Almost knocked off by a bus

[troyka]

I had a similar situation the other evening cycling home about 1030pm.

I was on a main road empty of moving traffic almost entirely in both directions, as my usual practice I was cycling in the road I don’t do gutter hogging, and I was lit up like a tree in December 3 lights on the back and 3m tape on the bike with reflective clips.

The Firstbus, bus over took me on a corner and pulled in as soon as he passed forcing me to break quite hard and veer into the gutter. He drove off at speed missing 2 stops where I caught up with him pulled up in front of him and asked what were you doing!

His response was he had rto pull in as a car was coming, that I had seen him and sped up, and what do you want compensation! We argued for about 5 mins and all the time he was telling me he has driven for 30 years and can tell when someone cycles too fast when being overtook! The guy was not taking any responsibility for ignoring my safety and just went on about compensation, which didn’t enter my head; I was more interested in him being responsible on the road and considerate to cyclists.

 

[Paul_L]

But you're not talking to the driver now, its supposed to be a formal letter so use formal language.

we can all write in whatever tone or formality we chose to to express our views.

The sarcastic bit was one sentence in a reasonable length email. In context i don't think that's disproportionate as i used that sentence to illustrate a key point.

You clearly would phrase your letter differently.

I wouldn't refer to someone as a twat on this forum.

So we all do things slightly differently.

 

[DrSquirrel]

I said the language was twatish, don't mix my words.

I am suggesting that a sarcastic tone won't go down well with the person you are trying to get to take you seriously.

Of course you can write in whatever way you want, but surely I can as well?

 

[Paul_L]

You described my language as twatish. I inferred from that, that the writer of the twatish language is therefore, a twat?

apologies if that was wrong.

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

And there we have it....what one person might mean may be interpreted differently

Formal language helps avoid such issues in a complaint. Remember you are trying to get the recipient of your letter on-side and sympathetic to your complaint.

If the reader happens to think it's twatish and also infers that a twatish writer must therefore be a twat, the complaint gets filed under B

 

[Paul_L]

And there we have it....what one person might mean may be interpreted differently

Formal language helps avoid such issues in a complaint. Remember you are trying to get the recipient of your letter on-side and sympathetic to your complaint.

If the reader happens to think it's twatish and also infers that a twatish writer must therefore be a twat, the complaint gets filed under B

that's a fair point ST, and one which i'll take on board.

hopefully though, whilst people's interpretations on here might well be that the language is twatish i guess in response to a formal complaint email the bus company can neither ignore it, nor write back saying "you are a twat".

Although i would laugh my ass off if they did.

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

I have often responded in such a way, usualy stronger explaining exactly why the sender of the letter/email/etc is a twat

Although it never gets sent and I'm clever enough to remove the reply-to address before writing if in email so it doesn't accidentally get sent

I do it to let off steam if a genuine twat complains about nothing (and there are plenty of twats out there) but it just stays on the office wall


Although I did once ask someone "what's thah want tha' bloody nuisance" on the phone, as I was TOLD that it was an internal call from someone I know at another branch - what I DIDN'T know was the internal call was actually one transferring a customer to me - luckily he had a sense of humour and agreed that he could indeed be a bloody nuisance as I stuttered and backpedalled

 

[DrSquirrel]

that's a fair point ST, and one which i'll take on board.

hopefully though, whilst people's interpretations on here might well be that the language is twatish i guess in response to a formal complaint email the bus company can neither ignore it, nor write back saying "you are a twat".

Although i would laugh my ass off if they did.

The bus company is likely to reply to you with a standard reply at the best of times...

 

[Dibs]

There is no point in using sarcasm in a complaint... all it does is annoy the reader, even I think its a bit twattish reading it here...





Doesn't matter, it's still not illegal.

And neither does doing something illegal gives someone else to do the same.




I agree, 20 riders, 2 metres each is 40 metres single file or 20 metres 2 abreast and usually no wider than solo.

I fully agree!

 

[Paul_L]

Great news. I had the following email from the bus company today;

Further to your recent email, following the incident that occurred when you were cycling in Bingley, and were regrettably given reason to complain about the driving standard of one of our employees.

We would offer our unreserved apologies for what occurred on this particular day. Obviously we expect our drivers to behave in a professional and courteous manner at all times and any disregard for other road users is totally unacceptable to us as a Company. This matter has now been investigated and arrangements have been made for the individual concerned to be formally interviewed. You can be absolutely certain that the appropriate action will be taken at this time to ensure this never occurs again.

We take the training of our drivers very seriously and the Company invests a lot of time and effort into this. Almost all our drivers are trained to IAM standards and we do sincerely regret that you encountered this individual, who has shown disregard for the training he has been given. You can be assured that this individual will undergo a further training course and will be closely monitored. We take this matter very seriously and as stated above, the matter will be dealt with on a formal basis and internal disciplinary proceedings will follow as necessary.

In light of what occurred, we are now launching a campaign within the Company to ensure our drivers are ever more aware of cyclists and the respect and space we expect to be given in order to keep everyone safe



We do thank you for informing us of this incident and sincerely trust you are not given any further reason to complain. Please be assured that we will always react immediately if there are any future problems please do not hesitate to make contact.

Email ends.

I am very pleased about this and think the bus driver has been dealt with it in the appropriate way. I have emailed them to thank them for their swift response, and for taking the matter seriously. I also made the point that most bus drivers i encounter are of a very high standard.

 

[JamesAC]

2 abreast should never be a problem. The outside rider is riding in the correct position for a solo cyclist. The inside rider is occupying the empty space.

Therefore, riding 2 abreast is not taking up any more space, in fact it is taking up LESS useable road space by making the distance for overtaking slightly shorter.

Even with the motorist's hat on, I would rather have a bunch of club riders taking up the entire lane in a short, lane-wide group, taking up similar road space to a 7.5 tonne truck, than have to wait behind a long convoy of cyclists because overtaking safely is harder due to the cyclists becoming a long "convoy"

+1

 

[Jezston]

The bus company is likely to reply to you with a standard reply at the best of times...

Please don't say stuff like that - it's untrue (as has been shown in this case), puts people off taking action, and simply enforces the unnacceptable status quo.

 

[DrSquirrel]

Please don't say stuff like that - it's untrue (as has been shown in this case), puts people off taking action, and simply enforces the unnacceptable status quo.

I've seen others complaining lately around here about users not reading "up" before posting.

I am trying to suggest that OP doesn't use sarcastic comments in replies to HELP the situation.

You can't get around that "standard replies" to complaints are the norm in business anyway, I don't want to discourage people, but im not going to butter them up with lies.


"as has been shown in this case" - It looks pretty standard to me...

 

[BentMikey]

A standard reply says nothing about whether any action was taken or not. It's possible to hide behind a standard reply, but it's also possible that it's company policy to avoid any legal issues.

Look at Roadsafe's standard reply - it totally sucks for giving us, the reporting people, a bad impression that nothing was done. The truth, however, is that they most certainly do take action in many of the reports.

 

[BentMikey]

p.s. I don't think the reply was completely form letter - it seemed to me to have been a modified one to fit the circumstances of the OP's incident.