My First Altercation

[Jezston]

Well, I've had the odd beep and jeering boy racers before, but on this morning's commute I had my first serious altercation with a motorist, or rather a bus driver in this case.

I wonder if it's because I rode past him earlier in the journey and would have held him back whilst maneuvering past parked vehicles that he decided to put the frighteners up me, but the guy very nearly killed me for whatever reason.

So I'm riding up the cycle lane visible on the left here:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&s...=Otr0a4QYVH24dTAs6fH94A&cbp=12,292.36,,0,9.54

And the bus driver is in the road besides me - as in right beside me, then without indication suddenly starts pulling in to the cycle lane, leaving me nowhere to go with the big kerb besides me (despite my shouting!) but to break hard and hope for the best. Fortunately he's past me before I'm crushed. He wasn't even pulling in to stop at a bus stop, as he sails past the next stop, which is some way away.

With the blast of adrenaline the panic gives me (and the busy traffic), I'm able to catch him at the following bus stop, pull up to his driver window and give him a right good rollocking. The guy won't even look at me, just keeps his eyes fixed on his rear view mirror. I bang on the window - nothing. call him a d*** head and ride on. A few minutes later the adrenaline wears off and I'm done. Have to sit down for about five minutes letting it all sink in and getting my breath back before I can get back on the bike.

[insert expletitive here]

In better news, I've got a good description of the driver, and with only one bus an hour doing this route it should be pretty easy for his employers to establish who he is. I'll accept nothing less than a full apology on the phone or in person from this driver directly.

 

[phil_hg_uk]

Nasty glad you are ok.

I had a 4x4 do the exact same thing to me a couple of weeks ago although I was able to beat the car until she woke up and moved out just before she would have crushed me.

 

[Garz]

Hi Jezston, sad to hear of your escapade.

What is even more shocking is that this story is similar to my experience. I dont even commute and one sunday I took an 18-mile round trip to manchester and back to pickup a cycle computer from a shop.

A bus driver almost squashed me in the same manner and too ignored me when I wanted to break his face later on. There will be a handful of good drivers out there but I now grade Lorry, Bus, Taxi drivers all as complete morons with disregard for rules/safety. As they are in their seat all day they think they own the roads and try get away with bad driving too often.

The way I handled it still applies now, that expect these people to be idiots/peanuts and move cautiously around them. Still enjoy your rides though!

 

[Banjo]

Sad to say this type of thing isnt uncommon Report him definitely. A proffesional driver should be way above that level. Report to police and bus company.

I treat all drivers as if a, they havent seen me and b, they may do something stupid even if they have.

99 /100 drivers are great, it really is the minority that behave like this but its difficult to pick them out. I have had boyracers with go faster stripes and blaring music treat me with great respect and pensioners in their sunday best nearly knock me off by passing too close, there is no way of knowing who is who out there.

 

[Jezston]

I wonder, did the driver do anything illegal by doing this, that I could report him to the police for?

Sadly it appears Trent Barton's customer services is an answerphone at the moment.

Banjo: that's not a Kona Dew in your avatar is it?

 

[on the road]

I hope you got the serial number of the bus, or they might try to brush you off.

 

[StuartG]

Yes - do make sure you report him if you have the registration or other identifier. Even if you don't get a result it will probably lie in the file. All drivers make mistakes and some cyclists over react - but if a particular driver starts to accumulate an unusual number of complaints then its going to be a stupid bus company that does nothing about it in the long run.

 

[Banjo]

I wonder, did the driver do anything illegal by doing this, that I could report him to the police for?

Sadly it appears Trent Barton's customer services is an answerphone at the moment.

Banjo: that's not a Kona Dew in your avatar is it?

Im fairly certain that pulling across into the cycle lane forcing you to take evasive action would be commiting an offence.If he claims he didnt see you he is admitting driving without due care and attention if he claims he knew you were there then he is admitting dangerous driving.

Bike in the Avatar is my Trek Valencia

I nearly entered into an altercation 30 minutes ago.I m at the stop line waiting to turn right from a sidestreet into a bigger road in town,

Car coming from my right is indicating to turn left but I think he isnt quite slowing down enough so wait then he realizes this isnt the street he wants and sails straight across with indicator still blinking :-( I could have caught him at the lights but didnt ,partly as it was going out of my way to catch him and partly because he looked like an old duffer who should have gone to spec savers.

A bus driver is a different thing though.He should be setting proffesional standards not using the size of his vehicle to intimidate other road users.

Stay safe out there mate .

 

[SavageHoutkop]

Sympathies, I had one do a similar to me about a month back. Had no reply from the email I sent to the company either (am about to go higher up the ladder...)
In my case the driver accused me of not looking when I pulled out to overtake!?! Either he's smoking something or I did annoy him further back down the road, but that's still no reason to try squash me!

Garz - what company / route was it?

 

[Jezston]

Well I've heard back from customer services at Trent Barton who say they have passed on the info to the depot for them to check the CCTV on the bus, which when I made a complaint a couple of years ago (after a bus driver almost ran me over when I tried to flag him down as a passenger) they actually did, so I'm hopeful something will come of this.

Police sadly said they can't do anything without witnesses, by which they mean they won't get anywhere without witnesses so can't be bothered.

 

[Tharg2007]

the police are lying, they can do something, the driver was driving dangerously, you are entitled to a crime number and them paying him a visit, also it needs to be recorded. Even if it doesnt come to anything the record is there and if he squashes someone next week that will count against him.

Hes not an ex ariva driver is he?

 

[2Loose]

Sorry to hear about this, Trent Barton have a great customer service reputation, so I hope you get an apology.

 

[Garz]

Garz - what company / route was it?

It was coming down towards cheetham hill on the a665 from whitefield, one of the regular buses. At the time I was pissed off and too busy ensuring I wasn't being the dangerous vulnerable cyclist to think of taking his plate and route number to complain.

Was very dangerous, clipped in and cringing for impact before I managed to stop - the bodywork brushed my arm/brake-hoods.

 

[max123]

I was forced off the road by a bus recently. The driver passed in front of me, and then pulled in to the side leaving me with no space. I caught up by Old Street roundabout, banged on the window, and asked what his problem was. The driver kept saying he was on diversion....not sure why that meant he had to run me over! A police car then pulled up and told the driver he was at fault and he should be more careful. At the time it was good to have them confirm the fault, but considering the penalties for parking your car on a yellow line (i've just been caught) surely running someone off the road should get more than a verbal warning?

 

[John the Monkey]

In my case the driver accused me of not looking when I pulled out to overtake!?!

I had that from the Finglands driver who knocked me off after tailgating me all the way (pretty much) from just after Owens Park. This guy tried to beat me around a parked DHL van and seriously underestimated my speed (pulled in and cut me off, basically).

Finglands and Magic Bus are the ones to watch for in Manchester, ime. Finglands because they're impatient enough to be dangerous, and Magic Bus because they have a few drivers who are actively malicious.