Knocked off my bike!

[GrumpyGit]

Although there was no physical contact, I was unseated this morning by an AMBULANCE!!!!!

The incident happened like this (I'll keep it short):

Riding along a main road, an ambulance pulled into the kerb in front of me and stopped. I went round it and came to a halt 10m further on at a road junction. Just as I was about to move off the ambulance, which was now right behind me, turned on his siren and screamed past. This loud noise and the proximity of the vehicle was enough to throw me off balance causing me to pull a muscle in the back of my left leg (painful).

Do ambulance crews do this sort of thing for a laugh?

If any members of the LAS are reading this, next time you come up behind an old Land Rover with your blues & twos on, don't be surprised if the driver gives you the finger instead of pulling over!!!

[robwa10]

If any members of the LAS are reading this, next time you come up behind an old Land Rover with your blues & twos on, don't be surprised if the driver gives you the finger instead of pulling over!!!

While I understand your frustration, I would have been just as annoyed, remember that when you don't pull over for an ambulance you're not hurting the drivers but the person that they're trying to get to. I'd hate to think someone died because I wouldn't get out an ambulance's way.

[Mick F]

I was in town the other day, cycling along, minding my own business in and amongst the towny traffic.

I wobbled and was in a state of shock as a police car shot past me and suddenly let it's siren off! Just as it passed me!! Good grief!!!! I know that they have to do this thing, and I completely understand why.

BUT WHY, JUST NEXT TO ME?

[GrumpyGit]

If any members of the LAS are reading this, next time you come up behind an old Land Rover with your blues & twos on, don't be surprised if the driver gives you the finger instead of pulling over!!!

While I understand your frustration, I would have been just as annoyed, remember that when you don't pull over for an ambulance you're not hurting the drivers but the person that they're trying to get to. I'd hate to think someone died because I wouldn't get out an ambulance's way.

OK fair point but I doubt it would make that much difference otherwise they'd make the council dig up all the speed humps and chicanes.

As I only drive a couple of times a month the world is fairly safe.

I was in town the other day, cycling along, minding my own business in and amongst the towny traffic.

I wobbled and was in a state of shock as a police car shot past me and suddenly let it's siren off! Just as it passed me!! Good grief!!!! I know that they have to do this thing, and I completely understand why.

BUT WHY, JUST NEXT TO ME?

Exactly, they wouldn't do that behind a horse (and if you or I blasted our horn behind a Police horse they'd nick us) so why do it behind a cyclist?

I expect that kind of boorish behaviour from "white van man", bus drivers and the kind of knobends who drive BMWs and Shoguns but not the emergency services!!!

P.S. My leg is hurting like hell, I had to cut this mornings yoga class and I'll probably miss tomorrows

[workhard]

BUT WHY, JUST NEXT TO ME?

Because two bored plod in a car find making cyclists jump just as funny as every other driver does....

I live down the road, about 250 yards, from our local traffic divisional HQ and they do this ALL the time, even sometimes targeting lone pedestrians.

[workhard]

BUT WHY, JUST NEXT TO ME?

Because two bored plod in a car find making cyclists jump just as funny as every other driver does....

I live down the road, about 250 yards, from our local traffic divisional HQ and they do this ALL the time, even sometimes targeting lone pedestrians.

and two of my best mates and neighbours are traffic cops!

[thirdcrank]

The sirens etc on some emergency vehicles can be so loud you can physically feel the air vibrate. Around here, in addition to all the woo woos, the fire engines have an extra loud single note sort of bull roarer. No doubt the official intention is for use when high traffic speeds mean sirens are difficult to hear.

I was approaching Morley fire station near my home when a fire engine rolled out so I stopped but there was a taxi, quite inexcusably unloading a fare in the yellow box area. As the fire engine rounded the taxi it was pointing directly at me and although by then I had lifted my bike onto the footway to clear the road I got the full blast intended to make a point to the taxi driver. I came close to being sick.

Not long after that I was pootling along through Dewsbury on a relatively quiet Sunday afternoon. I big lorry coming in the opposite direction swerved to the left and stopped. I looked round to see why and a fire engine with blue lights flashing but no horns was coming. I pulled over asap but it didn't save me from a blast, to the huge amusement of the crew.

[mhara]

And sometimes you have to wonder whether the emergency is in fact all that urgent?

I had a blue-lights-flashing ambulance (i.e. no siren, so I didn't know an ambulance was behind me) slow down as it went past so that the person sitting next to the driver could put the window down and shout at me to ride on the cycle-path (i.e. the one running alongside the road at that point).

