Bus driver again

[Amanda P]

Dear Sirs

Dangerous driving by Coastliner driver

At 0857 on 14th April, as I was cycling towards York on the A64, I was passed by a Coastliner no. 843 bus at Claxton Grange.

The bus passed so close to me that it brushed my sleeve.

I was wearing a police-specification high-visibility jacket at the time, and visibility was good.

I had glanced over my shoulder and seen the bus approaching. I expected the driver to wait for a gap in the oncoming traffic before attempting to overtake, but he or she did not do so, and had to squeeze by me to avoid the oncoming traffic. I can only hope this was an error of judgement and not a deliberate manoeuvre.

As I am sure you are aware, this is a stretch of road on which numerous accidents, some fatal, have occurred. Your driver’s behaviour yesterday could easily have caused just such an accident.

I am usually impressed with the standard of driving of Coastliner drivers, although I have written to you before about drivers passing without sufficient care on this stretch of road (December 2007). This driver would appear to need reminding of his or her obligations.

Perhaps you could arrange for him or her to stand with a bus approaching from behind at 40-50 mph and passing within an inch or two of his elbow. Of course, you would not be allowed to expose your drivers to the risk of actually trying this – so please do not allow them to expose me to the same risk.

Yours faithfully

 

[ianrauk]

Good letter

 

[thomas]

Like the last paragraph

 

[hackbike 666]

I expected the driver


Hmmmmmm.


Reminds me of a mistake I made about a week ago,I expected a bus to turn in at a bus stop at the start of my commute and realised he wasn't going to.Managed to cover for it though.

 

[Davidc]

Please post the reply!

 

[Amanda P]

Will do.

I expect a helpful one - I believe the fleet manager cycles to work himself (although not along this road). After the December incidents, there was a noticeable improvement in Coastliner passing behaviour.

I think it's partly that bus drivers just don't realise that a double-decker moving at 50 or 60 mph* shifts a lot of air with it, so a passing distance they think seems OK just isn't.



*They use rather impressive Volvo busses which accelerate very smoothly up to this sort of speed and can easily maintain it.

 

[Amanda P]

"Dear Uncle Phil

DRIVING STANDARD

I refer to your letter received in relation to the situation faced on the morning of Tuesday 14 April 2009, specifically the circumstances surrounding the manouvre undertaken by a Coastliner Driver when overtaking you on the A64

Following receipt of the informaiton, arrangements were made to download CCTV footage from the vehicle in question, and the driver was questioned. I have also taken opportunity (sic) to view the footage prior to responding to your correspondence.

Having discussed this matter with the Operations Manager at Malton, I am satisfied that the driver did not deliberately intend to compromise your safety. Indeed, you were in full view prior to overtaking, with adequate time for the driver to assess the situation.

The sequence of events shows a flow of oncoming traffic. As the bus indicates to move out, the oncoming vehicles are shown moving to their nearside to allow the bus additional room. The bus is then seen to change position in the road, although a two second break in CCTV images does not correspond with actual position alongside you.

Examination of the camera looking out of the platform doors, suggests a gap of approximately five feet from the continual white line at the carriageway edge, to the side of the bus. In hindsight, this was obviously insufficient, and the driver has been made aware of due allowance in future.

I do note your comment in relation to the general driving standard shown by my Coastliner Staff, and I am sorry that on this occasion the judgement made was inappropriate. Please accept my personal apology for the situation faced.

Yours sincerely

Keith Roebuck
Operations Director, Transdev Yorkshire."

 

[Amanda P]

Fair enough. You can't get a much more clearly stated apology than that.

It's entirely possible that it wasn't the bus that brushed my sleeve, but that the massive gout of air the bus pushes ahead of it made it feel like that. It was certainly alarmingly close.

 

[killiekosmos]

Good correspondence both ways. It just shows that a civil, well-structured complaint gets a reasoned response. I imagine that going off on a rant would not get as good a reply.

 

[upsidedown]

Good one, just goes to show that we can all rub along if we stop the them and us attitude. Every time a bus passes me i wonder how they manage to get those things through town centres in one piece, i couldn't do it.

 

[Hollyhillian]

Excellent customer relations. Good to see that you haven't been fobbed off and your complaint was taken seriously and recognized for what it was , a request for something to be improved .

 

[mark i]

I wish that we had the same level of co-operation from National Express (They run the travel west midlands buses). I have had one bus HIT me and push me towards parked cars (he was rushing to overtake me so he could stop at the bus stop 30 metres up the road.... The other one was in a village with narrow roads with parked cars on the other side of the road. On both occasions I was cycling reasonably quickly and I would guess that the drivers assumed that I was a stationary object as they simply pulled in too quickly. On both occasions I used the online complaint system and was reasonable. I have never received a reply so I can only assume that national express are not concerned with road safety of driver training. It is a shame as the majority of their drivers are pretty good, but they have the odd one that is appalling.

 

[lech]

That they viewed the footage and took the trouble to check your report is encouraging!

 

[Amanda P]

I wish that we had the same level of co-operation from National Express

I have written to this company before, when a bus of theirs overtook far too close, at high speed on a windy day. Two days later, the same bus did the same thing in the same place. I wrote again, and copied the letter to North Yorks Police.

I got a reply to the first letter, which must have been written before I sent the second. Neither they nor the police replied to the second - but:

Writing on old-fashioned paper, sent by recorded delivery if you think it's necessary, may get more reaction. After all, it shows you have gone to the trouble of printing it out, putting it in an envelope and carrying it to the Post Office, and spent some money on a stamp - it shows you feel strongly enough to do all that.

I might add that I have also had cause to write to First Buses in York. I've only ever had the standard brush-off letter from them.