Clipped by a bus today, again!

studiorat

The auld Aircoach brushed me today, passed me and then pulled in before he got by me. I ended up having to hop onto the pavement to avoid an accident. That's the second time that's happened to me with Aircoach.

It would seem to me that they are much worse for cutting you up than Dublin Buss. Has anyone else noticed this?

72hundred

Driver apologise?

Gavin

studiorat wrote: »

The auld Aircoach brushed me today, passed me and then pulled in before he got by me. I ended up having to hop onto the pavement to avoid an accident. That's the second time that's happened to me with Aircoach.

It would seem to me that they are much worse for cutting you up than Dublin Buss. Has anyone else noticed this?

If the bus actually touched you, that's seriously dangerous, I'd be going nuts, complaining to Aircoach and probably TrafficWatch.

Planet X

I had exactly the same thing happen to me about 6 months ago. Stillorgan road. Pulled in on top of me.
I hopped on the bus...............and gave him a severe verbal bollicking in front of all the passengers. Making sure they all understood that he nearly killed me.
I nearly had to be "dug outta him".
:pac::pac::pac:

They don't give a flyin'..........
Agree, much worse than Dublin Bus, and they're ...............

petethedrummer

my housemate always insists they are the worst drivers. they're not on my route so I can't vouch.

I was talking to a bicycle gard about my incident(confusing sign thread), I wasn't actually touched but he said definitely report the incident and make a complaint to dublin bus.

72hundred

Personally if the driver apologises when he/she cuts me off, I appreciate that they genuinely didn't mean to cut me off, and I think that's fair enough.

Although if it was dangerous, I would usual voice my concerns to the driver, often though that's more because of the adrenaline that's in your system after a close shave!

-Blanco-

I've had this happen to me before... I've had afew incidents with Bus Eireann drivers too..

SetOverSet

Glad you're ok mate - lucky there wasn't railings or something on your left and you had an 'out'.

BostonB

There been a few comments on the boards abut how good bus drivers are. In particular Bus Eireann. I have to say its been 50:50 for me. Some are good however there are some that take delight in squeezing you, and following you really closely when on the bike. My pet hate though its though that indicate and pull out at the same time, usually without looking. Usually as you are alongside and commit to overtake, either on the bike or the car. That said they are not as bad as taxi drivers. So thats something.

studiorat

SetOverSet wrote: »

Glad you're ok mate - lucky there wasn't railings or something on your left and you had an 'out'.

Just passed a few bike racks. Ewww! Hadn't thought of that. I've usually found Dublin bus drivers quite good but this is the second close one with these other guys.

I don't think the guy even noticed, anyway there was a phone call made. Guy asked me was there a cycle lane. No I said, but what the fcuk has that got to do with it?

blorg

studiorat wrote: »

I don't think the guy even noticed, anyway there was a phone call made. Guy asked me was there a cycle lane. No I said, but what the fcuk has that got to do with it?

Bus drivers are allowed drive their buses into you if there is a cycle lane and you are not using it.

BostonB

blorg wrote: »

Bus drivers are allowed drive their buses into you if there is a cycle lane and you are not using it.

Ah that explains a few things...:D

High&Low

I've had a few incidents with air coaches as well. The company don't give a sh!t when you complain. Also had a few incidents with bendy buses and when I complained to Dublin Bus they more or less told me that incidents with bendy-buses were unavoidable as due to the length of the buses it can sometimes be difficult for the drivers to judge/see when they have fully passed a cyclists!!!

Muller_1

I've also had close shaves with Air Coach drivers. The worst was cycling past Sachs Hotel in Donnybrook on the way into town where the road sweeps around to the left the bus completly cut the corner and almost wiped me out.

Ghost Rider

I've also noticed Air Coach drivers being less than considerate than their Dublin Bus counterparts. Maybe they were once Dublin Bus drivers who, like Dirty Harry, were rejected by their erstwhile employers for being "just too damn dangerous".

kincsem

I sent an email to Aircoach yesterday with the opening line - Dublin cyclists are concerned about dangerous driving by Aircoach bus drivers. - with a link to this thread.

