Bus drivers

Andy-Pandy

So there i was cycling down Ormonde quay on my beatifull Surley Steamroller complete. I tried to pass out a bike infront of me, looked behind me and noticed that there was a bus about a foot behind me. So i let the bus pass, but went up to the window and asked him what the hell he was doing. He just waved me on, ignored me and generally did not care that a bus driving at speed one foot behind a bike is not good driving. I got back in frint of him and cycled a bit out on the road so he couldnt pass me again on till i chose. Once the chance was there for him to pass he went past me. The bus came up towards the light on the hapenny bridge (northside), i went to pass him up the left on the bus lane and he swerved in to block it, i then went to pass him on the right and then it happens. He swerves to the right to block me, but jams me between his bus and another bus. My rear wheel gets cought under the bus and crumples, my front forks gets bent back so my wheel is jammed under the frame. My bike is a right off. TBH im happy i managed to walk away with out a scratch but am so angry that he did it on purpose, he could have killed me. The other thing is that im a bike messanger and am now bikeless. The cops came and were nice about the whole thing, although i dont think they believed me when i said what he did.

Anyway, what should i do now? How do i proceed, obviously i want a new bike ou of them, and i want to be compencated for my loss of earnings. So whats the best thing for me to do?

DirkVoodoo

I had a bus creep up about 4 foot away from me one day, at a fair old whack too. Scared the crap out of me when I looked around, could see the white in the drivers eyes. You always get a few bad apples. I had some taxis pass me while i hogged the bus lane on the way in, all gave me loads of room, didnt try stupid tactics or loud beeping.

I'm sorry yours was a bad incident. Get on to Dublin Bus Immediately!

kenmc

did you get any pictures? I'm sure it's on cctv in the area if needed. but definitely get onto Dublin bus with the reg/route and get DB to sort this out. That muppet should at least be fired, if not charged with attempted murder! What did the cops say - can you press charges?

Raam

Sorry to hear about your incident. I say this without prejudice: but what were you doing dueling with a bus? He's bigger, stay clear of him.

blorg

Do you have any witnesses? They are really essential. That is crazy stuff though, definate assault, he could have killed you. Should be getting jail time IMHO.

Agree with Raam you just need to be careful and look after yourself but this in no way justifies the actions of that driver.

Andy-Pandy

I was just on to dublin bus there, they took my aligations seriously and will investigate. The lady said there is cctv attached to all the buses so hopefully it will show what happened. as for duellinjg with buses, i didnt expect him to try and run me off the road. All i want out of this is for my bike to be replaced, and to get the next few days compensated for. Im not hurt (thank god) so i wont be suing them. Id also like that driver off the road, i dont care if he looses his job over this, he shouldnt be on the road. Not only is my bike ruined, but so is my beautifull brooks touring saddle.

Raam

At least you're not hurt and live to ride another day. Look after yourself.

kenmc

Well thats good to know. As others have said at least you're still able to tell us about it. Let's know what comes back from DB though when they investigate.

72hundred

Raam wrote: »

At least you're not hurt and live to ride another day. Look after yourself.

Indeed. Also as others have said don't duel with buses, get your money for your bike out of DB and don't take on any more 15 tonne monsters in the future!

Malice

Andy-Pandy wrote: »

... I got back in frint of him and cycled a bit out on the road so he couldnt pass me again on till i chose. ...

Why did you do this?

oobydooby

As told that story is criminal and I'm glad you survived it. There are cameras running on all Dublin Busses so the incident is recorded. Get onto the gardai and Dublin Bus management as soon as you can. The cameras are there to protect the drivers of course, as they have to have cyclist-like awarenes to read all the muppetry that goes on on the roads. But nobody wants a psychopath driving a bus in the city.

Sorry about the bike but you're lucky to not be injured.

blorg

Andy, I would pursue this with the gardaí. Fair on you for not trying to get money out of it but that was a serious assault, driver should be off the road and frankly in jail. You owe it to the rest of us, he may kill the next cyclist he decides to take out his road rage on.

kenmc

malice_ wrote: »

Why did you do this?

it is normally done in order to prevent someone forcing you off the road with a dangerous overtaking manouver. It sounds like there was precedent from the previous attempt on his life.

Stark

I've been squeezed off the road more than once by some of the psychos they have for drivers. If you can weed one or two of them out, then you'd be doing us all a favour.

Andy-Pandy

kenmc wrote: »

it is normally done in order to prevent someone forcing you off the road with a dangerous overtaking manouver. It sounds like there was precedent from the previous attempt on his life.

Yep, thats why i did it, i let him past me again on a wider part of the road.

DB have said to get the bike looked at to evaluate the cost of the repair, any idea who would be the best person to bring it to?

I'll post some pics of my once beautifull bike later as well.

niceonetom

this is not a situation in which to play mr. nice guy. this is a case of a driver using his vehicle as a weapon. get his name. get him sacked. get him prosecuted.

this guy could easily have killed you and you're worrying about you're brooks? fukkit man this is not a civil case of minor property damage - this is criminal.

seamus

kenmc wrote: »

it is normally done in order to prevent someone forcing you off the road with a dangerous overtaking manouver. It sounds like there was precedent from the previous attempt on his life.

Yep, it's a fairly standard thing to do, especially on narrower sections of roads where someone may try to squeeze you out.

There's a fairly large mix of bus drivers on the roads it would seem. I've had plenty of bus drivers who pull into bus stops without a notion and plenty of others who wait, or who sit behind me despite having plenty of room to pass.
Also, when I came off seriously, the only person who stopped was a bus driver. A few people even walked and cycled straight past me.

