Ok. Lets clear a few things up once and for all.
The cyclist was FULLY aware of the bus behind him. He was doing what I would do in that situation and was looking around every few seconds to:
a) see what the bus was doing and
try to encourage the bus to pull back
My description of 2-3 meters was in fact quite generous. In fact the bus may have been more like 1-2 metres behind at one point and we were traveling at about 15-18mph. I know that in these sorts of incidents it is easy to exaggerate how close the bus was, so I am erring on the side of caution. Lee, what is the stopping distance of a 25 seater bus at this sort of speed. Quote me this and then justify your comments about 2-3m being far enough.
When I asked the driver, why did he hit his horn, he did not reply : to let the cyclist know I was there. His reply (and I have this recorded) was:
How much room did he want?
That to me suggests VERY strongly that the driver hit his horn out of frustration and aggression. I can also confirm (as I was there) that this is exactly how it seemed at the time.
Hackers, I am really sorry if you take offence at what I say. None is ever meant (although you often take things personally, when that is not the intent.). However, I will not tip toe around to keep you happy. Cycling in the door zone is dangerous. People get killed, as my bosses friend did, who apparently was a very experienced cyclist.
This particular stretch is a very busy road where space is tight. In the attached aerial picture, the road is actually quiet with much fewer parked cars than normal. When busy the cars are nose to tail all the way along this road (the incident happened further along away from the bus stops). You can see that there is little space when traffic is going both ways.
Also as there are often so many parked cars, to cycle along here, constantly looking to see if there is anyone in each car would be impossible and downright dangerous. So Hackers, if you think this is a reasonable way to cycle, then fair enough, but I certainly will never encourage anyone else to cycle like that.
As for doing the right thing by talking to the driver, yes I think I did do the right thing. However, I should have said something earlier when he was tailgating the cyclist. However, I can now use this incident as an opportunity to put pressure on Arriva to take this seriously and to maybe take part in some sort of campaign. I'll be CCing the e-mail I send to Arriva to a reporter at the Evening Times (who has asked me to keep him informed of any developments since the First Bus story). That might help get things moving.....
The cyclist was FULLY aware of the bus behind him. He was doing what I would do in that situation and was looking around every few seconds to:
a) see what the bus was doing and
try to encourage the bus to pull backMy description of 2-3 meters was in fact quite generous. In fact the bus may have been more like 1-2 metres behind at one point and we were traveling at about 15-18mph. I know that in these sorts of incidents it is easy to exaggerate how close the bus was, so I am erring on the side of caution. Lee, what is the stopping distance of a 25 seater bus at this sort of speed. Quote me this and then justify your comments about 2-3m being far enough.
When I asked the driver, why did he hit his horn, he did not reply : to let the cyclist know I was there. His reply (and I have this recorded) was:
How much room did he want?
That to me suggests VERY strongly that the driver hit his horn out of frustration and aggression. I can also confirm (as I was there) that this is exactly how it seemed at the time.
Hackers, I am really sorry if you take offence at what I say. None is ever meant (although you often take things personally, when that is not the intent.). However, I will not tip toe around to keep you happy. Cycling in the door zone is dangerous. People get killed, as my bosses friend did, who apparently was a very experienced cyclist.
This particular stretch is a very busy road where space is tight. In the attached aerial picture, the road is actually quiet with much fewer parked cars than normal. When busy the cars are nose to tail all the way along this road (the incident happened further along away from the bus stops). You can see that there is little space when traffic is going both ways.
Also as there are often so many parked cars, to cycle along here, constantly looking to see if there is anyone in each car would be impossible and downright dangerous. So Hackers, if you think this is a reasonable way to cycle, then fair enough, but I certainly will never encourage anyone else to cycle like that.
As for doing the right thing by talking to the driver, yes I think I did do the right thing. However, I should have said something earlier when he was tailgating the cyclist. However, I can now use this incident as an opportunity to put pressure on Arriva to take this seriously and to maybe take part in some sort of campaign. I'll be CCing the e-mail I send to Arriva to a reporter at the Evening Times (who has asked me to keep him informed of any developments since the First Bus story). That might help get things moving.....
