Girlfriend nearly knocked off bike today. Deliberately!

alexpalacefan

My partner was deliberately nudged (front of bumper into back wheel of bike) by a bus driver approaching a red light in Nottingham today. If she had come off she would have been under the wheels!

Now I wasn't there but from what she says this was a deliberate action, and when challenged the f***er just shrugged in a "what do you expect" manner.

Now I would maybe have dealt with that in a more "immediate" manner, but we are we are where we are, so how do we ensure that this chap doesn't do this again?

She was naturally shaken up, but we know the exact time, bus number and location, so I guess the fella can be traced. (No. 30, Ilkeston Rd Nr The White Horse, at about 12.45 this afternoon).

I am thinking of
letters, phone calls e-mails etc. to:
The head of the bus company
Bus comapny HR
Bus comapny H&S
Local Paper

Contact the old bill and report dangerous driving (or other offence?)

She also works for the city council, so I'm thinking via her work structure too, a formal grievance?

Any advice, anecdotes or suggestions appreciated.

Cheers,

Alex

cjcp

Report the incident to the Police and bus company. See what they say before contacting the paper.

Good luck.

Bassjunkieuk

Glad to hear your GF came away OK asides from being a little shaken up. FWIW I made a complaint about some a$$hat bus driver who overtook me only to pull in immediately at the bus stop ahead of me. Road was clear ahead and I'm no slouch so was rolling along at about 20mph.

I made a complaint via TFL's website and got a response back a few days later saying that the driver had been identified and warned. I don't know if it was a standard response e-mail and if the driver was actually spoken to but there isn't much I can do about that I guess.

When I complained I gave the bus number, location, time and date along with registration number - incident happened about 30 seconds ride from my house so I just repeated it in my head, got in and asked the wife for pen an paper! ;-)

cjcp

Yup, that's one of my pet hates. Why do they do that? Doubt they could justifiably issue response like that to Alex's GF if the bus made contact with her.

tailwindhome

alexpalacefan wrote:

She was naturally shaken up, but we know the exact time, bus number and location, so I guess the fella can be traced. (No. 30, Ilkeston Rd Nr The White Horse, at about 12.45 this afternoon).


<snip>

Contact the old bill and report dangerous driving (or other offence?)

Report it to the police

Let them decide what offences have been committed

Any chance there's CCTV in the area?

roger_merriman

WheezyMcChubby wrote:

alexpalacefan wrote:

She was naturally shaken up, but we know the exact time, bus number and location, so I guess the fella can be traced. (No. 30, Ilkeston Rd Nr The White Horse, at about 12.45 this afternoon).


<snip>

Contact the old bill and report dangerous driving (or other offence?)

Report it to the police

Let them decide what offences have been committed

Any chance there's CCTV in the area?

might just be lucky and the buses CCTV might just show driver? long shot....

Bassjunkieuk

cjcp wrote:

Yup, that's one of my pet hates. Why do they do that? Doubt they could justifiably issue response like that to Alex's GF if the bus made contact with her.

I assume it's because they are working so hard to keep the service running on time...........

redvee

A ot of buses these days have CCTV pointing forward for car drivers making use of bus lanes. The buses in Bristol have a camera visible through the windscreen but obviously don't know what arc it covers. Ask for a copy of the CCTV footage from the bus perhaps?

tardington

I took a picture of my offending bus, just so I could be sure about the reg plate.

The Lothian buses up here also have a 3 digit number on them, as well as the normal plates...

Do bus drivers generally do the same routes? Might be worth getting on that bus today and introducing yourself. No menaces mind!

stuarthop

I had to report the Rainbow 4 bus (trent barton service) from derby to nottingham last night. I've been getting the bus to work in derby this week instead of my usual cycle commute to derby and back from stapleford due to a knee injury.

The driver was openly slaging of cyclists, swearing at them, and being very very dangerous, sitting inches off their back wheels the overtaking with inches to spare at one point he was millimeters from killing a cyclist and having a head on collision with a car trying to overtake the cycle on a blind corner!

I reported via email to him to the bus company stating the bus numer, time of incedients, his registration number ect. In the comments box i wrote that I dont think that he is safe to be on the road let alone be allowed to drve a bus as a supposidly profesional driver for what i had thought until now was a reputable bus company. I also said that I think that he has some serious predujuce against cyclists and that he has some very dangerous anger management issues and that in my opinion he should be dismissed for dangerous driving.

