Reporting dangerous driving to the police

topcattim

I was ridden off the road last weekend by a bus. It overtook me just at the point that there was a traffic island in the middle of the road, so it then had to turn in across my line; I was in primary position as I had predicted some foolish behaviour by the bus and had been trying to prevent it doing exactly what it went on and did. I was able to take evasive action thankfully, as there was a dropped kerb to a driveway that meant I could ride up onto the pavement.

I caught up with the bus, informed the driver that he had driven me off the road (he denied all knowledge) and took a photo of him, his bus and his registration number. I then emailed the bus company on their sales and enquiry line with photos to ask them for their comments.

They have made no reply. I plan to contact them again but if they just ignore me again, I hope to be able to take this to the police. I know that it is just my word against his, but in a tiny, optimistic corner of my mind, I hope that one or both of the company and the police will at least have a very gentle word in his ear, and keep a note of this in case of other such incidents.

Is there any point in me contacting the police? And if so, how? Should I ring 101 or is there a better way? The incident happened in Bournemouth.

BSRU

Your word against the drivers, unless the bus is fitted with cameras and the video has not been wiped.
I sadly very much doubt the police will be interested.

seajays

I would imagine from the police perspective, if there are no other witnesses/CCTV of the incident there will be very little they can do (especially if the driver of the bus continues to deny all knowledge of it happening), as it will be your word against the drivers.

[Edit: What BSRU said ^^ ]

tangled_metal

Been there too. It's the number 5 to Overton near Lancaster for me. Used to happen every time with the same bus. For some reason it always ran exactly to time and that coincided with me being at this one traffic island at the same time. I too was a stickler for being on time. I ended up getting angry and leaving home a bit earlier to avoid. Having said that I was not so much ridden off the road as you but used to have to lean against the bus as there was a high kerb so unable to hop up. Need to learn a good bunny hop I think.

To be fair to the bus driver there is a very badly designed cycle route to avoid this mini roundabout that is never used by anyone and is so full of grit from the road traffic it is almost certain to puncture your tyres. Being a pesky cyclist it is incumbent on me to fit around what is best for the internal combustion engine users and take this inefficient and potentially bike damaging route so as not to slow traffic down by the 10 seconds it takes for them to wait and let me through the roundabout at about 15mph or so.

That last paragraph was meant to be tongue in cheek sarcasm. Was it clear??

PS one last thing, +1 on the above. Nothing will ever happen so just vent on here a bit. That might help with your sense of injustice and annoyance. It has with me (about 3 years after the last incident). I had a new incident with a bus. Not as bad but the bus driver realised he/she hadn't been deriving safe and I detected a clear change in driving style. The driver started to use their mirror, then signal before moving out and not doing it the other way around. I think I shook her/him up when he/she finally spotted where I was and how close to hitting me. I guess the paperwork on a bike splat on the side of the bus is not something they like!!!!

topcattim

Tangled Metal wrote:

Been there too. It's the number 5 to Overton near Lancaster for me. Used to happen every time with the same bus. For some reason it always ran exactly to time and that coincided with me being at this one traffic island at the same time. I too was a stickler for being on time. I ended up getting angry and leaving home a bit earlier to avoid. Having said that I was not so much ridden off the road as you but used to have to lean against the bus as there was a high kerb so unable to hop up. Need to learn a good bunny hop I think.

To be fair to the bus driver there is a very badly designed cycle route to avoid this mini roundabout that is never used by anyone and is so full of grit from the road traffic it is almost certain to puncture your tyres. Being a pesky cyclist it is incumbent on me to fit around what is best for the internal combustion engine users and take this inefficient and potentially bike damaging route so as not to slow traffic down by the 10 seconds it takes for them to wait and let me through the roundabout at about 15mph or so.

That last paragraph was meant to be tongue in cheek sarcasm. Was it clear??

PS one last thing, +1 on the above. Nothing will ever happen so just vent on here a bit. That might help with your sense of injustice and annoyance. It has with me (about 3 years after the last incident). I had a new incident with a bus. Not as bad but the bus driver realised he/she hadn't been deriving safe and I detected a clear change in driving style. The driver started to use their mirror, then signal before moving out and not doing it the other way around. I think I shook her/him up when he/she finally spotted where I was and how close to hitting me. I guess the paperwork on a bike splat on the side of the bus is not something they like!!!!

Thanks for this and the other replies. Tongue in cheek sarcasm noted!

I shall take the advice and chalk it up to life's rich pageant. My need for venting/karma was duly sorted by the chase through town to catch up with the bus, and I was very smug with myself for not getting cross with the driver. I do genuinely believe that he hadn't noticed me, and I hope at the very least that my conversation with him will make the next cyclist (it could be you!) safer. I hope.

drummer_boy

Cycle cam, and YouTube upload, publicised to the PR dept of the bus company. Works everytime!!

guinea

I've forwarded a couple of dodgy driving incidents to the police as I record my commutes.

They don't care.

If you haven't even got video evidence you'll be quietly ignored. I only have cameras on my bike to act as an insurance policy when I get hit to prove it wasn't my fault.

topcattim

Drummer_Boy wrote:

Cycle cam, and YouTube upload, publicised to the PR dept of the bus company. Works everytime!!

That's given me the idea of leaving a factually accurate review on TripAdvisor, thanks!

ForumNewbie

topcattim wrote:

I plan to contact them again but if they just ignore me again, I hope to be able to take this to the police. I know that it is just my word against his, but in a tiny, optimistic corner of my mind, I hope that one or both of the company and the police will at least have a very gentle word in his ear, and keep a note of this in case of other such incidents.

I think that might be worth doing so that someone has a quiet word with the driver - as you say, it may make the driver think twice and save the next cyclist that doesn't manage to avoid the bus.

It seems a shame that the police would only get involved in such incidents when a cyclist actually gets seriously injured or killed. If they did get involved in near misses where drivers are driving dangerously it may stop future incidents and save lives.

Kieran_Burns

Drummer_Boy wrote:

Cycle cam, and YouTube upload, publicised to the PR dept of the bus company. Works everytime!!

I did this. Got the owner emailing me within 15 minutes