bike in the real world.
davel wrote:
If all you can see is two camps, then you see nothing.
forcrz6 wrote:
Yep – good effort, but being static on a stand really isn’t the same thing.
It winds me up no end that
It winds me up no end that buses and lorries and the like have little stickers on the back telling me not to pass on the left of them, but they’ll merrily fly past me on the right…
Is it just me that’s thinking
Is it just me that’s thinking this is courting disaster? Deliberatley driving that close sounds like a stupid idea, even if the cyclists can’t actually move.
I’ll bear that in mind,
I’ll bear that in mind, Miyagi-san.
I am Spartabus!
I am Spartabus!
A useless comparison as they
A useless comparison as they are fully expecting it and have faith that their fellow driver will not hit them. (See how they laugh and wave with every pass.) And as already pointed out, they’re on static bikes where there’s no need to adjust for debris, potholes or wind.
Looks more like a training exercise on how close a driver can get his bus.
Hey I’ve had traffic closer
Hey I’ve had traffic closer that that!