Was this bus driver bad?

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

tdr1nka

Taking the biscuit
If you were to transpose the details of this incident to central London the cyclist would be seen as somewhere near suicidal.

If a cyclist chooses to overtake a bus that is potentially pulling out, he/she is making a dangerous choice both to enter the buses blind spot and risk not having a clear view of the road ahead in which to pull back in, in front of the bus.

As Nethalus had started indicating to pull out one can also assume that the action of the cyclist could equally be a case of sheer bloody mindedness.

T x
 

Cab

New Member
Location
Cambridge
tdr1nka said:
If you were to transpose the details of this incident to central London the cyclist would be seen as somewhere near suicidal.

If a cyclist chooses to overtake a bus that is potentially pulling out, he/she is making a dangerous choice both to enter the buses blind spot and risk not having a clear view of the road ahead in which to pull back in, in front of the bus.

As Nethalus had started indicating to pull out one can also assume that the action of the cyclist could equally be a case of sheer bloody mindedness.

The truth is we don't know and can't know why the cyclsit started to overtake the bus, it is clear that there are many reasons why a cyclist may choose to do so. There may be a car behind you (busses have a big blind spot, you may be aware of a vehicle there that the bus isn't), you might have a dodgy road surface, etc. You know the local conditions and the performance of your own vehicle, thats why its up to you and not any vehicle pulling out to decide whether to let the them out.

But none of that really comes into the play when asking whether the bus driver was wrong. You don't use the road and take positioning based on what other people are meant to do, you do so based on whats happening. What was happening here was simple; the bus driver pulled out into space that wasn't there, that wasn't safe to enter. Thats the initial mistake. You can then, when you've made an error like that, stop and let the other guy go, wave your hand in acknowledgement, or you can plough on regardless. You'll note that if someone is in the middle of overtaking you and you think they are in error, you don't try to out accelerate them, you let them go.

So, you've got a cyclist part past a bus that shouldn't have pulled out, then the bus driver acts abusive and dangerously out-accelerates and overtaking vehicle.

Its illegal, its stupid, but still its just a mistake. I'd say fine, learn and move on, but here we have the bus driver oblivious to the fact that she's made these mistakes.
 

Cab

New Member
Location
Cambridge
BentMikey said:
Oh the irony...

There are dozens of topics here on CycleChat that I'm not particularly enthralled by. My normal solution is not to read them, and not to comment on them.

I try hard not to ignore the contents and then post sniping, childish comments.
 

tdr1nka

Taking the biscuit
Cab said:
There are dozens of topics here on CycleChat that I'm not particularly enthralled by. My normal solution is not to read them, and not to comment on them.

I try hard not to ignore the contents and then post sniping, childish comments.

Not trying nearly hard enough methinks.

We have to agree to disagree on this one Cab, and please can you stop forcing the issue like you're trying to unblock a sink full of fat.

Until the next thread,

T x
 

domtyler

Über Member
Cab, you had the argument won in your first few posts at which point most people would have stopped. Well done. What have you gained by banging on for another two hundred and fifty posts effectively repeatedly saying the same thing?

And then you wonder why people find you so mind numbingly boring!! Please just stop.
 
domtyler said:
Cab, you had the argument won in your first few posts at which point most people would have stopped. Well done. What have you gained by banging on for another two hundred and fifty posts effectively repeatedly saying the same thing?

And then you wonder why people find you so mind numbingly boring!! Please just stop.

Oooooohhhh nooooo he didn't.........

It is pantomime season after all:biggrin:;)
 

Cab

New Member
Location
Cambridge
gambatte said:
? missed this bit?
Where did she say she accelerated once she'd seen the cyclist?

First page:

The cyclist shouted "Oi thanks mate" as the bus continued to move. So the bus driver opened the cab window and stuck twos up at the cyclist before accelerating away.

She's also told us about the acceleration of the bus, i.e. it was a sluggish vehicle accelerating slowly away from the stop when she spotted the bike.

She pulled out into space that wasn't safe to move into, as evidenced by the presence of a cyclist in it, and then rather than stopping to let the bike go (aklnowledging her mistake) she continued to accelerate away, i.e. after her first mistake she out-accelerated a vehicle that was in the process of overtaking her. Which is, as you know, illegal and dangerous.
 

col

Legendary Member
Cab said:
I dunno, I guess I just feel that people who can't see that they've made a mistake that could endanger others and then deal with that reasonably have no business being in control of any vehicle. Admittedly that would mean that something like a third of all road users would be out of action...



Your so full of it sometimes ,arnt you.Your making things up,then the insults ,in a roundabout sort of way.You obviously cant accept that the bike was not there when the bus started to move.It seems you do have a strong dislike to buses for some reason,i would seek help on this.:evil:
 

Cab

New Member
Location
Cambridge
col said:
Your so full of it sometimes ,arnt you.Your making things up,then the insults ,in a roundabout sort of way.You obviously cant accept that the bike was not there when the bus started to move.It seems you do have a strong dislike to buses for some reason,i would seek help on this.:evil:

Whether the bus driver saw the bicycle or not before moving is irrelevent; the fact is that the cyclist was there so the bus driver was in error. Its that simple. If the bus driver then, on spotting that she should not have been moving out was to acknowledge that then fine. If the bus driver was then to do the safe thing and stop, then fine. What the bus driver did was continue to try to out-accelerate a bike that was half way around when she spotted the cyclist.

None of us know why the bike went past the bus, we can't know, but we do know that there are valid reasons for doing so.
 

col

Legendary Member
She pulled out into space that wasn't safe to move into


Im sure your just winding us all up now.
 

Cab

New Member
Location
Cambridge
col said:
Im sure your just winding us all up now.

You pull in to space that makes another road user to have to brake or swerve, you're in the wrong. It isn't safe, nor is it legal. You know this to be true. Why argue otherwise?
 
Top Bottom