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news
Stagecoach bus garage (Robin Webster CC BY-SA 2.0)Stagecoach bus company reports no offence committed after cyclist made "citizen's arrest" on driver over alleged close pass which "nearly wiped him out"
Bus operator Stagecoach has investigated and responded to an allegation an employee driving one of its vehicles in Hull must have been "under the influence of alcohol or drugs" when they "nearly wiped out" a cyclist, the bicycle rider then boarding the bus and making a "citizen's arrest" following the incident.
Officers from Humberside Police attended the scene on Monday 18 December following a report from a member of the public of "suspected drink driving", Hull Live reports, but no offences were deemed to have been committed.
The cyclist reported the driver had "nearly wiped him out" during an overtake. Having stopped in front of the vehicle, the cyclist then boarded the bus and confronted the driver, telling passengers that he believed the driver to be "under the influence of alcohol or drugs" and placing the Stagecoach employee under a "citizen's arrest" as the police were called.
On top of the police response, which found no offence to have been committed, Stagecoach East Midlands said a full internal investigation would be launched, CCTV footage reviewed and the driver breathalysed.
The bus company concluded no offence had been committed and that the cyclist was not put at risk.
"We take all complaints very seriously, and have responded to the 'citizen's arrest' incident in Hull with an internal investigation, as well as a review of all CCTV footage. From this, we can confirm that the driver did not put the cyclist at risk in any way," a spokesperson said.
"The driver braked, indicated to overtake, and gave the cyclist plenty of room. The police review raised no concerns with the staff member regarding this incident, and found that no offence had been committed. As part of an internal follow-up in response to the accusation, the driver was also breathalysed, and the results came back negative."
Humberside Police said enquiries were carried out to understand the circumstances of the report, with "those involved spoken to and it was established that no offences of this nature were found to have been committed. Anyone with any information in relation to this incident can call us on our non-emergency number 101 quoting log 121 of 18 December."
In September, a London cyclist told road.cc of their experience of the driver of an out-of-service Go-Ahead London bus tailgating him before trying to call the police for "getting on his nerves".
The driver was disciplined over the incident, Go-Ahead London apologising to the cyclist and confirming that the bus driver had "been dealt with formally, in accordance with our company's disciplinary procedure" as he "did not carry out his duties to the standard expected".
Do you know the cyclist involved? Please contact us at info [at] road.cc
Dan is the road.cc news editor and joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan has been at road.cc for four years and mainly writes news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He has hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.
Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, when he's not working you'll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he'll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he's a bit strange like that.
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28 comments
As the police have investigated this incident and found no offence has been committed. Why would the bus company find that their driver was at fault. I know that they often have stricter rules than the law. I.e a zero breathalyser limit compared to the legal 35ml limit but if no police action has been taken why would the employer take action and then get involved with a union dispute. Bus companies seem to be the only operators taking notice of the new 2m passing distances and I am more comfortable with a bus behind me than a white van or Uber.
I'm frequently overtaken closely by buses. Especially on the Itchen bridge here in Southampton where the high winds can make such a move even more dangerous.
A large number of motorists, including bus drivers, seem to think that if a cyclist is on one side of a white line and they are on the other they can overtake as closely as they like.
Not a surprise. I had one close pass me with about 4 inches to spare, driver doing 60mph on a NSL road approaching me from behind, in windy conditions while it was heavy rain and oncoming traffic (roads narrow, so they couldn't cross the white line). Due to wind direction I didn't hear them approach and the first I was aware was when they flew passed me almost touching my handlebars. Managed to hold on, and was then sucked into the middle of the lane after they passed due to the draft (lucky to keep it rubber side down at that point). Reported it to Stagecoach, and after reviewing their onboard CCTV they saw no issue with driving and no action was taken.
Reported it to Stagecoach, and after reviewing their onboard CCTV they saw no issue with driving and no action was taken
That doesn't seem to be as efficient as their standard response in North Lancashire: 'we have taken action but we won't tell you what it was'- which means 'having a word with the driver'. I don't report to Stagecoach any more, but they win because they know that reporting any motoring offence to LancsFilth is the same as sending it direct to the bin.
https://upride.cc/incident/px12dne_stagecoach42bus_closepass/
https://upride.cc/incident/px12eez_stagecoach41_closepass/
https://upride.cc/incident/px12dnu_stagecoach40bus_closepass/
Of course stagecoach will say they are not at fault...
Another nut with a bike why do they keep letting them out without supervision
I saw a squirrel chasing another squirrel the other day. You'd think they'd realise they should band together - but it's constant squabbling. No wonder they never get ahead in life!
Having just binge watched "Mr Bates vs The Post Office" (apologies to the neighbours for the protracted loud swearing) I will never trust any organisation again, especially one which has only its own interests at heart, like a bus company.
I need to watch that as I've been following the scandal a bit. What constantly surprises me is that there doesn't seem to be any accountability for the false statements made in court - the people presenting the proof of infallibility of Horizon in court should be sent to prison for perjury.
It is literally incredible that people can blatantly lie, and destroy people's lives without any consequences. Paula Vennells, CEO of the PO, kept her bonuses, was given an honour and is, AFAIK, still a preacher. Alan Bates turned down an honour while she still has hers.
Keep the swear box handy: mine's overflowing.
Petition about the CBE.
Signed.
She should really end up in prison for that. Surely it's perverting the course of justice and or perjury (though she probably got an underling to sign court documents) to prosecute and send people to prison for stealing when in fact the money wasn't even missing.
Many thanks, signed and shared.
Over 100,000 signatures now.
Now up to 354,000.
A friend of mine had their motorscooter driven over by a Stagecoach bus while parked in a m/c bay at the side of a London st. It was all caught pain as day on CCTV. They still denied doing it, right upto the Court door. Horrible company.
This is such a weird story. How did he make a citizen's arrest on the driver while they were in their cab? Did the driver get out and then get pinned to the floor?
At the most basic level you can simply inform someone verbally that they are under (citizen's) arrest and that they are obliged to wait with you until the police arrive. There's no requirement to use physical restraint and indeed for the avoidance of potential charges against oneself or potential harm from the arrestee it's very advisable not to unless you believe that there is a danger that if unrestrained they will harm themselves or others or that they have committed a crime of such a serious nature that the use of force is justified to stop them absconding.
You can only make a citzen's arrest for an indictable offence, so unless you are very well versed in the law, it may be best to video anything.
https://www.stuartmillersolicitors.co.uk/what-is-an-indictable-offence-i...
It is more complicated than that-it can for example include common assault and criminal damge. I don't think anyone, unless seeking to prevent someone commtting serious crime, should be making a citizens arrest.
That was the point of the link ...
Sure but the article only seeks to identify what might be an indictable offence.
Whether you can make a citizens arrest is further complicated by interraction of s3 criminal law act 1967 ( use of force to detain someone suspected of committing a crime etc) and s24 of PACE (the indictable bit) I would agree s24 and the need for an indictable offence is the more important. S3 is still there and is a bit of a minefield for us criminal defence lawyers where,say, a client, intervens to stop a crime and things escalate, or where an occupier challenges a burglar.
Specifically, you can use your common law right to detain a person if:
(a) a breach of the peace is committed in your presence, or
(b) you reasonably believe that such a breach will be committed in the immediate future by the person arrested, or
(c) a breach of the peace has been committed or you reasonably believe that a breach of the peace has occurred and that a further breach is threatened.
A breach of the peace means "actions which cause harm to another person or cause harm to their property in their presence, as well as actions that are likely to instigate such harm".
In the case of somebody boarding a bus to detain the driver, it looks like they would have the defence (against unlawful imprisonment) that they reasonably believed a breach of the peace had been committed by the manner of their driving, and it was likely their driving in that fashion was going to continue, in effect, ticking at least (b) & (c).
So, in the absence of the video, it seems the police can happily declare that no offence had been committed by the driver, but that the cyclist reaosnbly formed a view otherwise and therefore also committed no offence.
All a bit bizarre. Let's see the footage, Stagecoach, so we can make our own minds up.
They will say GDPR. They only gave the outcome this time because it suited them usually I'm told I won't be told anything. Tried raising it with my bus the data commissioner but no one wants to their job. Commissioner refuses to investigate widespread misuse of GDPR (which is causing issues elsewhere as it's used to prevent effective complaint systems around abuse at universities etc).
Classic competing groups, we get mandatory complaints systems but they are just neutered. Don't even gete started on the polices where an officer can just cuff serious crime off as long as they do it correctly. This likely happened here as I suspect the company took the passing distance from the front of the bus and not the rear.
Sorry I didn't report this. Rereading realised it could sound like I did.
Commissioner refuses to investigate widespread misuse of GDPR (which is causing issues elsewhere as it's used to prevent effective complaint systems around abuse at universities etc)...
If this refers to the Information Commissioner, he's actively supporting the misuse of GDPR to protect organisations like the police