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Incident with Dublin Bus

Dowee

I came out of Lidl in Rathmines this morning, got my bike from the rack, cycled past the other racks (on the path), checked for traffic and proceeded onto the road. When checking for traffic I noticed a Dublin Bus (No 83) approx 100m back up the road (coming from the Rathgar end). I continued down Rathmines in the bus lane and can hear the bus getting close to me. Just before the next bus stop (at St Mary’s school) the bus manages to squeeze along side me, then indicates and starts pulling into the curb leaving me nowhere to go. When the bus came to a standstill I was about half way down it and had to shuffle up to the front of it as there was so little room. I waited for the driver to open the doors to “politely” ask him what he was doing. He then informs me that I’d been cycling on the path. So it seems that bus drivers have now been empowered to police rouge cyclists who leave shops and cycle off the path onto the road.

Can anyone who had had similar incidents me know the best way to report this to Dublin Bus?

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Leroy42

Best Way is to write a letter to the complaints deptartment. You will need the route number, time of incident etc.

However, there really is little point as DB will do nothing about the complaint. You have no evidence that this occurred, just your word against his.

Even if DB did want to go anywhere with this, no way the unions would stand for any disiplinary action, and DB aren't going to upset their drivers over such a meaningless incident*

By all means report the incident, the more it is reported the better, but don't think for one second that you will get anywhere.

*Meaningless to them, I agree that this type of incident is serious and could be even more so.

Lumen

Dowee wrote: »

Can anyone who had had similar incidents me know the best way to report this to Dublin Bus?

Write a full report using cut-out letters from a newspaper, place round neck of the bus driver gagged and mummified in duct tape, hang the be-messaged driver from the front of his bus using old inner tubes and bicycle chains and roll it gently back outside the bus station in the middle of the night.

ThisRegard

Seems to be more and more common these days, I read about plenty of incidences out near Donnybrook but never experienced it as I never use that road. However one morning a couple of weeks ago I was cycling on the Cruiserath Road, there's no bus lane on it, and a **** in a Dublin Bus start beeping at me as he approached and went by. I can only presume it was because I wasn't on the cycle lane which if anyone knows, stops and starts with stupid big drops every so often. I showed him how big one of my fingers was, not very mature but it wasn't something I wanted first thing in the morning.

Then a couple of weeks ago on the Snugborough Road, not too far from the first incident, I got the same thing. However this time there was a bus lane and he just kept beeping and beeping, each of which I ignored. Now bear in mind I wasn't holding him up, he was coming to the end of the bus lane straight into stopped traffic and a set of traffic lights, plus this was down hill so I was doing about 40, not exactly doddling. I doubt he would beep one of the many cars that regularly use the bus lane to skip traffic here, I suspect the driver may have been the same in both instances as I never had issues like that in the area and now 2 within a week of each other.

HivemindXX

Hopefully you have some details about the bus. Licence plate would be best but the time, location and bus number would be alright.

First call the guards, as soon as possible, and make a complaint to them. Then call Dublin Bus and complain.

I had an almost identical incident and I was getting the brush off from the DB complaints department until I told them I'd just wait to see what the guards had to say. The guy on the phone was noticably gutted to hear the guards had been informed. I assume my complaint was going to be totally ignored but since I had told the guards they had to file some paperwork and go through a process before they ignored me.

In hindsight I wish I had kicked up more of a stink. The driver who did this to me deliberately endangered my life as a threat. The end result was at best a note in that drivers file, that's what DB told me would happen (no disciplinary action, "sure you wouldn't want him to lose his job over this"). At worst (and pretty likely I think) they did nothing.

mtbireland

Write a letter but just live and learn from it and be glad you're ok and you were not squished... not making excuses for the driver but he may have looked...seen you on the path... then did all his other checking...by that time you may have been on the road and he didn't see you... big things though buses and Rathmines is one busy spot in the morning...