Clearly their concern for my 'health and safety' over-rode that for any patient/casualty.

Regretably I don't think he heard me shouting NO!

[david143]

And sometimes you have to wonder whether the emergency is in fact all that urgent?

I had a blue-lights-flashing ambulance (i.e. no siren, so I didn't know an ambulance was behind me) slow down as it went past so that the person sitting next to the driver could put the window down and shout at me to ride on the cycle-path (i.e. the one running alongside the road at that point).

Clearly their concern for my 'health and safety' over-rode that for any patient/casualty.

Regretably I don't think he heard me shouting NO!

but they. like any other motorised road user has a duty to tell cyclists to use the facilities they paid for.

[GrumpyGit]

And sometimes you have to wonder whether the emergency is in fact all that urgent?

I had a blue-lights-flashing ambulance (i.e. no siren, so I didn't know an ambulance was behind me) slow down as it went past so that the person sitting next to the driver could put the window down and shout at me to ride on the cycle-path (i.e. the one running alongside the road at that point).

Clearly their concern for my 'health and safety' over-rode that for any patient/casualty.

Regrettably I don't think he heard me shouting NO!

but they. like any other motorised road user has a duty to tell cyclists to use the facilities they paid for.

I'm surprised we haven't had a single member of a "blue light" service making an attempt to defend their reputation, there must be one on here somewhere.

Perhaps we should just lump them in with all the other buttholes on the road the way they generalise about people on bicycles??

[stoobs]

Complain. Plenty of 999 drivers crash - look it up on the BBC website. Just because they're in the safety services doesn't mean they're behaving safely. The classic was a couple of years ago when 2 fire engines crashed at 0730 on Christmas morning in Essex. How much traffic at that time? Their own sirens were so loud that they couldn't hear the other, and they were driving too fast, so they couldn't stop. I think 11 firemen were injured and 2 VERY expensive fire engines. Which also didn't make it to the fire. How silly is that?

There have been several letters in the National Papers recently complaining about the volume and duration of sirens now. I heard 15 in 1 hour yesterday - for minutes at a time. When everything is urgent, nothing is urgent.

For people who deal with the injured the whole time, you would think it might be in their wit to realise that some road users are deaf so SHOUTING AT THEM DOESN'T WORK.

I was overtaken on the inside by an ambulance doing 40 when it's siren was so loud that I could only tell that it was behind me, but not which lane. I was about to pull left, when he sped past. Silly drivers. They watch too much Casualty.

MORE HASTE, LESS SPEED. I'M SHOUTING BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT MOST PEOPLE IN THE AMBULANCE SERVICE THINK WORKS.

You only have to watch the old people round here in particular get confused by the excessively loud volume, to see that it's not safe...and the Ambulance people obviuosly subscribe to the view that if 1 glass of champagne is nice, and 3, very nice, then 50 is absolutely top. (except they apply it to siren volume and variety).

Complain.

[GrumpyGit]

Complain........Complain.

Good suggestion Stoobs, I've just reported the incident to: Complaints.Department@lond-amb.nhs.uk by e-mail.

As the punishment should fit the crime this is what I have suggested

"At the very least the driver of that vehicle should be A) sent for re-training and B) assigned to bicycle duty for six months to instil an appreciation of the vulnerability of cyclists in London traffic."

I'll report back with any progress.

[dmiller]

I'm really sorry but I find this amazingly funny!

I understand why your all annoyed but the only time I have needed an Ambulance I was happy that it came screaming over the hill with lights+siren going.

As for doing it to make people jump - to be honest I would be tempted abuse it as well...

[GrumpyGit]

As for doing it to make people jump - to be honest I would be tempted abuse it as well...

...and I would be tempted to inflict pain upon you in return!

It's not about the noise, it's dangerous driving, please note I said:

"P.S. My leg is hurting like hell, I had to cut this mornings yoga class and I'll probably miss tomorrows"

The near miss and loud noise was enough to get me off the bike, it could have been a lot worse. This time I "only" pulled a muscle in my leg, it's easy to hit your head on the kerb stone in such a fall!

[dmiller]

"P.S. My leg is hurting like hell, I had to cut this mornings yoga class and I'll probably miss tomorrows"

Come on - two missed sessions of yoga. Hardly the end of the world.

Measure that against an Ambulance that may have been rushing to a life/death call and sounded its siren to clear the road.

Some perspective lacking here - cyclists are not the most important road user.

David.