Today I got an email from Brendan Gallagher, Customer Services Manager, saying they had responded to a cyclist and apologised to him, following a reported incident on Monday 3rd November.

See what I did there? I recorded the incident, and have a copy of it here, and in my emails.

If we keep reporting to Aircoach (hope we don't need to) and keep it recorded, then Aircoach know there is a case being built against them.

Should we open a Dublin Bus incident thread, and an Aircoach incident thread in the stickies? (who, what, where, when, reported, response)

Stark

High&Low wrote: »

Also had a few incidents with bendy buses and when I complained to Dublin Bus they more or less told me that incidents with bendy-buses were unavoidable as due to the length of the buses it can sometimes be difficult for the drivers to judge/see when they have fully passed a cyclists!!!

Those bendy buses have no place on Dublin's streets in my opinion. Their sole advantage is that they have multiple doors to allow fast loading and unloading of passengers, but Dublin Bus don't use these for fear of fare evasion. As far as I know, they make traffic worse in general as they tend to block Dublin's tight junctions.

studiorat

Spoke to Brendan today, he explained to me that he had spoken to the driver and sent his apologies and explained the situation as to how the whole thing happened. That's fair enough IMO, seemed the driver was avoiding traffic on his right too.

It would seem that their card has been marked and I'm happy enough with that. It was a close one though! :eek:

SerialComplaint

Some AirCoach drivers still haven't learnt how to share the road, it seems. See video description for response from Brendan at AirCoach

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hln2jZ8s-Lc

AltAccount

Is that video not 5 years old?

miller50841

That fella on the bike is an absolute tool.

He was no way at all put in danger the bus overtook slow and was over the other side of the road leaving loads of room.

If you drove at 1.5 meters the cars would be passing up the inside.

Seems like another crazy looking for trouble and trying to belittle another.

Outkast_IRE

Are you sure its a 5 year old video.

The 1/1 sounds like a date a camera would revert to if the date hadn't been set on it correctly.

The reg on the bus looks like 09

miller50841

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Are you sure its a 5 year old video.

The 1/1 sounds like a date a camera would revert to if the date hadn't been set on it correctly.

The reg on the bus looks like 09

You may be right there the bus type in video was brought in on 2008 and 2009 never thought of that.:p

AltAccount

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Are you sure its a 5 year old video.

The 1/1 sounds like a date a camera would revert to if the date hadn't been set on it correctly.

The reg on the bus looks like 09

Well spotted, that's definitely not New Year's Day weather

levi

That video was uploaded in the last few days. I think the date stamp on the camera is just off. Look at the rest of the videos on his channel - I'm a cyclist who likes to feel safe on the road but this fella seems to be picking fights

AltAccount

Definitely

fleet

Bizzare...

I've been cut off exactly once in the last ten years commuting/leisure.
circa 25,000km on bicycle

Maybe I'm just cautious/paranoid and avoid brushes with traffic while on two wheels.
Don't think so though... I fairly smashed up that Audi I hit with my motorbike...

Cookie_Monster

what is wrong with those overtakes really? The first there was still quite a lot of room, the next two were close but the lines on the road still marked a clear divide.

Alias G

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

but the lines on the road still marked a clear divide.

Thats one of the many flaws in the design of cycle lanes. A taxi or bus can pass at a distance of a few inches from your handlebars, but the fact that you are travelling in two separate lanes gives drivers the confidence that they are giving you adequate space. Hitting a pothole or other obstacle at that point could be disastrous.

el tel

In that video, is the red strip on the adjacent pavement a cycle lane?

jive

el tel wrote: »

In that video, is the red strip on the adjacent pavement a cycle lane?

If you're referencing the red strip at the end of the video to the cyclists left then yes. He wanted to overtake the bus driver to shout at him so didn't follow the lane. Granted, about 70% of the time there is a car perched over that red strip waiting to join traffic and you will either have to stop or hop off the curb and join traffic so I avoid it myself. It's on the N11 across from the Stillorgan Park Hotel if I'm not mistaken.

droidus

Those passes are both too close. The second one was dangerous driving. It baffles me that other cyclists cant see this.

Also, the cyclist has no obligation to use the footpath, regardless of how much peeling red tarmac there is on it.

el tel

droidus wrote: »

Those passes are both too close. The second one was dangerous driving. It baffles me that other cyclists cant see this.

Also, the cyclist has no obligation to use the footpath, regardless of how much peeling red tarmac there is on it.

I know theres no obligation to use a cycle path but if the cyclist feels that endangered by the traffic he might consider the option. Some people don't seem to know how to help themselves.

IngazZagni

Haha as a somewhat frequent traveler on the air coach and as I sit almost at the front many times I would have many, many opinions to share about some cyclists. This goes both ways! Anyway I don't really see an issue in that video. The guy seemed to make an issue out of nothing as he probably needed some content for his YouTube page. If the coach driver pulled out further he would be halfway in the other lane where there was another car driving in at the time.

MajesticDonkey

Jaysus, that fella must have nothing else to do. I'd like to see him cycle on roads in the country where some artic trucks pass at 60mph within 2 metres.

cormac_byrne

IngazZagni wrote: »

If the coach driver pulled out further he would be halfway in the other lane where there was another car driving in at the time.

So the coach should have waited till the other lane was clear before attempting to overtake.

IngazZagni

cormac_byrne wrote: »

So the coach should have waited till the other lane was clear before attempting to overtake.

But there was plenty of room so no he didn't need to wait. It also seemed to me that the cyclist drifted out ever so slightly again trying to create something out of nothing.

wildlifeboy

that guy in the video is a complete ar$ehole! he had plenty of room. is that the same cyclist from the video in town recently who gave lots of abuse to a woman going up the one way street?

droidus

Do any of you people understand the rules of the road?

Dangerous overtaking by drivers of other road users is a statutory offence as set out in Section No. 10 of SI No. 182 of 1997. Under this regulation drivers are required to take care when overtaking so as to ensure that their overtaking does not ..... endanger, or cause inconvenience to, any other person.

One example would be In a simple overtaking situations on a straight road if a bus or taxi driver tries to overtake you from within a 3.0 m wide bus lane then that would constitute dangerous overtaking because it is not possible for the bus to fit in the lane while you are also in it! A typical Dublin Bus is about 3.1 m measured across the wing mirrors - remember most riders can be hit by the left mirror if the bus comes too close to your head. The driver would be quite literally 'shaving' past you which, of course, totally intimidates you and there is the prospect of actual impact.

http://dublincycling.com/node/365

So, in this example the coach driver is overtaking dangerously. He should have waited until there was room in the other lane and pulled out. He could potentially be charged based on this video.

wildlifeboy

droidus wrote: »

Do any of you people understand the rules of the road?





http://dublincycling.com/node/365

So, in this example the coach driver is overtaking dangerously. He should have waited until there was room in the other lane and pulled out. He could potentially be charged based on this video.

so you're the guy who made the video???

CramCycle

I cycle the first road a fair bit. He gave the cyclist loads of space, the road widens there. He shouldn't have overtaken with oncoming traffic but the not enough space argument is baloney here. It is a silly overtake but not for the reasons described.

The cyclist then undertakes on the left of a left turning bus, something that shows a complete disregard for his own safety, in fact far stupider than anything else in the video.

The second overtake (and it was only one as the cyclist was in the middle of an undertake for the third one, he doesn't even finish it, he stops to give out). It was too close but I wouldn't berate the driver over that. The government/local council have given him the impression that this is a safe distance. I would have politely pointed out to him that you know there is a cycle lane there but that he really needs to give a bit more space as one small slip from you or him and you are a blood pancake on the N11.

MajesticDonkey

droidus wrote: »

So, in this example the coach driver is overtaking dangerously.

