Just "bumps and bruises" - so that's OK then

[atlas_shrugged]

A bus is reported to have crashed into a child cyclist on the northern section of the Cambridge mis-guided busway:
https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/c ... t-16210973

The circumstances are unknown and no doubt will be kept out of the public eye. However one of the photos in the above article features a stunning bit of Cranebridge cycle and pedestrian design: the 90 deg mid-air turn just before a dangerous crossing! Cranebridge County Council have consistently refused to publish a cycle design specification for their cycleways. This then allows the installation of such pleasures as the 90 deg mid-air turn along cycle routes.

[Bonefishblues]

A mid air turn?

[Lance Dopestrong]

I remember last time this happened. Instead of being castrated (metaphorically) for failing to moderate their speed and act with diligence in the presence of a vulnerable user, the driver was instead hailed for their swift action and lightning reflexes in preventing an even more serious injury. I mean, astonishing?

The problem is, some of the safety critical jobs in the UK, LGV, coach, and bus drivers to name but a few, offer parlous pay, poor conditions, and often have onerous schedules. These folks should be professionals, paid, trained and treated as such, and then we might expect a sudden outbreak of responsible behaviour in return. Meanwhile, footballers, do-nothing slebs, and MPs, earn good salaries for cushy bullets, where the biggest dangers they recreate are relegation or paper cuts. Go figure.

[pyruse]

It may not have been the bus driver's fault:
A spokeswoman for Stagecoach said: “CCTV footage shows that the teenage cyclist left the cycle path and pulled out on to the road without looking, in front of the bus."

I've seen teenage cyclists nearly coming to grief many times on the busway and also on normal roads because they pull across the road without looking; in fact a couple of weeks back in Cambridge I nearly hit a young cyclist who swerved across the road in front of me without warning and without looking. He did at least apologise.

There is plenty of bad driving (and I've been the victim of close passes and left hooks when cycling myself), but there is also plenty of bad cycling. I see examples of both every day in Cambridge.

[Vorpal]

Nothing like anticipating hazards.

[AlaninWales]

Nothing like anticipating hazards.

True, and the post above yours is clearly about not anticipating hazards!

Personally, when I am driving and see a cyclist on the footway, or a place where a cyclist (or skateboarder etc) my emerge from, I slow and cover the brake. I guess some drivers have so much entitlement to hold their speed, that they'll risk passing VRUs on the assumption htat they will never divert from their current path.

[Psamathe]

.....Cranebridge County Council have consistently refused to publish a cycle design specification for their cycleways. .....

FOI request? And if they decline, appeal the decision (it’s hardly a national secret of commercially sensitive).

Ian

[pwa]

Nothing like anticipating hazards.

True, and the post above yours is clearly about not anticipating hazards!

Personally, when I am driving and see a cyclist on the footway, or a place where a cyclist (or skateboarder etc) my emerge from, I slow and cover the brake. I guess some drivers have so much entitlement to hold their speed, that they'll risk passing VRUs on the assumption htat they will never divert from their current path.

You and I don't know that the bus driver wasn't taking care. Hopefully the video footage will establish the facts, the speed of the bus, the actions of the teenage cyclist, etc, then informed judgement can be made.

[Ben@Forest]

There is plenty of bad driving (and I've been the victim of close passes and left hooks when cycling myself), but there is also plenty of bad cycling. I see examples of both every day in Cambridge.

Yes, a few years ago l saw a middle-aged male cyclist on a sit-up and beg bike wander into the middle of the lane whilst approaching a roundabout, go straight across and then immediately pull out again to avoid a parked car. On neither occasion did he make any attempt to look behind let alone signal and the first time he certainly startled the driver behind him.

It's a small story but l remember it because the rider looked so earnestly middle class and stereotypically 'green'. He wasn't a callow teenager or an impatient roadie but still rode a bike inconsiderately and possibly dangerously. It takes all sorts....

[rmurphy195]

[quote="AlaninWales"
Personally, when I am driving and see a cyclist on the footway, or a place where a cyclist (or skateboarder etc) my emerge from, I slow and cover the brake. I guess some drivers have so much entitlement to hold their speed, that they'll risk passing VRUs on the assumption htat they will never divert from their current path.[/quote]

Spot on -even if they are on the footpath/pavement/pedestrian footway or whatever the technical term is.

[Vorpal]

Nothing like anticipating hazards.

True, and the post above yours is clearly about not anticipating hazards!

Personally, when I am driving and see a cyclist on the footway, or a place where a cyclist (or skateboarder etc) my emerge from, I slow and cover the brake. I guess some drivers have so much entitlement to hold their speed, that they'll risk passing VRUs on the assumption htat they will never divert from their current path.

You and I don't know that the bus driver wasn't taking care. Hopefully the video footage will establish the facts, the speed of the bus, the actions of the teenage cyclist, etc, then informed judgement can be made.

No we don't know that the driver wasn't taking care. But unless the bus driver was blatantly negligent, they will be absolved of all wrong doing just because of the motor-centric nature of the culture. It is entirely possible that the only reason the result was bumps and bruises instead of far worse was that the bus driver had anticipated the hazard, slowed down, and was prepared to take action.

It may also be the case that if the driver had done as AlaninWales suggests, there would have been no incident.

But I believe that AlaninWales was responding primarily to

I've seen teenage cyclists nearly coming to grief many times on the busway and also on normal roads because they pull across the road without looking; in fact a couple of weeks back in Cambridge I nearly hit a young cyclist who swerved across the road in front of me without warning and without looking. He did at least apologise.

There is plenty of bad driving (and I've been the victim of close passes and left hooks when cycling myself), but there is also plenty of bad cycling. I see examples of both every day in Cambridge.

Until young people reach maturity, they may not fully understand risk. Children can and do unexpected things, even their parents may not anticipate. Teens may be easily distracted and/or not as aware of their mortality as they will (hopefully) become later in life. While many young people are normally diligent, I think that we have to accept that sometimes they just do stuff without thinking. It's part of our responsibility as a part of society, as parents, and as adults to help them not die because they had a momemntary lapse.

Nobody deserves to die because they experience or a sense of their own mortality.

I see it as a duty & obligation to anticipate the unexpected, be prepared to brake &/or evade if someone steps or rides out into the road, and slow down to a safe speed in case I cannot react quickly enough.

Bad cycling? Be glad they aren't driving!

[pwa]

I agree that drivers must anticipate teenagers doing daft things. And I think the driver in this case may have done that and prevented a worse outcome. Or the driver may have been half asleep and reacted too late. We simply don't know and can't pass judgement.