Cycling UK Forum

Feel like I've just had a brush with death, and am seriously shaken up.

Coming up Kentish Town Road today a coach came past cutting into the kerb and narrowing my roadspace. His wheel-trim struck my right pedal, I think as I was wiggling round a pothole. He clearly knew it had happened, but didn't pull over until I gestured that he should. Then followed a conversation about "How much road do you need? You were all over the place" etc, while I asked how much room the Highway Code said I was entitled to, and explained that swerving was legit and he should have left as much room as for a car.

I was steaming, as you can imagine - I hate the way a brush with death means you're hijacked by hormones. Now the question is what to do? I have his registration, and the name of the coach company, and I'll be writing to them. It looks like he was a rail replacement bus for First, so I'll be writing to them too and suggesting that they book someone who doesn't bring them into disrepute in future.

But what should I have done? Half of me is kicking myself for not calling Plod and insisting on witness statements from his near-side passengers. And what else can I do to get him behaving better in future?

And finally, do I capitulate and get myself a video rig? I've always thought they were for the intolerably paranoid, but I'm thinking very differently now.

My commiserations on a horrible experience. We're getting a bit cynical on this forum about the willingness of police to pursue this kind of case. I would certainly write to the bus company as you propose, I imagine that a complaint will be taken seriously enough to mention it to the driver and it may just make him think twice next time he passes a cyclist. Whether it's worth involving the police, who knows

I think it's worth reporting, the police may not take action in this case but if everyone reports all serious incidents then it's possible that patterns may emerge, ie, the same name or company cropping up on a regular basis.

I would report it to the police and submit it at Stop SMIDSY http://www.stop-smidsy.org.uk/

As someone who attempted (and finally failed!) to pass his (Passenger Service Vehicle ie bus!) PSV test, it was rammed down our throats to give everyone the proper room to avoid just this sort of encounter.

I'd suggest contacting the bus company as a minimum and if they are any sort of decent company they'll investigate.

Pleased you're OK and hope your heart rate decreases in the coming months....

Good luck. I have complained to First Bus twice about dangerous overtaking by their vehicles backed up with video evidence and was totally blanked and ignored other than for them to try and claim the buses weren't theirs. In the second complaint it was about the same bus doing it twice on successive days. Next time I go straight to the police and site the previous occsions. It would seem that of all the drivers who hate cyclists bus drivers hate us most - though in fairness my impression is that bus drivers hate just about everybody.

Log it on the SMIDSY site, report it to the police and the bus company. Some of the bus companies have on board cameras and can corroborate your experience, in which case there is a chance they will take some action against the driver.

If the coach company is anything like Arriva then you're out of luck, their depot managers don't even understand the rules of the road nor what safe driving is about never mind the drivers they are overseeing. As for the company they don't give a flying one about safety on the road as they niether check nor keep standards up.
Glad you're alive and good luck with getting somewhere...

Yes busses and bikes are a bad mix. Pity then that local councils think mixing bus and cycle lanes is a good idea.

... Some of the bus companies have on board cameras and can corroborate your experience...

Now that a couple of days have passed, can you reflect on this incident and feel that if there is CCTV evidence that your own conduct was exemplary? I'm not thinking so much about what you have described as "contact between me and a coach" but your subsequent exchange with the driver.

thirdcrank wrote:

... Some of the bus companies have on board cameras and can corroborate your experience...

Now that a couple of days have passed, can you reflect on this incident and feel that if there is CCTV evidence that your own conduct was exemplary? I'm not thinking so much about what you have described as "contact between me and a coach" but your subsequent exchange with the driver.

If you have some wya of remaining calm after nearly being wiped out by ten tons of motorised metal being controlled (sic) by someone who is unaware or uncaring of your presence that can be passed on to others you could make a fortune teaching it to people. I agree that losing your temper does not help in any situation - I really wish I could remain calm and rational - but when I am angry someone telling you to 'calm down' and 'don't let it get to you' just comes accross as holier than thou and is only likely to make me even angrier. It would be like saying 'stop bleeding you're making a mess on ground' following a physical injury.

This incident is water under the bridge. It may be that there are things we can all learn.

I know from personal experience that fear soon turns to anger when immediate danger has passed, but that doesn't detract from what I'm saying. It's not so long ago we had a thread about a cyclist wronged by a bus driver who chased and overtook the bus, but was eventually side-swiped and survived only through what looked to me like a miracle.

At a less spectacular level, talk of reporting anything immediately has me thinking of what evidence might be available and what it might show. eg the OP wrote something along the lines of insisting on statements from all the nearside passengers. Apart from the obvious point that they might decide that the didn't want to be involved, especially if it meant the whole coach trip being delayed while a dozen or more statements were taken, I wonder what they might have said? I'll guess that most will have only realised something was wrong when a cyclist stopped their coach for a discussion with the driver.My question was intended to discover the nature of that conversation.

I suspect that cameras recording interactions between drivers and passengers etc are more common on buses than they are on coaches as this was said to be. They are there, like the polycarbonate screens, to discourage verbal abuse and to protect personnel from physical attacks. And before anybody raises the subject I'm not suggesting that the OP was guilty of any of this - just asking if his own conduct would stand up to independent scrutiny in the cold light of day. Reporting something to the police implies the possibility of a court case, and courts tend to view people like bus drivers as vulnerable public servants.
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PS On the subject of earning money from anger management - it goes with the territory. My dentist once told me Ishould kick somebody at work rather than clench my teeth: I asked him for a medical certificate. Telling somebody not to lose their temper is obviously the council of perfection, but anybody who cannot control their temper is on a loser.

A colleague told me last week that her husband had been knocked off his bike by a bus in Bath which did not stop. He was not injured, but the damage to his bike amounted to over £200. He was apparently unaware that he had a case against the driver and the company, being prepared to put it down to experience and pay for the damage himself. I strongly suggested he reported it, as there is only one bus company operating in the area, and there was probably CCTV onboard. I further recommended a helmet cam for the future as he is a regular commuter on the route.

I've recently complained to First Bus about 2 close passes by a bendy bus.
They soon replied in writing, that they had traced the bus and looked at footage from the cctv camera. that particular driver had been spoken to and referred back to Driver school for further tuition.
I don't find it worthwhile getting into verbal with the drivers.