Rear-ended by a bus, my fault apparently!

[BentMikey]

TC, please do claim for the wheel - that's the best way to bring home the fault of that collision to the bus driver. You'll be doing everyone else who cycles in London a favour - that sort of thing gets around and makes sure that bus drivers behave around us.

 

[hackbike 666]

Sometimes it just doesn't work like that. I've certainly woken up the next day thinking I should have pursued a more, er, robust course of action.

Fair enough....point being...and this applies to work is they want us to get a report in as soon as possible after the incident.

So what about that crap driving of that Leyton bus garage bus which is posted on Utube would it have been worth making up a disk and dropping it off at the garage?

 

[swee'pea99]

If a bus shunted you I would have thought it was the bus's fault.

As I understand it, the law is absolutely clear on this. Unless you were going in reverse when hit, it was their fault. Period. My dad shunted a car parked where it shouldn't have been on a bridge once. No defense. You have to be able to stop, whatever happens in front. If you can't, then you haven't left an adequate gap and/or weren't paying attention.

It's disgraceful that the cops seem to have been unaware of this. Complain. Two bus drivers and two cops need a good talking to.

(D'oh...came late, failed to notice all the intervening action - still, I stand by it.)

 

[Globalti]

Er... a single solitary word in support of bus drivers here? The problem with buses is that they tend to be full of people, some of whom may be standing up and walking around at some times. Bus drivers are taught that their primary responsibility is for the safety of their passengers and if it's a choice between braking sharply and causing a passenger to fall and injure themselves or braking gently and letting the bodywork collect a dent, the bodywork gets it first. Bus drivers have to deal with some unbelievable scum, nasty, rude arrogant people who swear at them, argue about fares, vandalise their buses and even threaten them with violence. I know this because I know two bus drivers both of whom hate their jobs and can't wait to retire. Both are careful and professional drivers who make every effort to give their passengers a smooth ride.

If it just happened that the OP stopped a little abruptly in front of a bus I can understand why the driver may have judged it a bit fine and ended up contacting the OP's rear wheel. Not an excuse because the bus was probably following too close but if ever bus gave every cyclist masses of spare room I suspect they wouldn't make much forward progress.

Just my ha'p'orth in the interest of my pals.

 

[summerdays]

Er... a single solitary word in support of bus drivers here? The problem with buses is that they tend to be full of people, some of whom may be standing up and walking around at some times. Bus drivers are taught that their primary responsibility is for the safety of their passengers and if it's a choice between braking sharply and causing a passenger to fall and injure themselves or braking gently and letting the bodywork collect a dent, the bodywork gets it first. Bus drivers have to deal with some unbelievable scum, nasty, rude arrogant people who swear at them, argue about fares, vandalise their buses and even threaten them with violence. I know this because I know two bus drivers both of whom hate their jobs and can't wait to retire. Both are careful and professional drivers who make every effort to give their passengers a smooth ride.

If it just happened that the OP stopped a little abruptly in front of a bus I can understand why the driver may have judged it a bit fine and ended up contacting the OP's rear wheel. Not an excuse because the bus was probably following too close but if ever bus gave every cyclist masses of spare room I suspect they wouldn't make much forward progress.

Just my ha'p'orth in the interest of my pals.

But if the bus driver did that explained and then asked in a concerned way about the cyclist ... and passed on their contact/insurance details that would be fine... They DIDN'T

 

[BentMikey]

@Globalti, I suggest you read the OP again - there's very little doubt it's purely the bus driver's fault for following far too closely.

 

[swee'pea99]

But if the bus driver did that explained and then asked in a concerned way about the cyclist ... and passed on their contact/insurance details that would be fine... They DIDN'T

Hate to be a hard-liner here, but it wouldn't. It would be better, but it wouldn't be fine. And while I have every sympathy for bus drivers, and recognise their skill in giving their passengers a smooth ride, the fact remains that if one drives into the back of another road user, it's their fault, and no, it's not fine, whatever they then go on to do. They compounded the original sin in this case, but it's the original sin that's most important. Competent professional drivers - any competent drivers for that matter - don't hit people. End of.

 

[summerdays]

Sorry I meant that it would go some way to explaining why ...and I also should have written it the other way around so that the driver was first concerned about the cyclists and then explained why they had made that difficult decision ... after they had seen the little old lady standing up in the bus of course.

 

[hackbike 666]

Yes I can appreciate that a bus drivers job is not a happy lot sometimes...that's why I didn't want to become a bus driver....get enough of this crap in my job.Not as much as a bus driver obviously.

 

[TwickenhamCyclist]

*** UPDATE ***​

​

​

Wrote to the bus company and claimed £70 odd for the wheel – got a call from their insurance department to say they had received the claim and then heard nothing for a couple of months.



In the end I called them and spoke to the claims handler, who was pretty adamant the accident was my fault - quote “because the bus driver and the witness (another bus driver) said it was your fault.”



There then followed a rather lengthy exchange during which I was assured the accident was defiantly my fault because i “slowed down rather quickly and didn’t give the bus driver a chance – and I think you’ll find, in a court of law, the judge will side with us…” to which I begged to differ; “So if I hit a pot hole and fell off, stopping suddenly, and one of your drivers was following me so close behind that they couldn’t stop and ran over me, that would be my fault as well would it?”



Claims bloke said that wasn’t what he had said and remained adamant that if a bus went into the back of a cyclist it would, in the eyes of a court, be seen as the cyclist’s fault. So I said I’d like to go up in front of a judge and let him/her decide the matter. Claims bloke replied that the cheque would be in the post that afternoon – “even though the “accident” was your fault” - lol



Can’t help but think that London Buses/Transdev are a load of self-gratification artists based on my experience…

 

[Ben M]

*** UPDATE ***​

What a bunch of tools, glad to hear that you stuck up for yourself and got what you deserved by way of remuneration.

 

[BSRU]

He was so adamant he was right he gave you a cheque anyway. He knows he hasn't a hope in hell in court, he was obviously hoping you were a bit thick and would believe him.

 

[Davywalnuts]

He was so adamant he was right he gave you a cheque anyway. He knows he hasn't a hope in hell in court, he was obviously hoping you were a bit thick and would believe him.

+1. Gets me soo annoyed they think they can talk to us like that when they know they are in the wrong.

Well done for seeing it through!

 

[iendicott]

What a complete crock of sh#t.. If someone slams into the back of you it's there fault for following to close and not paying attention... rules are rules, also I thought you had to have 2 independent witnesses to back up a claim, not to mates who work for the same company.

A lady at work was walking down the road last year and the mirror of the bus which sticks out by at least a foot cliiped her quite hard and left a bruse whilst she was on the path, the bus company didn't want to know.

Now where is that smilie for wa#nk#r....

 

[fossyant]

Bank the cheque and write a really snotty letter to them !

If their claims person was being professional, he'd say they are sending you a cheque for the damage, but that is not an admission of liability. Simples...........