No, not really. He was doing about 20km/h.

droidus

wildlifeboy wrote: »

so you're the guy who made the video???

Er. No.

DirkVoodoo

I've seen some close passes and been passed close myself. I was surprised by those incidents in the video because nothing about them seems dangerous to me. Of course, some people might find it too close and that's fair enough, but I don't think it was in any way a lack of consideration or some kind of malice on the part of the aircoach driver.

I know that road by oatlands college and the problem I have is that the cyclist goes down the inside of the bus on quite a tight bend. Buses turning into the bus lane won't be leaving an awful lot of room there and the slope down means he doesn't NEED to be at the front of the queue when traffic pulls away.

That's the only danger I can see. I think the author of that video needs to take a look at his own cycling.

And anyone who sits at the front of an aircoach just to record his disgust of cyclist behaviour is clearly just the opposite side of the same coin.

CramCycle

wildlifeboy wrote: »

so you're the guy who made the video???

Posted by SerialComplaint, his video as well.

-K2-

Guys with helmet-cams seem to have a lot of incidents with other road users, much more than I do and I cycle nearly every day.

droidus

CramCycle wrote: »

The cyclist then undertakes on the left of a left turning bus, something that shows a complete disregard for his own safety, in fact far stupider than anything else in the video.

I dont think so. The bus is stopped at the light and is 2nd in the queue. If he knows that the lights aren't going to change anytime in the 3 or so seconds it will take him to get past then its not stupid or risky. And in fact, as he points out in his comments, he was watching the lights and he had plenty of time.

It was too close but I wouldn't berate the driver over that. The government/local council have given him the impression that this is a safe distance.

So what? As a professional driver he has a responsibility to know what the safe overtaking distances are. If he had taken the cyclist out with his mirror and then squashed him into a 'blood pancake', then I doubt that would be much of a defense in court.

Lumen

Droidus, are you sure a Dublin Bus is 3.1m wide?

A quick google suggests that the most common double decker in the UK is under 2.5m wide excluding mirrors. Also, how high are the mirrors?

I have passed and been passed in a bus lane many times without feeling endangered.

droidus

Nope - just quoting the Dublin Cycling site.

Obviously, bus lanes differ in width depending on the road and/or the existence of a hard shoulder.

I have been passed many times by buses perfectly safely in bus lanes, but have had a few incidents that were WAY to close (within 6-12 inches). Its worth mentioning that buses may have pulled out of the lane slightly to get past you and you may not have noticed.

Im not sure about aricoaches, but the mirrors on DB's could easily knock you off if you were standing in the saddle during the pass.

CramCycle

droidus wrote: »

I dont think so. The bus is stopped at the light and is 2nd in the queue. If he knows that the lights aren't going to change anytime in the 3 or so seconds it will take him to get past then its not stupid or risky. And in fact, as he points out in his comments, he was watching the lights and he had plenty of time

It is, we don't have the same lighting system as the UK, ours goes straight to green, if the driver was not paying attention he could pinch the cyclist. The lights on the far side of the road that intersects with his road are not visible when he is undertaking the bus. He is relying on a driver he already thinks isn't great at his job. He was watching his lights, if they went green, the driver would move off, end of.

So what? As a professional driver he has a responsibility to know what the safe overtaking distances are. If he had taken the cyclist out with his mirror and then squashed him into a 'blood pancake', then I doubt that would be much of a defense in court.

It would be a great defence, he'd have the council up in court for giving that impression. At the point of the second overtake the cyclist was on a cycle track. Imagine I was holding the driving lane on a dualler, and a car overtook me in the overtaking lane, he would not be 1.5m away but it would be perfectly safe. It is easy to see why a driver would think that these overtakes are safe. I am not excusing them but I can't see him being prosecuted in court.

The only point in this video the cyclist was in danger, IMO, was when he undertook the bus, at no other time.

Wishbone Ash

droidus wrote: »

.. if you were standing in the saddle during the pass.

Anyone who stands in the saddle on a busy commute deserves to be knocked off! Leave that to the circus lads.