I was coming from Portobello this morning turning right towards Harcourt street There was an Audi in the left lane but no room for him to continue as a bus had just pulled out..I went up his inside and then he decided he'd use the bus stop which is set back from the road to undertake the bus... very annoying.. that's commuting in Dublin though...

call the police

Leroy42 wrote: »

Best Way is to write a letter to the complaints deptartment. You will need the route number, time of incident etc.

However, there really is little point as DB will do nothing about the complaint. You have no evidence that this occurred, just your word against his.

Even if DB did want to go anywhere with this, no way the unions would stand for any disiplinary action, and DB aren't going to upset their drivers over such a meaningless incident*

By all means report the incident, the more it is reported the better, but don't think for one second that you will get anywhere.

*Meaningless to them, I agree that this type of incident is serious and could be even more so.

i wouldn't agree with this, their buses have cctv cameras at the front, rear and side, it's in this drivers best interest that his employer is aware of this, sounds like he needs urgent retraining, an email should be sufficient with time and location, let them do the investigation

OldNotWIse

I dont know how many times I have been on a bus and my heart has been in my mouth thinking we are going to hit a cyclist! Bus drivers seem to think that they can just push them off the road at bus stops. Drives me mad.

Dowee

mtbireland wrote: »

Write a letter but just live and learn from it and be glad you're ok and you were not squished... not making excuses for the driver but he may have looked...seen you on the path... then did all his other checking...by that time you may have been on the road and he didn't see you... big things though buses and Rathmines is one busy spot in the morning...

There was 300 - 400 metres between when I came onto the road and when he decided to squeeze me against the curb. He most definitely saw me. He came from well behind me.

I have the route number, time and reg plate number. I'll report to the gardai later today.

Thanks for the responses folks.

Gophur

If you don't complain, nothing will happen.

If you do complain, something may happen. If action is taken, it may just save someone, some day, from injury, or worse.

mtbireland

QUOTE]

There was 300 - 400 metres between when I came onto the road and when he decided to squeeze me against the curb. He most definitely saw me. He came from well behind me.

[/QUOTE]

Well it's approx 170m from Lidl to St. Mary's and if a bus is doing the speed limit he'll cover that in approx 14 seconds according to google maps.. worth doing some homework on this before you report this to the Gardai... I've been cut up by buses before. I think they sometimes misjudge the speed cyclists are doing or else they just don't see you.

chakattack

I had an issue with a maniac bus driver on the N11. I reported it to the Gardai who genuinely took the matter seriously but another station had to investigate as it was in their jurisdiction and they sat on it for 3 months by which time the CCTV evidence was long gone. I could have prosecuted otherwise.

It sounds like it could have been accidental on the drivers part but the CCTV will tell all.

Go to the Gardai TODAY and insist that they retrieve the CCTV footage immediately. Otherwise it's your word against the driver's and it will be dropped.

99% of Dublin Bus drivers are very considerate but the 1% who think it's a game to deliberately teach cyclists a lesson from behind the wheel of a bus deserve to lose their jobs and licenses before they kill someone.

fenris

Go straight to the Gardai with this one, I had a similar incident on the N11 where the bus actually made contact with my shoulder driving me up against the kerb, I complained to DB - they were very sympathetic sounding and I left it with them, in hind sight I should have went straight to the Gardai, ignored dublin bus as their main concern is damage limitation.
We need to take the "this is the first time", "never happened before", 20 years driving without an incident" defense away from Dublin bus and show the pattern of behavior that has been observed and reported. It may make no difference to you or me at the moment but when a bus driver decides to "teach someone a lesson" resulting in maiming or death, it is important that there is enough information for the victim / victims family to deal with dublin bus from a position of strength and demonstrate not only dangerous behavior on the part of the driver but also a more widespread negligence on the part of dublin bus as an organisation.

Defending against this level of financial exposure is more likely to motivate dublin bus take action than cracking down on an activity that can be attributed to a single driver having a bad day.

dandruff_ie

ThisRegard wrote: »

Seems to be more and more common these days, I read about plenty of incidences out near Donnybrook but never experienced it as I never use that road. However one morning a couple of weeks ago I was cycling on the Cruiserath Road, there's no bus lane on it, and a **** in a Dublin Bus start beeping at me as he approached and went by. I can only presume it was because I wasn't on the cycle lane which if anyone knows, stops and starts with stupid big drops every so often. I showed him how big one of my fingers was, not very mature but it wasn't something I wanted first thing in the morning.

