Had a chat with Arriva today

[Crackle]

Of course you are! As I am sure crackle will be along shortly to say;

I'm just in it for the publicity!

It really doesn't take much effort. I just make sure if I have a complaint to make that I suggest something positive that they could do. Seems to have worked so far.

Media whore.

 

[BentMikey]

Good work Magna. Hope there was no heavy breathing in the chat.

 

[magnatom]

Media whore.

You never disappoint!

 

[magnatom]

Good work Magna. Hope there was no heavy breathing in the chat.

Talking of Dom, where is he these days? I miss his...... observations!

 

[purplepolly]

I was on a bus this afternoon in the centre of manchester - it pulled over at a bus stop, and as soon as the doors opened there was a cyclist there shouting (politely) at the driver for almost squashing him. Looking to the left of the vehicle before pulling over would be a good suggestion.

 

[Twiggy]

I think a key issue with cyclist/driver interactions is drivers not fully understanding how fast a cyclist is.

Might be an idea to point out that a POB can be doing 25+ or in some cases might even be going slightly faster than the posted limit (due to inaccurices in their equipment, or just due to lack of a speedo)

Maybe doing a Q&A session would be helpful, only things really needed are a small model bicycle, few toy cars and a toy bus. Getting them all in the same scale can be tricky, but, yeh.

Charity shops should have all you need for under a tenner total, and would aid in visually representing some dangers.

 

[Iainj837]

+1

+2

 

[mickle]

+2

+ 3

More power to your elbow Maggers, you're doing something which will really make a difference and quite possibly save someones life.

 

[domd1979]

Related to that, the average speed of a bus and cyclist is more or less the same at around 12 - 15mph - bus has a higher top speed, but being stop-start (more so than a car would be) and the cyclist not. Over a distance there's no difference which means that a bus in a hurry to get past isn't likely to gain any time advantage.

I think a key issue with cyclist/driver interactions is drivers not fully understanding how fast a cyclist is.

Might be an idea to point out that a POB can be doing 25+ or in some cases might even be going slightly faster than the posted limit (due to inaccurices in their equipment, or just due to lack of a speedo)

 

[wafflycat]

well done Magnatom

 

[thomas]

One thing would to be, if a cyclist does make a mistake (eg, wooberling) don't try and get past because they're not pulling away as quickly as you'd like. You don't want to turn someone else's mistake into yours.

 

[Stig-OT-Dump]

Letting passengers out in stopped traffic ["City Sprinter" drivers normally], particularly when in the right hand of two lanes - normally between Broomielaw and Bothwell Street, running upside Central Station - when the risk of filtering cyclists is greater.

 

[rog]

nice work MT. good luck with this.

you mentioned previously you were after helmet cam footage. here's a link to a video I captured in London the other week. might be useful as it highlights some of the problems with cycle lanes and junctions... you can see how some cyclists just blindly follow the green paint and so end up in potentially dangerous situations with buses...


View: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nl1lUY5wZjg


(whilst there is no left turn at this junction, there is a bus stop immediately after the lights which most of the buses stop at...)

 

[magnatom]

Thanks guys for the comments. As I said, I've just been lucky to get bus companies in a good mood (and looking for good publicity and free training!)

Maggot, I'd quite like to do something like that. I enjoy giving talks and presentations (I like to think I'm quite good at it, so says mr modest!). However, I don't think I could make a career out of it. Some spare bike purchasing cash wouldn't go amiss. (any bus/HGV companies reading?)

Of course I am also available for after dinner speeches for a reasonable price . (Any cycling clubs out there reading?)

Rog, thanks for that. Interesting footage. There is actually more bad cycling there than you mentioned (not yours!). There is a chap who pulls out around a parked car and doesn't look behind him. Not great cycling. I might well use it and I will let you know if I do.

 

[HF2300]

MT, OK, while they're in a good mood how about this. Back before the HGV thread turned into the Lee & Dondare Show I was wondering whether the Cyclechat community could do anything about demonstrating the issues or putting together a video.

While you've got a tame bus company - who presumably have spare buses now and again - and contacts here who might be able to turn up and help out, how about trying to put together an Arriva sponsored training vid to show the issues and dangers, aimed at all the groups - PSV and LGV drivers and cyclists?