I had an email back ths morning saying that theyre looking into the issue and will keep me updated.

benno68

redvee wrote:

A ot of buses these days have CCTV pointing forward for car drivers making use of bus lanes. The buses in Bristol have a camera visible through the windscreen but obviously don't know what arc it covers. Ask for a copy of the CCTV footage from the bus perhaps?

Doubtful that the bus company would voluntarily hand over evidence. Report it to the police and mention that you thought the bus had a camera covering the incident and leave them to it!

fatblokefromwarwick

You must report it to the bus company. They will definitely interview the driver. What comany was it?

JonS123

I thought if there was recordings on CCTV you have a right under the data protection act to request the footage

gb155

I agree, Go to the police, If there is CCTV they will check it out.

doog442

alexpalacefan wrote:

My partner was deliberately nudged (front of bumper into back wheel of bike) by a bus driver approaching a red light in Nottingham today. If she had come off she would have been under the wheels!

Now I wasn't there but from what she says this was a deliberate action, and when challenged the f***er just shrugged in a "what do you expect" manner.

Now I would maybe have dealt with that in a more "immediate" manner, but we are we are where we are, so how do we ensure that this chap doesn't do this again?

She was naturally shaken up, but we know the exact time, bus number and location, so I guess the fella can be traced. (No. 30, Ilkeston Rd Nr The White Horse, at about 12.45 this afternoon).

I am thinking of
letters, phone calls e-mails etc. to:
The head of the bus company
Bus comapny HR
Bus comapny H&S
Local Paper

Contact the old bill and report dangerous driving (or other offence?)

She also works for the city council, so I'm thinking via her work structure too, a formal grievance?

Any advice, anecdotes or suggestions appreciated.

Cheers,

Alex

shocking, bus drivers get just above the minimum wage and tend to be quite militant, to me they are worse than white van man..they hate cyclists FACT ..

spursn17

Most bus companies will take this seriously as they want to keep their routes, it should be recorded on the drivers personel file. I used to work for a bus company.

downfader

doog442 wrote:

alexpalacefan wrote:

My partner was deliberately nudged (front of bumper into back wheel of bike) by a bus driver approaching a red light in Nottingham today. If she had come off she would have been under the wheels!

Now I wasn't there but from what she says this was a deliberate action, and when challenged the f***er just shrugged in a "what do you expect" manner.

Now I would maybe have dealt with that in a more "immediate" manner, but we are we are where we are, so how do we ensure that this chap doesn't do this again?

She was naturally shaken up, but we know the exact time, bus number and location, so I guess the fella can be traced. (No. 30, Ilkeston Rd Nr The White Horse, at about 12.45 this afternoon).

I am thinking of
letters, phone calls e-mails etc. to:
The head of the bus company
Bus comapny HR
Bus comapny H&S
Local Paper

Contact the old bill and report dangerous driving (or other offence?)

She also works for the city council, so I'm thinking via her work structure too, a formal grievance?

Any advice, anecdotes or suggestions appreciated.

Cheers,

Alex

shocking, bus drivers get just above the minimum wage and tend to be quite militant, to me they are worse than white van man..they hate cyclists FACT ..

Drivers for First Southampton get £9 p/h. They're pretty good here from my experiences and they have to put up with a LOT of censored .

To the OP and anyone else in a similar situation: The Police should ALWAYS be first port of call when on the recieving end of aggression, if you're hit or clipped or had a really bad close-call. That goes for ALL road users, regardless of what they're in or on.

Tom Butcher

stuarthop wrote:

I had to report the Rainbow 4 bus (trent barton service) from derby to nottingham last night. I've been getting the bus to work in derby this week instead of my usual cycle commute to derby and back from stapleford due to a knee injury.
.

I think Trent Barton must specify hostility towards cyclists as a condition of employment - bunch of tossers the lot of them.

dilemna

Driving Standards Agency DSA have jurisdiction over HGV and PSV drivers. I reported a bus driver a couple of years ago as their driving was scary - 50-60 mph through short 30 mph speed limits, getting tight up behind cars trying to "push" them along. Texting/talking on mobile phone whilst driving at night. Talking to their mates sitting nearby. I and other passengers had white knuckles as we clung onto grab rails. The DSA was very helpful. They have undercover inspectors who pose as passengers. The driver in question disappeared shortly after I complained and the best bit - they didn't know who had complained about them .

Also report it to plod and request footage of any CCTV if you think there is any. If the police do this then you won't have to pay a charge such as £10 which can be levied under s.7 of the Data Protection Act.

Hope your GF is ok. Was her bike damaged?