Nearly taken out by a coach

[Matthew_T]

Well I was on my way to college and approaching a roundabout. A large yellow coach started to overtake me as the cars in front of it were slowing down for the roundabout. About half of the coach passed me when I realised I would have to do something to not get killed.
I decided to go in front of the bus and looked at the driver (didnt say any expletives to him) and said "What was that?" to which he gave me the 'V' sign.

After the rounadbout, the bus then overtook me and the driver purposefully swerved into my path and forced me to stop to avoid a collision.

This happened at about 8.40 this morning and the bus was full of school children. I have already reported the incident to the police and will be giving in a statement on Friday as I was sure he would have knocked me off if he had the chance. I was fearing for my safety throughout the whole incident.

I do however require the full details of the bus for the statement. It was a yellow Apline Travel coach with the reg plate TIB 9157.

 

[fossyant]

Well, the driver will be in serious trouble being a school bus. Have you contacted the coach company !

 

[Matthew_T]

Well, the driver will be in serious trouble being a school bus. Have you contacted the coach company !

Not yet, but I think it would be better for the police to do that. I am certainly going to be taking this as far as possible. I am not going to be happy knowing that the driver is still on the roads annd in control of a bus full of children and driving in the manner he was.

 

[fossyant]

I would phone the bus company or at least write to them. Not acceptable driving from a school bus driver.

 

[Matthew_T]

I would phone the bus company or at least write to them. Not acceptable driving from a school bus driver.

But am I allowed to contact the bus company as I have now reported the incident to the police?

 

[HovR]

• About half of the coach passed me when I realised I would have to do something to not get killed.
• I [then] decided to go in front of the bus
• The bus then overtook me and the driver purposefully swerved into my path

Whilst the bad driving obviously wasn't your fault, I can't help but think there was something you could have done to avoid the second half of the incident..

 

[Matthew_T]

Whilst the bad driving obviously wasn't your fault, I can't help but think there was something you could have done to avoid the second half of the incident..

I understand that people will say "You should have dropped back behind the bus" but I just wouldnt have been able to stop in time before the roundabout if I had done that.
What I had going through my mind was "Get out of here now!" as I knew that was how cyclists were killed. There was a car in front of the bus at the roundabout so I was fairly sure that I had time to get out of the situation as quicly as possible if I went in front.

I then cycled at a moderate speed as I wanted to be able to stop quickly if he tried anything else (which proved the best option). I didnt impede his journey or anything and I certainly wasnt going to put myself in a worst position than at the start of the incident.
When he overtook me in the end, I decided to move right over into the gutter but was still forced to stop to avoid getting knocked off.

 

[HovR]

Fair enough. I was under the impression you stopped to avoid the bus, and then decided to go in front of the bus to continue your journey. I still don't really understand why you couldn't have braked but since I wasn't there I'll believe you.

 

[dan_bo]

 

[Matthew_T]

I will not upload the video until the case is closed as I have made that mistake in the past and been criticized for it.

 

[redcard]

About half of the coach passed me when I realised I would have to do something to not get killed.....
I decided to go in front of the bus and looked at the driver

:confused:

 

[Matthew_T]

I still don't really understand why you couldn't have braked but since I wasn't there I'll believe you.

You have hit the nail on the head there. Going in front was the first option I thought of and I decided to just take the chance.

I understand that some people will say that I should have just gone behind, but unless you were there, it is difficult to say. I just didnt want to get squashed and thought that if I was right in front of the driver and made sure he saw me, he wouldnt do it again. Little did I know that this driver was totally insane.

 

[Cyclopathic]

When I read the title I thought it was going to be about a coach trip.

 

[Bengarbage]

i was thinking you nearly landed a date with the local football coach

 

[green1]

Am I the only person who thinks Matthew really really needs to learn how to drive? so he has some understanding of the drivers perspective? Yes there are knobs about, but it seems like you go about dealing with situations that only aggravates potential conflict with other road users and/or pedestrians.