Very poor bus driving

[magnatom]

Grrr!

I had to pop to the university to give a lecture this afternoon, so I took public transport. On the way back the small bus I was on, Arriva No 59, comes up to a cyclist, going a reasonable pace along Govan Road. There are cars parked on both sides, a constant stream of cars coming the other way, so there was no room for overtake. So instead of waiting behind patiently he goes right up (probably 2-3m back) from the cyclist.

I would actually say that the cyclist was riding poorly, i.e. in the door zone, however, part of that might have had something to do with the 3 tonne bus behind him. The driver then toots his horn and then proceeds to pass within touching distance of the cyclist.

At this point I can't hold back and I shout, what was that for, what did the cyclist do wrong. Silence, and a couple of glares from the passangers.

Anyway I get off a short distance up the road and I switched my mobile to video. I ask the driver why he hit his horn.

driver: How much room did he what?
Me: He has the right to as much room as he needs.., you were right up his ar*e
Driver: He was half way across the lane (He was not!)
Me: That was to try and prevent you overtaking dangerously

My video cut out at this point. But the conversation went along the lines of,

Driver: and what is it to you?
Me: I'm a cyclist and so I understand what the problem was
Driver: I'm a cyclist too. I don't cycle like that.
Me: Oh right....

Driver: right get aff ma bus... (It was my stop).

During this time I can hear the odd tut from the passangers. Blimey, I must have held them up 20 seconds

I'll see if I can get the audio online tomorrow, and I sense a very strong letter to Arriva forming...

His driving was really really bad. If that cyclist had hit a pothole, had a car door open on him, etc!!

 

[magnatom]

I think you are being a bit melodramatic?

The use of the horn was to let the cyclist know that the bus is there, 2-3m behind the cyclist is more then enough.

I don't understand your post you say that the cyclist was in the door zone, yet it is implied from the driver and your response that the cyclist ''was half way across the lane''

You weren't there, so how can you make that comment! I can assure you, that the horn was not to let the cyclist know he was there, he was fully aware of that.

Any yes he was in the door zone, so the driver was making up an excuse for hitting his horn. I thought that would be obvious.

Please don't try and second guess a situation.

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

Yeah - use of the horn to let the cyclist know you're there in a huge bus sounding like a tank behind him... you'd never know if it wasn't for the horn sounds, eh?

 

[magnatom]

I'm not, just trying to understand.

The driver mentions that ''He was halfway across the lane''

and your response was ''That was to try to prevent you from overtaking dangerously''

If he was indeed in the ''door zone'' why did you say what you did.

Why not say ''He was not and you performed a dangerous maneuver and I am going to report you''

Because in a situation where time is limited, you only have a few seconds to think and respond. I don't always have the perfect reply, do you?

 

[Crackle]

Well done Magnatom, it's all too easy not to get involved.

 

[magnatom]

Well done Magnatom, it's all too easy not to get involved.

I should have got involved earlier, though..

 

[wafflycat]

I think you are being a bit melodramatic?

The use of the horn was to let the cyclist know that the bus is there, 2-3m behind the cyclist is more then enough.

I don't understand your post you say that the cyclist was in the door zone, yet it is implied from the driver and your response that the cyclist ''was half way across the lane''

As a cyclist, I know if there's a bloody great bus attempting to take me by the arse without the driver actually using his horn...

 

[DJ]

I know I wouldn't have done what you did and tackle the driver!

Having said that my sympathy lies with the cyclist,being hounded by the bus, and maybe the driver will think about his driving a little more in future?

The site of a cyclist being scissored in between the cars and the bus, would make the passengers do alot more than tut! So the tutting classes can tut off as far as I am concerned. I hate all that tutting that goes on.

 

[Jake]

tut

 

[wafflycat]

The bus driver does not know that though does he? Maybe taking into account the poor riding of the cyclist as mentioned in the OP. Maybe the driver of the bus thought it best to give a quick blast of the horn.

Then he has the mental capacity of a retarded amoeba and should not be allowed to drive...

 

[Cab]

The use of the horn was to let the cyclist know that the bus is there, 2-3m behind the cyclist is more then enough.

I know that everyone else seems to be bringing you up on this point too, but...

What?

I mean...

What?

So theres a bus six to nine feet behind you, you're riding along and he's there with his mammoth vehicle with its massive, noisy engine, and he's about as far behind you as you are tall (or half as much again), so he's right up your arse and, should you stop suddenly or come off, waaaaaaaay to close to be able to stop in time... And you've not only got no problem with that, but you think that you might not have noticed he was there so sounding his horn is reasonable?

What planet do you cycle on? Is it one where there is nearly no air so that sound barely travels?

 

[DJ]

tut

King Tut!

 

[Andy 71]

Well done Mag.

Most of the London cyclists on this forum know exactly what that honk meant.

It means 'Get out of my effin way, you're 'blocking' the road'.

You did the right thing. And anyone who thinks that rebuking someone trying to intimidate a cyclist is 'melodramatic' doesn't know their a**e from their elbow.

 

[Cab]

Well done Mag.

+1

Although I wouldn't have been so reticent in telling the driver how it is; you don't open a discussion on this kind of thing, just tell the dude how far in the wrong he was, and how you're going to report it to his superiors. Don't let him come back at you with BS about being a cyclist, don't waste your time listening to his rubbish responses.

 

[wafflycat]

Ha..you'd be surprised waffle, many a time I've come across a cyclist that hasn't a clue what they are doing and would appear completely oblivious to all around them (most on their ipods). A quick blast of the horn I find ''wakes'' them up. They then turn around and...low and behold what is that big truck doing behind me slapped all over their face.

If that big truck is so close it causes that level of expression, one wonders what the driver is going to do if the cyclist has to do an emergency stop...