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news
Near Miss of the Day 63: A "Look mum, no hands" bus driver
One thing a rear-mounted action camera is useful for is capturing something that it would otherwise have been impossible for you to see while riding your bike.
We can only imagine road.cc reader Adam's shock when he reviewed the above footage and discovered that the driver of a bus behind him in Crawley had taken both hands off the steering wheel - as she gesticulated at her colleague passing in the opposite direction
Moreover, the Metrobus driver then overtook Adam leaving what he estimates to be no more than 10 centimetres of space - a fifteenth of that which police forces across the country are recommending in their close pass operations - before pulling in on the left,
Adam doesn't mention it in his text comments to the video, but the driver of that HGV illegally parked halfway on the footway and halfway in the bus lane doesn't help the situation either.
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 [at] 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.
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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19 comments
Difficult to review now of course but surprised as its even mentioned in the article no-one has highlighted the problem stems from the vehicle that looked (sorry can't check now either) illegally parked blocking the buses entry to the bus lane.
Now fair enough a smidgen more patience,and how a bus driver can cope on the roads without patience I don't know, and the bus can safely occupy the lane it wants without endangering the cyclist, which it would have done had it been a car infront.
Why is the video unavailable?
Ongoing investigation?
The video's been removed by the uploader.
What is the point of capturing such bad driving if the victim does not go to the police and the company concerned? I've seen some horrendous driving captured on cycle cam where the victim does nothing about it. Not even a try to do something except post on social media or forums. It archieves nothing apart from some swearing.
Complete waste of time mate. Police don't care, neither do bus companies in my experience.
Bus companies only care if there is an insurance claim as lots self-insured.
Problem here is the bus wants to be in the bus lane. The rider should also be in the bus lane. Instead the rider is effectively in the middle of the road. If the rider was utilising the bus lane the bus would have two whole lanes to pass and could give them a lot more room.
Not excusing a super-close manouvre but agree with JPKD - why is the rider not in the bus lane? Then the bus has the whole outside lane for the pass...
Well no because then the cyclist would be cycling illegally in a bus only lane. Try watching the video, white paint says bus lane and the blue sign shows only a picture of a bus, not a bike, thus cycling is not permitted.
I think this is the foundation of a lot of the issues cyclists face, lack of standardisation in the road infrastructure for cycling.
to name just a few inconsistencies.
This is translated by drivers as the cyclists themselves being unpredictable, untrained and a nuisance.
I am not saying this is the only issue, but this can be the foundation, and where it is not it certainly does nothing to help the situation.
Well no because then the cyclist would be cycling illegally in a bus only lane. Try watching the video, white paint says bus lane and the blue sign shows only a picture of a bus, not a bike, thus cycling is not permitted.
Even if it were does not excuse the drivers actions anyway.
Just go out and observe some of those driving buses. Hardly the brightest and best. I saw some vid on Youtube with some guy that could barely speaking english telling people that they weren't allowed to filter so that's why he was squeezing them with his bus. Using a bus to settle an argument doesn't inspire confidence in the roads.
"...could barely speaking english..."
Really?
And what does that have to with the story?
Whilst not condoning the context I believe the comment was made in, on reflection you could argue...
..someone who is likely to have acquired their driving licence in a different country, which no doubt has subtely different rules in certain areas is using his/her bus as a weapon to inflict vigilante justice to other road users who do not share / practice his/her understanding of correct driving.
The potentially worthwhile argument is, is there confidence that professional drivers who have migrated to the UK from whereever are fully up to speed with UK driving laws / highway code before being unleashed onto our roads?
...maybe?
This is being ironic, no?
Strikes me that there should be a higher 'bar' for competency in professional drivers. Any evidence of this sort of thing shows you are psychologically unsuited and should be freed to seek employment in another sector.
I was left-hooked by a bus in Reading earlier this year. It was stopped behind me at these lights, then overtook me and turned left - why they couldn't have waited 10s is beyond me.
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Reported to both police and Reading buses (they have front and rear cameras, so should have recorded the incident) - never heard anything more.
I had a bus deliberately ram my car a few years ago and, guess what? None of the cameras on the bus were working (well I never!).
There's a heirarchy on the road and unfortunately bus drivers, as "professionals", are at the top of the tree. Their word is worth more than any silly motorist or, heaven forbid, "lycra-lout".