Response from bus company

[Hip Priest]

Nobbut seriously, how can he have gone through all the training they boast about on their website and still come out with that load of old trousers, it's like saying it's ok to run people over on zebra crossings if they have red trousers on.

Hang on..

He looked like he was getting on a bit. Set in his ways. Last time he checked his mirrors he saw a Ford Consul.

 

[markharry66]

if it happens to you. You will be obsessive. Just seems Matts threads seem to attract their fair amount of trolling posts. Which is a shame as he does seem to contribute quite a bit. Most of it useful, some of it not so useful but he makes a massive effort on his part

 

[Hip Priest]

if it happens to you. You will be obsessive. Just seems Matts threads seem to attract their fair amount of trolling posts. Which is a shame as he does seem to contribute quite a bit. Most of it useful, some of it not so useful but he makes a massive effort on his part

I cycle 4000 miles a year, about half of which is city commuting. So believe me, I've had my fair share of dodgy overtakes from buses.

 

[Frood42]

I have cycled 5,500 miles this year so far, around Central London, Epping, Ilford, Chelsea and Kew. Most bus drivers have been courteous, and in all those miles I have had 2 dodgy passes, and 1 attempted dodgy pass by buses.

My biggest issues have been with ignorant private drivers or impatient taxi drivers (my only almost off was caused by a taxi while I was riding a "Boris" bike).

 

[jarlrmai]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the standard of driving is worse in certain areas than others, Matt's monthly close pass compilations show a greater number of dangerously close passes than I experience.

The types of roads you cycle on affect it as well, busy fast (40) single carriage way roads with parked cars and pinch points tend to give me most issues especially with lots of oncoming traffic.

 

[Hip Priest]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the standard of driving is worse in certain areas than others, Matt's monthly close pass compilations show a greater number of dangerously close passes than I experience.

The types of roads you cycle on affect it as well, busy fast (40) single carriage way roads with parked cars and pinch points tend to give me most issues especially with lots of oncoming traffic.

It's a matter of perception also. One man's dangerously close pass is another man's non-event.

When I go out with the club, we sometimes get passes that I would consider too close, but no-one flinches, let alone complains.

 

[jarlrmai]

Yeah you get used to it, it's called conditioning I see the same thing with club riders when I ride with them I put it down to possibly misplaced confidence and just having got used to it.

A pass can be too close but it the speed delta is okay and you have a fixed line and escape and a clear road ahead and you can see where the car is going it can feel fine, its the really high speed ones and the slow ones where you can see the danger up ahead i.e. a pinch point or a parked car or oncoming traffic that really shoot you up, if there's any reason that the overtake could turn into a sideswipe then that's the real danger.

It doesn't make it okay though.

 

[Davidsw8]

I think the main issue here isn't especially the close pass, it's the unprofessional hand-gesturing driver and his idiot colleague who seem ignorant of what constitutes fair consideration for cyclists.

 

[jarlrmai]

Of course the problem is not just the pass it's the attitude that engendered the pass.

 

[Hip Priest]

I think the main issue here isn't especially the close pass, it's the unprofessional hand-gesturing driver and his idiot colleague who seem ignorant of what constitutes fair consideration for cyclists.

You're absolutely right, but I was responding to Mark, who said 'if it happens to you. You will be obsessive.'

My point is that it wouldn't have happened to me. I wouldn't have pointed to a headcam, so I wouldn't have been given the finger. And I wouldn't have followed the driver to the station, so I wouldn't have had to speak to those nobber bus drivers.

In fact I'd have forgotten all about it in minutes, and would be happier as a result.

 

[Davidsw8]

You're absolutely right, but I was responding to Mark, who said 'if it happens to you. You will be obsessive.'

My point is that it wouldn't have happened to me. I wouldn't have pointed to a headcam, so I wouldn't have been given the finger. And I wouldn't have followed the driver to the station, so I wouldn't have had to speak to those nobber bus drivers.

In fact I'd have forgotten all about it in minutes, and would be happier as a result.

Fair enough.

On one hand, I agree that Matthew took it further than most of us would have done, but on the other, whatever the circumstances it got revealed in , the 2 men from the bus company are in charge of very large vehicles and seemingly have no idea about road safety with regards to cyclists.

Matthew's interaction with them didn't cause their ignorance, and I think it's good to correct bad and potentially dangerous behaviour whenever possible...

 

[Boris Bajic]

Fair enough.

On one hand, I agree that Matthew took it further than most of us would have done, but on the other, whatever the circumstances it got revealed in , the 2 men from the bus company are in charge of very large vehicles and seemingly have no idea about road safety with regards to cyclists.

Matthew's interaction with them didn't cause their ignorance, and I think it's good to correct bad and potentially dangerous behaviour whenever possible...