Then a couple of weeks ago on the Snugborough Road, not too far from the first incident, I got the same thing. However this time there was a bus lane and he just kept beeping and beeping, each of which I ignored. Now bear in mind I wasn't holding him up, he was coming to the end of the bus lane straight into stopped traffic and a set of traffic lights, plus this was down hill so I was doing about 40, not exactly doddling. I doubt he would beep one of the many cars that regularly use the bus lane to skip traffic here, I suspect the driver may have been the same in both instances as I never had issues like that in the area and now 2 within a week of each other.

<snip>

kcools

dandruff_ie wrote: »

<snip>

Glad to see someone from Dublin Bus respond in such a mature fashion. If you can't handle the fact that there are other road users then perhaps you need to review your career choice, before your ignorant attitude puts someone in hospital. :rolleyes:

Lumen

I race with a Dublin Bus driver, very nice guy, was pretty good in his day and not too shabby now.

They're not all cyclist-hating psychopaths.

langdang

nice day isn't it

dandruff_ie

yes yes

I have been told off by Boards.ie

so have fun and please be safe out there :rolleyes:

seamus

I've had one or two drivers who've blantantly passed within half a metre and then immediately pulled into a bus stop.

This is why I generally ride in the middle of bus lanes, and move over to allow busses to pass when there are no bus stops coming up.

DirkVoodoo

It's the same as everything in life, there is always a minority who act like jerks. I've found most bus drivers extremely courteous but prone to the odd mistake like anyone else. I have come across one or two however who seem to take the law into their own hands and police the bus lanes by trying to run you off them. It's sad that someone might risk killing someone for something as stupid as this and I hope it never happens, it's just crazy!

My incident with a bus was thrown out, the Garda said she identified two people off CCTV and asked me what I was wearing at the time. She said I didn't match the description and when I asked if I could try and identify myself from the footage she said that wouldn't be possible. Maybe she feared some kind of "speed" style editing on my part.

There are a lot of assholes out there, unfortunately some of them operate very large vehicles and don't think of the consequences. Maybe dublin buses should be fitted with an external camera so incidents like this can be resolved without any issue. If drivers knew "I might lose my job for playing chicken with cyclists no matter how annoying they might be", you would quickly see the asshole percentage fall. However the disgruntled former employee with a shotgun percentage may quickly rise.

Lumen

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

the Garda said she identified two people off CCTV and asked me what I was wearing

Is this the same incident?

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Not only that, I reported it to a quite good looking female Garda.

She has my number now. Fingers crossed!

"The only crime is she isn't doing it with me".

A pattern is emerging here. Are you deliberately putting yourself in positions of jeopardy in order to pull a Garda? Wouldn't it be (marginally) safer just to head down to Coppers?

DirkVoodoo

Lumen wrote: »

Is this the same incident?

A pattern is emerging here. Are you deliberately putting yourself in positions of jeopardy in order to pull a Garda? Wouldn't it be (marginally) safer just to head down to Coppers?

No, separate incident, that was coming back from a Brittas race with Pat Conlon when a taxi driver in Tallaght threatened to bash our heads in with a lump hammer he allegedly had in his boot.

Safer in Coppers? Doesn't sound like you have ever been near the place

CramCycle

chakattack wrote: »

Go to the Gardai TODAY and insist that they retrieve the CCTV footage immediately. Otherwise it's your word against the driver's and it will be dropped.

99% of Dublin Bus drivers are very considerate but the 1% who think it's a game to deliberately teach cyclists a lesson from behind the wheel of a bus deserve to lose their jobs and licenses before they kill someone.

Had to get CCTV before for a non DB related incident but in view of their cameras. I found out that unless they get a request within 24 hours, it's gone. i have no idea the official policy but this is what myself and the Gardaí were told.