Good to hear there were no injuries. The guy deserves to lose his job at a minimum.

My reaction during the story was :eek:

But as I said I'm glad to hear you're ok.

blorg

Completely agree with Seamus, 99%+ of bus drivers are fine, the majority even very good (I too often find them waiting behind me before pulling in to a bus stop; I will never overtake them if they are indicating to pull out myself) but there is that under 1% who are absolute psychos.

As Tom says, this is not a case of minor property damage, the guy deliberately squashed you between his bus and another.

Malice

kenmc wrote: »

it is normally done in order to prevent someone forcing you off the road with a dangerous overtaking manouver.

Andy-Pandy wrote: »

Yep, thats why i did it, i let him past me again on a wider part of the road.

seamus wrote: »

Yep, it's a fairly standard thing to do, especially on narrower sections of roads where someone may try to squeeze you out.

Thanks for clarifying that guys, reading back on the first post again it really does seem like a very dangerous incident. I agree with the general sentiment that the driver should at least be fired. Best of luck in sorting things out Andy!

rubadub

I just presume all drivers are homicidal maniacs, just easier that way. I also ignore all their signalling as I have had near misses for thinking they were actually going one way and they were incorrectly signalling.

There was an arsehole posting how he would mow down cyclists in the fitness forum yesterday. Think the post is deleted now.

I wrote to dublin bus before, reply can be seen at the end of this thread http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055007069

blorg

rubadub wrote: »

I just presume all drivers are homicidal maniacs, just easier that way. I also ignore all their signalling as I have had near misses for thinking they were actually going one way and they were incorrectly signalling.

Even though it is obviously not the case you are indeed best off cycling with this presumption. Presume the driver has not seen you/doesn't care/isn't going to yield/is going to do something stupid and modify your cycling accordingly.

rp

Andy-Pandy wrote: »

DB have said to get the bike looked at to evaluate the cost of the repair, any idea who would be the best person to bring it to?

Cyclogical, seeing how you were outside their door when it happened.

This kind of thing happens all the time, especially on the north quays.
I saw a similar incident yesterday morning (about 7:50) very close to where it happened - the girl who was nearly side-swiped by the bus came to the driver's window and gave out to him.
I glared at him in solidarity. I think the number was something like x-D-94004.

Raam

Andy-Pandy wrote: »

Yep, thats why i did it, i let him past me again on a wider part of the road.

DB have said to get the bike looked at to evaluate the cost of the repair, any idea who would be the best person to bring it to?

I'll post some pics of my once beautifull bike later as well.

When I got taken out, I brought it to cycleways and they did a report for me.

irishmotorist

He should go to jail. If he doesn't, then he might get me next time and I mightn't be as lucky as you were.

Absolutely definitely go to the Gardai with this.

Glad to hear that you're in one piece btw. The bike is totally replacable, but lots of parts of you aren't!

Karma

andy, pm me if you need a bike.
regards
brian

Andy-Pandy

Karma wrote: »

andy, pm me if you need a bike.
regards
brian

Cheers Brian,

I've managed to get one for the time being, but thanks so much for the offer.

Andrew

Ghost Rider

Andy,

Awful story - hope you're not too shaken.

Compassion is called for here - not for the driver, who is only one, but for the rest of us cyclists, who are many. There is a danger to all of us here and you are in a position to remove it. Pressing charges is the right thing to do.

unionman

Chills me to the bone to read your account Andy, the guy clearly deserves the sack and to face the appropriate criminal charges.

As others have said, vast majority of drivers with DB are grand. Have had a scary brush with one myself and it took me ages to feel safe on the bike again.

Very glad to hear that you are OK, and sincerely hope that driver gets what's coming to him. The sooner he is off the road the safer all of us will be.

Best of luck.

jman0

OP keep us posted of events.
TBH, i'd be suprised if anything happens at all.
You should get a Garda Abstract Report for the incident.
Took me about 6 months or better to get one, via a solicitor.

'68 Fastback

holy jebus! just read the thread, you're a lucky boy andy. cycle in the city everyday and see this kinda thing too often. good to hear you're not damaged. defo cause as much hassle for that ignorant [EMAIL="f@*%er"]f@*%er[/EMAIL] as you can. also in spite of what a previous post said, a well broken in Brooks is like an extention of your a*se, so go get him.

lukester

That is a scary tale. Glad to hear you're unhurt, but I would be pressing charges- one false move and you could very easily have been killed.

Harpz

Sorry to hear about your bike.
The records for the cctv on the outside of the buses are overwritten (every 3 days I think). Ring up and request that the record is saved. Make sure you take down dates/time and the name of the person who you talked to. Don't assume that it will be done automatically.

Vel

I had an incident with a DB driver before and I found that DB are quite good at following up on complaints with a little nudge here and there. The matter will be referred to the person in charge in whichever Depot the bus belongs to. If its the Donnybrook garage, the guy dealing with the complaints is sound and a cyclist himself. In my case, there were no witnesses and the driver denied being a dick so no action was taken. DB is so unionised that there is little chance of this guy losing his job but he may get a warning. Inadequate I know but life is unfair. Also, if you engage in any correspondence with DB copy it all to the Department of Transport.

Again, unless you have witnesses the Guards are unlikely to take action on the matter either but at the very least the driver will have to have a chat with them. As you weren't injured, he can't be cautioned and forced to make a statement, as I found out when I was assualted but not injured by a car driver.