A reasonable point, DSW8, but I disagree. You may be right, but I disagree. I find Matthew's aggressive and bizarrely interventionalist stance disturbing in most of the footage I've seen. There is something of the Jack Russell going on there and proportionality seems to leave the room.

This is the young man who wrote the following in a thread where video showed a cyclist passing moving traffic in a tunnel:

If I had been the lorry driver I would have accelerated, then braked hard. That could teach the idiot to be such a selfish prick.

The thread is called Crazy Cycling Through a Tunnel and this is from post #5, in which our hero also says he hopes the cyclist was hurt in a contact with a truck. One may argue that this is just Internet bravado. Matthew's videos suggest that his willingness to get into a sort of knee-jerk 'retribution mode' does not auger well for other road users.

In the movie, he'll be played by Sylvester Stallone in red tights, a cape and a helmet with a camera on it.

The end rarely justifies the means. Certainly not in the case of teens chasing down traffic offenders.

He has his supporters in this sport of his. I am not among them. Nor, I imagine, is Rhyl.

 

[Davidsw8]

A reasonable point, DSW8, but I disagree. You may be right, but I disagree. I find Matthew's aggressive and bizarrely interventionalist stance disturbing in most of the footage I've seen. There is something of the Jack Russell going on there and proportionality seems to leave the room.

This is the young man who wrote the following in a thread where video showed a cyclist passing moving traffic in a tunnel:



The thread is called Crazy Cycling Through a Tunnel and this is from post #5, in which our hero also says he hopes the cyclist was hurt in a contact with a truck. One may argue that this is just Internet bravado. Matthew's videos suggest that his willingness to get into a sort of knee-jerk 'retribution mode' does not auger well for other road users.

In the movie, he'll be played by Sylvester Stallone in red tights, a cape and a helmet with a camera on it.

The end rarely justifies the means. Certainly not in the case of teens chasing down traffic offenders.

He has his supporters in this sport of his. I am not among them. Nor, I imagine, is Rhyl.

Are you disagreeing with the actual point I made though? It sounds to me more like you're taking a personal stance against Matthew and his modus operandi rather than the actual point of addressing the behaviour of 2 bus drivers who'd quite happily see many a cyclist driven off the road.

Remove Matthew from the equation, do you feel it's ok for those 2 guys' attitudes and driving habits to pass by unchecked by anyone?

 

[Boris Bajic]

Are you disagreeing with the actual point I made though? It sounds to me more like you're taking a personal stance against Matthew and his modus operandi rather than the actual point of addressing the behaviour of 2 bus drivers who'd quite happily see many a cyclist driven off the road.

Remove Matthew from the equation, do you feel it's ok for those 2 guys' attitudes and driving habits to pass by unchecked by anyone?

I agree that the monkeys at the bus station were utterly wrong. There can be no defence for that attitude or ignorance. There is some mitigation in this case, but it makes no difference to the inexcusable ignorance.

Where I disagree is that I found Matthew's response to the initial transgression wildly disproportionate. Had he not gone all Mad Max, the (provoked) spat in the bus station wouldn't have happened.

One may argue that their behaviours would not then have been addressed. I still argue that the chasing down and the haranguing were crass, disproportionate and undignified. I may be wrong.

The attitudes shown by the other staff were wrong. But I think that here (and elsewhere) our young warrior of retribution goes too far. You seem not to. That is the point of disagreement.

Take Matthew out of the equation and there is no issue, no report, no tension, no aggression, no nothing.

Put him behind the wheel of a truck and he suggests he'll be brake-testing cyclists to show them how selfish they are. Frankly, he scares the crap out of me.

 

[Davidsw8]

I agree that the monkeys at the bus station were utterly wrong. There can be no defence for that attitude or ignorance. There is some mitigation in this case, but it makes no difference to the inexcusable ignorance.

Where I disagree is that I found Matthew's response to the initial transgression wildly disproportionate. Had he not gone all Mad Max, the (provoked) spat in the bus station wouldn't have happened.

One may argue that their behaviours would not then have been addressed. I still argue that the chasing down and the haranguing were crass, disproportionate and undignified. I may be wrong.

The attitudes shown by the other staff were wrong. But I think that here (and elsewhere) our young warrior of retribution goes too far. You seem not to. That is the point of disagreement.

Take Matthew out of the equation and there is no issue, no report, no tension, no aggression, no nothing.

Put him behind the wheel of a truck and he suggests he'll be brake-testing cyclists to show them how selfish they are. Frankly, he scares the crap out of me.

I didn't really make any comment about Matthew's response... I personally, wouldn't have chosen to react as he did but I honestly think his reaction is irrelevant in all this. As I say, take Matthew out of it, regardless of the issue, the report, the tension, the aggression - there will still be 2 incompetent men driving buses around and it can be ignored or it can be sorted out. I'd rather it were sorted out and maybe they won't hurt anyone in the future, maybe...