Near Miss of the Day 814: Coach driver nearly hits cyclist (includes swearing)

Think you are right on this one - otherwise I may have ended up a bit thinner than usual

I know most on here disagree but I think having a letter sent is a partial result 

Yes, I disagree. So-called 'warning letters' are worthless because the offenders know that the police can't be bothered to either really send them or to record them properly so that the offender isn't sent 'warning letter after warning letter'

me too, but a big part of that is because Ive no idea how a driver who receives such a letter reacts to it, Ive never heard it discussed or read anything about how a driver in receipt of one of these letters ever comments about how it affected them or made them change their ways, take better care, etc etc. I know the police claim theres some stat about reoffending rates which shows letters have an impact, but lets face it the net to catch most drivers offending is often full of holes big enough you can drive an HGV through, so theres really tiny chance of them being caught reoffending anyway.

and if they dont think theyve done anything wrong anyway, how does the letter convince them to recognise they were wrong ?

just based on my own encounters with drivers when Ive had opportunity to challenge them about their driving, Ive never had one who backed down and went, you are absolutely right I was totally in the wrong there, sorry, so how is basically just a piece of paper going to have an effect ?

It really does depend on the company.

I'll give a shout out to Johnson's Coaches of Henley-in-Arden. The owner is a keen cyclist and supporter of cycling, the company supports and facilitates cyclo-cross events.

On the road, typically we get better interactions on the admittedly rare times our paths cross. Over the weekend, a mate was telling of the time he got close-passed by one - and captured it. It turned out that it was returning to the depot and the driver had his girlfriend with him standing next to him. As my friend knew him, he contacted him directly, saying "Before I send this to the police, I would like to give you a chance to deal with it." The owner said he was grateful for the report because the driver had an unauthorised passenger and he certainly would be having a conversation about the standard of driving and the failure to follow company rules.

I also had a pleasant conversation with them when one of their buses soaked us driving through a puddle as we were walking down a local high street.

The issue is that I don't know if the company will indeed speak to their driver - the police haven't shared the footage with them, nor do they follow up/ask for a reply.

It's subtly different for private vehilces - the police issue (and I quote from another recent infraction) "a formal warning and the details recorded and retained should the driver come to our attention again for similar traffic related matter". I would have expected the police to ask the company the identity of the driver and do something similar

It does not legally allow parking. Haven't looked up the law, but parking where there are double white lines, even if broken on your side, is unlawful, except for loading - a MUST NOT in the HWC, so we can assume that there must be some law supporting that statement.

South Yorkshire Police say it is covered under

Section 22 Road Traffic Act 1988 makes it an offence for the person in charge to leave a vehicle or trailer on a road in such a position or condition as to cause a danger to other road users.

Thanks Rendall - it seems highly likely that they've since sold the coach, especially as the logo has been removed and as I'm roughly 200 miles North of their usual stomping ground!

it also seems to have done the rounds, having also been operated by Leger Coaches

With very few young drivers capable to drive a small without breaking the laws, the UK might as well plead to the west Indies again for bus drivers, male or female this time!