cyclist V bus driver....what would you do?

[stedlocks]

Following on from my other post about my first ever (and probably my last, with the way my knee feels this morning!) Imperial 100, a quick story about an incident that happened and a canvassing of opinions on it.

We were about 45 miles in and nearly at Southend.

We got to Rayleigh Road,at the junction with the A127 and ther are 3 lanes...fliter right, straight on and filter left. We are sitting in the middle lane to go straight over and waiting for the red light to change... I am leading a group of 3 and am staionary behind 1 car with a single decker bus about 6 foot to my rear and to the right of me.

The lights change and I set off on the white line because I still have cars coming up my inside at a rate of knots and filtering left.

Put the hammer down adn attempt to get over the junction as quickly as possible when I feel a fairly hefty nudge to my right elbow.......The bus has just driven into me!!

I banged the side doors of the bus as hard as I could and screamed at the driver through the window...It could have ended there if he had acknowledged his mistake and mouthed an apology...I had perfect eye contact with him...but he laughed and pulled around me!

Unfortunately for him, he had a bus which had to stop to let people on and off, and we were going in the same direction as him.

The net stop, I got up to the doors which were admitting more passengers and, being very pissed off, asked him what the **** he was doing...he obviously saw me.

He just shrugged and laughed again before saying I shouldn't be riding there!!

Now because of my job, I can't go around throwing bus drivers under their own wheels ect, so I am after some suggestions as to where to go with this next.

Fortunately, I only have a bang on the elbow.....it could have been a LOT worse.

sorry about the rant, what do you think?

 

[summerdays]

Report it both to the police and the bus company... bus drivers shouldn't think that is funny.

 

[spiro]

Reported it asap to police and bus company. If its a newer bus it will have CCTV that not only covers the inside of the bus but also all round outside. A friend is a director of a bus company and they would take a very dim view because they will be able to see what happened to you and the drivers reaction. Also keep an eye on your elbow in case it swells later or anything in which case you should claim off the company.

 

[ComedyPilot]

As others have said, report to police & bus co.

 

[dellzeqq]

Report it to the police and the bus company, but copy in your local councillor and ask him for the address of the transport authority. Then write to the transport authority and ask what requirements they have for bus companies to give their drivers training. TfL have raised the standards of bus driving in London. Your transport authority should be doing the same.

The bus company will take the transport authority a good deal more seriously than an individual complainant.

 

[Paulus]

As the others have said, report it to the company and the police giving the route number, time and bus number, the small vehicle number all buses have, if you have it as it will identify the driver immediately. Most modern buses have cctv on board so you should show up outside and when you boarded the bus.

 

[Night Train]

Surely that is a hit and run! And, given the driver's attitude, a deliberate one! Definately report it to the police and get the driver charged and sacked.

Even if you don't have the registration the bus company will know where there busses are at the time and who the driver was. They may try to squirm out of it but if you are determined then they can't really get out of it.

 

[Gerry Attrick]

Even if there were no injuries, that is definitely regarded as a RTA. The driver should have stopped and details exchanged.

 

[swee'pea99]

Another one. These bastards need sacking. End of.

 

[domd1979]

Sadly outside London local authorities have somewhat less clout with bus operators than do TfL! If the bus in question was operating a contract service to the local authority then conduct of drivers would be in the contract conditions and the authority could look at taking action. Other than that the authority has virtually no powers in respect of driving conduct. But.... the Traffic Commissioners as the licencing authority can (and do) enforce PCV licence holders' conduct, so potentially worth copying any letter to them:

Traffic Commissioner - Eastern Area
City House
126–130 Hills Road
Cambridge CB2 1NP

Report it to the police and the bus company, but copy in your local councillor and ask him for the address of the transport authority. Then write to the transport authority and ask what requirements they have for bus companies to give their drivers training. TfL have raised the standards of bus driving in London. Your transport authority should be doing the same.

The bus company will take the transport authority a good deal more seriously than an individual complainant.

 

[ufkacbln]

Copy to the Head Office and be reasonable.

Always finish with an option they cannot ignore.

I find the following quite effective

"The unacceptable and dangerous behaviour of your employee demonstrates a poor safety ethos within your company and a failure on your part to exercise a "duty of care" to the public"

 

[Headgardener]

Shame you weren't able to get his PSV licence number and I would think that yes it would be classed as hit and run even if you did catch him later.

 

[Headgardener]

Following on from my other post about my first ever (and probably my last, with the way my knee feels this morning!) Imperial 100, a quick story about an incident that happened and a canvassing of opinions on it.

We were about 45 miles in and nearly at Southend.

We got to Rayleigh Road,at the junction with the A127 and ther are 3 lanes...fliter right, straight on and filter left. We are sitting in the middle lane to go straight over and waiting for the red light to change... I am leading a group of 3 and am staionary behind 1 car with a single decker bus about 6 foot to my rear and to the right of me.

The lights change and I set off on the white line because I still have cars coming up my inside at a rate of knots and filtering left.

Put the hammer down adn attempt to get over the junction as quickly as possible when I feel a fairly hefty nudge to my right elbow.......The bus has just driven into me!!

I banged the side doors of the bus as hard as I could and screamed at the driver through the window...It could have ended there if he had acknowledged his mistake and mouthed an apology...I had perfect eye contact with him...but he laughed and pulled around me!

Unfortunately for him, he had a bus which had to stop to let people on and off, and we were going in the same direction as him.

The net stop, I got up to the doors which were admitting more passengers and, being very pissed off, asked him what the **** he was doing...he obviously saw me.

He just shrugged and laughed again before saying I shouldn't be riding there!!

Now because of my job, I can't go around throwing bus drivers under their own wheels ect, so I am after some suggestions as to where to go with this next.

Fortunately, I only have a bang on the elbow.....it could have been a LOT worse.

sorry about the rant, what do you think?

If he carried straight on then he was in the wrong lane to start with.

 

[CopperBrompton]

That is absolutely a hit-and-run (or, more formally, Failure to Stop) - a *very* serious offence. Report to the police and the bus company, heading your letter FAILURE TO STOP FOLLOWING A COLLISION.

 

[stedlocks]

Thanks for all the advice guys, I will contact them in the morning.....in the first instance.

The trouble that I have is that I wouldn't want anyone to get the sack, especially in the current financial crises.......But on the other hand, sa a full time firefighter, I know full well the consequences, in both financial terms and lives lost, that RTC's cause.......If I didn't have my wits about me, I could have gone under the wheels, no problem.

I will make a hoo-hah about it, but wanted to check other people's opinions first.

Thanks again