Woodcote high school minibus driver

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

i would show the school without preaching hc rules. one thing that stood out for me the most was his lack of reducing his maniacal speed. what was he thinking cruising at that speed in that situation? if any of the doors on them cars had opened, how would he have slowed down to stop an incident? what if a kid had stepped into the road? the way he treated you was pretty bad, but come on gaz, you did try to bully him a little bit too (i do it sometimes too). but that does not excuse his behaviour and bad driving.

 

[BentMikey]

Gaz was not across the white line in the moments before the incident, and the driver was. End of story.

 

[dondare]

Gaz was not across the white line in the moments before the incident, and the driver was. End of story.

Now I'm just going to be pedantic for the sake of it.

There is no white line uphill of that bit so the driver was not over it.

 

[BentMikey]

Sorry, I meant he was across the centreline of the road, and he was about to be over the actual white line within moments. He's wrong is all.

 

[mr_cellophane]

No one has mentioned the one arm steering
I would assume he is a teacher and not a full time driver. If so this is worse. I would contact the school and the head of the Governors.

 

[BentMikey]

No one has mentioned the one arm steering
I would assume he is a teacher and not a full time driver. If so this is worse. I would contact the school and the head of the Governors.

Oh yes someone has - check the comments on the video.

 

[mr_cellophane]

Oh yes someone has - check the comments on the video.

Who was that ?

I just meant on these forums, I did see you Youtube comment.

 

[BSRU]

Oh yes someone has - check the comments on the video.

Me

 

[wafflycat]

That was a bad bit of driving..

 

[benb]

Whereabouts was this?

 

[gaz]

Croham park avenue in south Croydon.

 

[Camgreen]

Certainly a case for both parties to have yielded in this situation. Just taking Gaz's presence out of the discussion for a moment, looking at the footage, the mini-bus driver does appear to be travelling faster than the road conditions (i.e narrow road, parked cars, residential area etc) should have dictated. Given that the driver was carrying students, he should have been driving with a modicum of caution and certainly both hands on the wheel.

Difficult to pinpoint where Gaz could've pulled in from the footage (though he concedes it was possible); the mini-bus was visible from quite early on and so presumably the driver had equally as good a view of what was coming towards him? All boils down to hazard perception again. Both parties could have anticipated the potential hazard before them and taken some precautionary action; the difference is the vehicle could've caused untold damage both to Gaz and possibly the students travelling in the vehicle.

Maybe the sun impaired the driver's vision; maybe the kiddiewinkies were causing a distraction (I've been there); maybe the driver miscalculated his manoeuvre and then panicked. Alternatively as asserted already maybe they were guilty of boorish driving. Whatever, it's not a safe situation, and certainly something the school should be addressing.

 

[benb]

Not that far from me then - I'm in Epsom.
I'll keep an eye out for it and make sure I give it a wide berth!

 

[dondare]

Certainly a case for both parties to have yielded in this situation. Just taking Gaz's presence out of the discussion for a moment, looking at the footage, the mini-bus driver does appear to be travelling faster than the road conditions (i.e narrow road, parked cars, residential area etc) should have dictated. Given that the driver was carrying students, he should have been driving with a modicum of caution and certainly both hands on the wheel.

Difficult to pinpoint where Gaz could've pulled in from the footage (though he concedes it was possible); the mini-bus was visible from quite early on and so presumably the driver had equally as good a view of what was coming towards him? All boils down to hazard perception again. Both parties could have anticipated the potential hazard before them and taken some precautionary action; the difference is the vehicle could've caused untold damage both to Gaz and possibly the students travelling in the vehicle.

Maybe the sun impaired the driver's vision; maybe the kiddiewinkies were causing a distraction (I've been there); maybe the driver miscalculated his manoeuvre and then panicked. Alternatively as asserted already maybe they were guilty of boorish driving. Whatever, it's not a safe situation, and certainly something the school should be addressing.

No point in both parties yielding; one waits for the other to go through.
Custom and Law give priority to the driver (a term that in law also applies to cyclists) travelling uphill.
Also the onus is on the driver of the more dangerous vehicle to avoid accidents. The bus should have been going a lot slower in the first instance and should not have attempted to go through the gap until the road ahead was clear.
If the driver's view was obstructed or if he was dazzled by sunlight or distracted by kids then all the more reason to drive with care and caution.

 

[Camgreen]

No point in both parties yielding; one waits for the other to go through.
Custom and Law give priority to the driver (a term that in law also applies to cyclists) travelling uphill.
Also the onus is on the driver of the more dangerous vehicle to avoid accidents. The bus should have been going a lot slower in the first instance and should not have attempted to go through the gap until the road ahead was clear.
If the driver's view was obstructed or if he was dazzled by sunlight or distracted by kids then all the more reason to drive with care and caution.

Just clarify, I wasn't trying to excuse the driver; it's a poor piece of driving; for the reasons we've both covered he should have used the hazard perception skills he must undoubtedly employed when passing Part 1 of his Driving Test.