Buses Pulling up in front of Cyclist?

[crazyjoe101]

The number of times i've had a bus(wagons are the same) revving,braking behind me where i've then moved over and waved him past, realising they have a schedule to keep, then they don't acknowledge my gesture, i've bloody well lost count!! I don't have to move over so why not give me a little wave or put their hazards on for a few flashes as they pass?

Because you've just held them up riding your stupid bicycle and you should get some motorised transport

 

[vickster]

I've hardly ever been on a bus in London that hasn't stopped at every single stop, so when a bus pulls in seconds after passing me it can seem a little futile but as long as the overtake was safe then I don't really care. Bus drivers are the least of one's worries in London.

Is it safe when they stop almost immediately and you nearly run into the back of them or have to stop in their stinky idling slipstream?! Bus drivers on SW London routes seem far worse for not considering the needs of cyclists than those in the centre

 

[RobWard]

The number of times i've had a bus(wagons are the same) revving,braking behind me where i've then moved over and waved him past, realising they have a schedule to keep, then they don't acknowledge my gesture, i've bloody well lost count!! I don't have to move over so why not give me a little wave or put their hazards on for a few flashes as they pass?

The number of times i've had a bus(wagons are the same) revving,braking behind me where i've then moved over and waved him past, realising they have a schedule to keep, then they don't acknowledge my gesture, i've bloody well lost count!! I don't have to move over so why not give me a little wave or put their hazards on for a few flashes as they pass?

You are so right. Bus drivers do have a timetablento adhere too and when you have a cyclist in front of you on narrow roads like between Grasmere and Ambleside (The Lakes) sometime we can be stuck behind a cyclist for 4/6 minutes. Many a cyclist have waved me on and I always flash my hazzards. Some just go slower and make us wait.

 

[raleighnut]

My record is the same bus overtaking me then stopping 8 times (A46/Narborough Rd in Leicester), nowadays I'll just stop and roll a fag up and wait til the thing has gone up the road a bit.
Funny thing was if the bus had stayed behind me the first time I'd have been long gone and he'd never needed to overtake again.

 

[Drago]

I can't get my head around the idea that bus drivers get training! Heavy, man, just heavy.

 

[Ajax Bay]

As soon as it is safe to do so the bus driver then overtakes, again giving plenty of space. Then! . . . a passenger rings the bell for the next stop! Bus driver signals and pulls in.

Why not brake and then pull in behind the cyclist?

The bus driver knows where the stop is, and knows whether or not they can overtake sufficiently far before the stop not to cause inconvenience to the cyclist in the event of needing to stop. They can even reasonably guess how likely it is that someone would want the stop.

@RobWard Does the training you mention in your OP give guidance on how far before the next stop it is reasonable to pass a cyclist (to avoid this dilemma/annoyance). It's often difficult for a bus to get past a cyclist so the bus driver needs to take the opportunity when safe so to do and this will benefit his/her many passengers and allow schedules to be met (good for future passengers). But @User does make a good second point (quoted above) - his first was confusing (well to me and others anyway) as the context was a bus which had already successfully overtaken a cyclist.

 

[Accy cyclist]

Because you've just held them up riding your stupid bicycle and you should get some motorised transport

And i don't pay "road tax" or have a registration plate, or pay insurance or passed a test or........

 

[Accy cyclist]

You are so right. Bus drivers do have a timetablento adhere too and when you have a cyclist in front of you on narrow roads like between Grasmere and Ambleside (The Lakes) sometime we can be stuck behind a cyclist for 4/6 minutes. Many a cyclist have waved me on and I always flash my hazzards. Some just go slower and make us wait.

There is one driver who goes out of his way to wave, flash his hazards, give a wide overtaking distance etc. He must be a fellow cyclist!

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

If he left you absolutely nowhere to go. Then how did you get past to stop near the drivers window?. If you managed to overtake him, why not just keep going.

I wheeled back on the pavement and cycled alongside to enquire as to why he'd just forced me off the road. I felt I had a right to know.

 

[RobWard]

@RobWard Does the training you mention in your OP give guidance on how far before the next stop it is reasonable to pass a cyclist (to avoid this dilemma/annoyance). It's often difficult for a bus to get past a cyclist so the bus driver needs to take the opportunity when safe so to do and this will benefit his/her many passengers and allow schedules to be met (good for future passengers). But @User does make a good second point (quoted above) - his first was confusing (well to me and others anyway) as the context was a bus which had already successfully overtaken a cyclist.

95% of passengers will ring the bell for their stop as soon as we have past the previous. Giving the drivers enough time to read the road and stop at the customers chosen stop. It is just the odd hair head who will ring for a stop when we are about 10 metres from it. When this happens, we are just as annoyed as the cyclist.

 

[Ajax Bay]

So in the bus driver training, is guidance given as to what to do when the circumstances described happen? Does the requirement to stop on (late) demand overide the requirement for a stop to be safe for the bus and other road users (the cyclist right behind whom the bus driver has just overtaken)?

 

[User33236]

I have on file video evidence of a bus overtaking me on my bike whilst indicating left to pull into a bus stop only meters ahead. The indicator came on before the overtake manoeuvre started.

In some cases bus drivers are just a' holes who happend to drive buses.

 

[r04DiE]

self-deluding cackgargler

Insult of the week. Thanks, I'll be using that one

 

[RobWard]

So in the bus driver training, is guidance given as to what to do when the circumstances described happen? Does the requirement to stop on (late) demand overide the requirement for a stop to be safe for the bus and other road users (the cyclist right behind whom the bus driver has just overtaken)?

If the bus has just overtaken the bike and needs to stop.. driver will check nearside mirror to see if it is safe to do so. If cyclist stops, he will pull in. If cyclist dosent, driver will await the undertaking cyclist. This is what should happen.. 90% of bus drivers do this and give plenty of respect for cyclist.
90% of cyclist do understand what larger vehicles have to contend with on the road and work with us. Its the odd 10% from both sides that keep this long on going argument going.
On a brighter side, Much has improved over the years for both cyclist and drivers. Its all about education. We are a lot more aware of each other now than we was in the 70's

 

[Ajax Bay]

In some cases bus drivers are just a' holes who happend to drive buses.

For the sake of balance, in some cases cyclists are just a' holes who happen to ride bikes. Not many bus drivers cross red lights, do they? Or maybe those riders aren't real cyclists. However riders of bikes are rather less able to cause other people injury, so any misbehaviour has fewer consequences.