That said most DB drivers are decent guys but like every profession there are a small number of jerks who ruin their good name.

Dowee

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

It's the same as everything in life, there is always a minority who act like jerks. I've found most bus drivers extremely courteous but prone to the odd mistake like anyone else. I have come across one or two however who seem to take the law into their own hands and police the bus lanes by trying to run you off them. It's sad that someone might risk killing someone for something as stupid as this and I hope it never happens, it's just crazy!

My incident with a bus was thrown out, the Garda said she identified two people off CCTV and asked me what I was wearing at the time. She said I didn't match the description and when I asked if I could try and identify myself from the footage she said that wouldn't be possible. Maybe she feared some kind of "speed" style editing on my part.

There are a lot of assholes out there, unfortunately some of them operate very large vehicles and don't think of the consequences. Maybe dublin buses should be fitted with an external camera so incidents like this can be resolved without any issue. If drivers knew "I might lose my job for playing chicken with cyclists no matter how annoying they might be", you would quickly see the asshole percentage fall. However the disgruntled former employee with a shotgun percentage may quickly rise.

I totally agree. I cycle to work everyday and have done so for many years and this the first incident like this I've had with a Bus. I've had near misses before but they were down to errors, either on the driver's part or mine. There's also been times when I felt the bus could have waited not overtaken me before the stop.

My issue with this incident is that the driver did it deliberately and pretty much admitted to the same by trying to justify his actions as some sort of justice for the fact that I cycled off the path 200 yards back up the road at Lidl.

Anyway, I've called Dublin Bus. Unsurprisingly their Public Affairs line is just an answering machine. I've left a message and will report to the Gardai on the way home. I'll write to Dublin Bus as well.

Idleater

If you are in town, you can write down your complaint directly in Dublin Bus HQ on O'Connell Street.

I did this and got a letter back from DB informing me that they had found my incident on tape and were proceeding with retraining the identified driver.

their words, not mine.

DirkVoodoo

nereid wrote: »

I did this and got a letter back from DB informing me that they had found my incident on tape and were proceeding with retraining the identified driver.

Bad driver, we do that outside!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLvr8twnzNk

monkeypants

Dowee wrote: »

police rouge cyclists

I googled it and this was the result.

Maybe not Dublin Bus, maybe not the Gardai, but someone should definitely police them.

Dowee

myrazou

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Maybe dublin buses should be fitted with an external camera so incidents like this can be resolved without any issue.

Buses have been fitted with external cameras for the last few years now. They are often used by Gardaí investigating other crimes as they are so clear. However, Dublin Bus cannot use camera footage to dicipline a driver (union agrement). If you want the footage used, you must ask the Gardaí to request the cctv within 24 hours of the incident. You should also log your complaint with Dublin Bus on 8734222 (calls to this number are logged and taken seriously) and tell them that the Gardaí have been informed.

I am not a bus driver, nor do I work for Dublin Bus. I have some friends who do work there. With such a large workforce there will always be a few nutcases employed. They are the ones who everyone notices. Let's remember that there are really great bus drivers out there too.

Management at depot level in Dublin Bus is reputed to be very weak and there is a very complicated diciplinary procedure in place which is almost always in favour of the drivers.

Bunnyhopper

Lumen wrote: »

Write a full report using cut-out letters from a newspaper, place round neck of the bus driver gagged and mummified in duct tape, hang the be-messaged driver from the front of his bus using old inner tubes and bicycle chains and roll it gently back outside the bus station in the middle of the night.

@Lumen That reminds me, I meant to point this jacket out to you. The Sombrio Sonic Water Resistant Cycling Jacket. That's the genuine promo picture as it appears on Wiggle.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/sombrio-sonic-water-resistant-cycling-jacket/

Lawrence1895

Bus drivers beeping at you, when you are in front of them, and they are approaching a bus stop is something, I got well used to (I'm cycling all around Dublin for 6 years now)

But what annoys me much more is, when they pass you and drive straight through a puddle of water...considering, some of those puddles are more like small lakes...and leave you soaking wet :mad: