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news
Near Miss of the Day 722: Bus driver in needless and dangerous overtake
In the course of the 700-plus videos we have published so far in our Near Miss of the Day series, a good few have featured drivers who simply need to get ahead of a cyclist – MGIF or ‘Must Get In Front’ as it’s commonly known – but this is one of the worst we’ve seen, and moreover is done by someone paid to drive a bus for a living.
You can see the Go North East bus driver waiting to enter the roundabout outside BEL Valves in Byker, Newcastle, as the cyclist goes through the roundabout, then cuts him up coming perilously close to hitting the rider before immediately turning right.
All for the sake of saving, what, 2 seconds? It does make you wonder what the bloody point is.
The clip was sent in by road.cc reader Leigh, who said it was “close enough to brush my arm.”
He’s sent the footage to police – although he added that he has yet to hear back from them on another near miss he submitted back in June last year.
> Near Miss of the Day turns 100 - Why do we do the feature and what have we learnt from it?
Over the years road.cc has reported on literally hundreds of close passes and near misses involving badly driven vehicles from every corner of the country – so many, in fact, that we’ve decided to turn the phenomenon into a regular feature on the site. One day hopefully we will run out of close passes and near misses to report on, but until that happy day arrives, Near Miss of the Day will keep rolling on.
If you’ve caught on camera a close encounter of the uncomfortable kind with another road user that you’d like to share with the wider cycling community please send it to us at info [at] road.cc or send us a message via the road.cc Facebook page.
If the video is on YouTube, please send us a link, if not we can add any footage you supply to our YouTube channel as an unlisted video (so it won't show up on searches).
Please also let us know whether you contacted the police and if so what their reaction was, as well as the reaction of the vehicle operator if it was a bus, lorry or van with company markings etc.
> What to do if you capture a near miss or close pass (or worse) on camera while cycling
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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28 comments
What makes this worse is how deliberate the move left is. I don't think the bus can make the turn from a meter out from the nearside kerb, he has to move left to swing round. Therefore, all the time he's alongside the rider he knows he has to cut across him. Careless, no. Dnagerous, easily. Attempted murder, probably!
OK, well that video made me wince...
Waiting for Boo to blame the cyclist for not being courteous and letting the bus pull out
This is such a bad punishment pass, because there is no pressure on the driver, there is no oncoming vehicle to avoid, so they've clearly just decided to pass very close to the cyclist. It would be bad anywhere, but on a recognised cycle route, so any bus driver would have experience of cyclists using this road regularly.
I would recommend Leigh to report this to the MD of Go North East Martijn Gilbert who is very active on Twitter and responds to messages. His handle is @MartijnGNE
I would recommend Leigh to report this to the MD of Go North East Martijn Gilbert who is very active on Twitter and responds to messages
Whereas I would recommend that he doesn't bother, as this case was binned on sight 9 months ago. He should devote his energies to reporting the next close pass etc. to the admittedly work-avoiding police and follow it up after they refuse to reply
And as the bus could not have been certain of clearing the cyclist, the right turn exacerbates the problem as the rear is bound to swing across, reducing the gap further, and it was an overtake approaching a bend, so the bus driver had no idea whether there was someone about to appear.
And another Stagecoach attack- no response from Lancashire Constabulary, of course
Atrocious road surface.
Have to agree with Muddy Ford, punishment for cyclist for delaying bus driver on roundabout, how dare they assert their priority. A driver with such anger issues should never be aloud to operate such machinery.
He’s sent the footage to police – although he added that he has yet to hear back from them on another near miss he submitted back in June last year
And he's not going to- the police will take any reluctance on the part of the cyclist who suffers from the assault to pursue the matter as a signal to do nothing at all. I'm putting my other recent 'assault by bus' on here in the hope that the topic will collect a lot of cases together
There is increasing evidence to show that local bus service drivers are likely to be utter bellends, much as Audi drivers are, as a guideline.
There is increasing evidence to show that local bus service drivers are likely to be utter bellends, much as Audi drivers are
More evidence, which I have shown on here once before. Stagecoach has not replied beyond saying it has been referred to the Morecambe depot
Atrocious.
Anyone else notice the car going the wrong way round the roundabout at the beginning? That should also be getting a tug from the police.
That was nicmason.
Nice.
very amusing. And yes if it was clear I would probably do that on a roundabout like that. I'd probably try and get a bit of a power slide on there as well.
Nice call and response, I hope you and hirsute can continue at this level!
I didn't until you said, that should definitely be a pull - if I obey the law I might get stuck behind that cyclist and/or the bus, sod that...
Although the driver had priority over both, so maybe decided that getting out the way was the quickest option. Still not advisable though.
Not advisable definitely illegal
An utterly pointless overtake by the bus driver, and probaby done intentionally because the cyclist caused them to have to wait at the roundabout. Should be prosecuted for dangerous driving. Anyone driving professionally, especially one that carries passengers should not have the option of a warning letter because they are a risk to those passengers. Perhaps if Road.cc were to uncover who the insurance company for the bus company is and provide them with a video, they might be interested to know the increased risk of them having to pay out because of this violent driver. They might even increase the premium if reported drivers are included in the insurance. It should also be against the law to overtake another road user in a 20mph zone, it's a maximum speed and any cyclist is likely to be doing at least 10mph making an overtake more dangerous as they would spend longer in the opposite lane.
Another dangerous pass on a signposted cycle network route. It makes it even worse when it's on a dedicated cycle route in my view. These are supposed to be safe routes to encourage the less confident to travel by bicycle.
Can the council ban buses from using this route?
This, and make the default speed limit in residential areas 20mph.
Then enforce it!
"Then enforce it!" exactly and the GPS technology exists but zero political will...starting with buses and construction trucks in residential areas could be an easier win and hopefully the sharp end of a hard hammered wedge (presumably there would be a "...but I needed to accelerate out of danger " get off tick box
)
always wonder when I see some of these videos and consider my own daily experiences...what would happen in this situation to an inexperienced rider who can't hold a line and brake at the same time as being dangerously intimidated....the newspaper report would read...."the cyclist was riding on the inside of the bus as he/she collided with the rear of the bus as it performed a right turn..." (RIP)
Agree - but a default speed limit of 20pmh for urban areas (as opposed to the default of 30pmh) was rejected in Scotland because "the introduction of 20mph speed limits [ ...] in a one-size-fits-all approach is not the most effective way of achieving those objectives". (Even though the proposed measure recognised that - as would be law anyway - that this can be changed where local authorities deem necessary).
Clearly if you're receiving a large enough subsidy by the motor vehicle business you take on the attributes of one and can produce hot gas on demand from your tailpipe with a straight face and without blushing.
The disinclination to use the force (to make any change at all) is strong.
"An utterly pointless overtake by the bus driver, and probaby done intentionally because the cyclist caused them to have to wait at the roundabout." And what evidence do you have for that, other than your desperate desire to be a victim of something?
There's a video near the top of the page. You'll find the evidence there, from which Muddy Ford draws a very reasonable inference.
What can I help you with next?
It was a dangerous, deliberate, unnecessary overtake.
What is your explanation? Just incompetence?