National Express.......

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gambatte

Middle of the pack...
Location
S Yorks
Just made my first direct complaint to a company about one of their drivers.

7:40 (approx) this a.m.
Entering Sheffield Wicker area on the bus/cycle lane on the A6109. National Express came very close to having to explain a fatality. On of your vehicles (an ‘04’ plate with the number ‘320’ in lights on the back) passed me (I was on a road bike), close enough that I would have been able to reach out and touch it. It appeared to be travelling at greater speed than other traffic and then proceeded to move in towards the kerb before it had even overtaken me. This caused me to virtually stop to avoid being squeezed to the kerb.
I find this kind of ‘professional’ driving even more amazing when I compare it to the level of cycle awareness shown by the local ‘First bus’ drivers, who always seem to wait for an appropriate place to pass and then leave appropriate room.
I’m currently commuting 14 miles each way per day and therefore experience a lot of bad driving. I sure you can see this incident was ‘something special’ for me to actually write and complain.

Maybe not the most eloquent of mails, but I wanted to contact them without wasting ½ the morning proof reading and rewriting.

Expecting I’ll get a ‘standard letter’ response, if anything.
 
Gambatte,

Sorry to hear about the incident. But I like your complaint as you specifically point out that you are not generalising about bus drivers!

There is no need to overtake a cyclist in the way you describe as I am sure the bus drivers on this forum would agree.
 

Road Fiddler

New Member
Good to see you have made the effort to complain. I feel there is no excuse for this type of driving from either taxis or busses. They have no excuse as they have the most experience as professional drivers in the urban environment.
 

Maz

Guru
Sorry to hear this Gambatte. Glad you're making an effort to complain.
I was just wondering, was the incident under the bridges close to where The Wicker splits into Spital Hill and (can't remember the other rd). Does the road get narrower under there?
 
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gambatte

Middle of the pack...
Location
S Yorks
No, it was a couple of hundred yards before there. Just beyond where A6109 has been joined by Attercliffe Road. Any responsible driver would look in front, see the standing traffic and realise they’d nothing to gain by overtaking.
 
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gambatte

Middle of the pack...
Location
S Yorks
As I say, I’m not expecting anything more than a standard letter. My usual experience of National Express coaches isn’t good. I usually encounter them on the motorways, where I find them to be possibly the most aggressively driven vehicles on the road
 

DanBat

New Member
Location
Hackney
Well done on surviving. I had a similar experience last Friday (21st) with National Express - this one tried to swat me into another lane of traffic going round the Aldgate gyratory. Of itself I wouldnt normally get bothered about that, but when i caught him up at the next set of lights he said I "shouldnt be on the road".
It got better though. 300 meters further up he pulled into a petrol station, so I was able to phone the "well driven" number on the back to report him for that. And he topped it off by seeing me on the phone at the back, walking up to me and saying "you need to remember you're not a car". Erm, yes driver, I think that's the main point about my complaint.
I am, as ever, expecting the standard fob off reply - not recieved anything yet though. Will post it to compare notes if you like. But given NE's propensity to have to scrape their passengers up off the road this year, you'd have thought they would be a bit more careful.
 

Road Fiddler

New Member
Maybe someone could knock up some form letters of complaint on here for people that are less confident to writing a letter of complaint to copy and fill in. Just an idea
 

BentMikey

Rider of Seolferwulf
Location
South London
I seem to recall a few horrendous complaints about National Express, enough that I get extra wary when I see one of their buses near me in the traffic. Are their drivers particularly bad then?
 
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gambatte

Middle of the pack...
Location
S Yorks
I think one problem with National Express drivers is that they spend the majority of their driving time on intercity routes, which inherently means motorway driving. To maintain at least the maximum speed they’re legally allowed to drive, they don’t like to lose momentum, which they’d then have to regain. This has led to me seeing some truly horrendous driving. Motorised bullying.

I think when they get off the motorway, they’re still in the same mindset. Can’t stop, can’t slow down. If that means they got a choice between slowing or squeezing a cyclist……
 

Tetedelacourse

New Member
Location
Rosyth
gambatte said:
I think one problem with National Express drivers is that they spend the majority of their driving time on intercity routes, which inherently means motorway driving. To maintain at least the maximum speed they’re legally allowed to drive, they don’t like to lose momentum, which they’d then have to regain. This has led to me seeing some truly horrendous driving. Motorised bullying.

I think when they get off the motorway, they’re still in the same mindset. Can’t stop, can’t slow down. If that means they got a choice between slowing or squeezing a cyclist……

:biggrin::rolleyes::biggrin:
Do you have a mindset for country driving, a mindset for city driving, a mindset for suburban driving, a mindset for motorway driving etc? What happens if you get your mindsets mixed up? What happens if you fail to switch from one mode to another?

:biggrin::huh:;)
 

John the Monkey

Frivolous Cyclist
Location
Crewe
Good on you for having the presence of mind to remember the details. A double decker passed me that close once, but relief at surviving made me forget to get any details :/

I'd assume his "You need to remember you're not a car" statement is about you having the temerity to be on the road rather than a nice cycle lane :biggrin:

Hope something comes of the complaint.
 
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