Forum Rider Down and/or notification of minor incidents

Shunted by a white BMW yesterday as I pulled away from the lights outside Brixton Cycles. Rear wheel totalled as well as cranks (!). Police attended but waved everyone on whilst I was sat in back of police car. Bruises and grazes and hopefully can recover from his insurance for repairs to bike.

Hi guys, was wanting your advice on how and who best to report an incident to? Was riding home from work on Wednesday night on Essex Road when a 73 bus drives up alongside me and proceeds to pull in for his stop as if I'm not there. He was edging closer and closer to me and I had to slam on the brakes and fall back behind the bus to avoid a last second collision. I pulled up to his window and had a go at him, his response was "You can see an indicator, can't you mate?" which I feel would be a fair response had he been in front of me, started indicating and I rode in between him and the curb, but not when he drives up next to me and tries to run me off the road!

I have a helmet cam which recorded the incident, and I switched over to camera mode to take photos of the driver so I have that too, as well as the license plate number. Does anyone have any advice on who best to report this to? Arriva (the bus company) or the police? Both? Any help much appreciated.

Helmet cam recording -
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3WmIgXayU-aTGFiUE1nc0VOaFk

police and arriva

quickly as this cunt should be off the road

regularly experience this level of arseholery from bus drivers and I've always (wrongly) conceded that it is something to put up with due to my vague knowledge of highway code 223: giving priority to buses.

however.... I've had a closer look after your post and my understanding now is that you only have to do this when they're pulling away from stops and only when it can be done safely - so definitely report this guy as @dancing james says and I will do so too next time this happens to me. It might be worth going through TFL too.

i would be interested to see how you get on with it and if the response, if any is positive. i hope the rest of your ride went ok.

Well I'm used to buses lurking right behind you when they are trying to get to their stop, or pulling in front of you then cutting you off - both of which are annoying but expected when we are constantly sharing the same lane. But I've never had a bus driver just wantonly try and run me off the road because it seemed like he couldn't be bothered acknowledging my existence. Thanks, I will report back here how I get on.

From what I can see of the video, the overtake starts at 00.05 secs and the indicators only show some 6 seconds later at 00.11. Use of indicators does NOT entitle the driver to move in regardless of the presence of other road users and this should be reported to the employers (who MIGHT be helpful), the Police,( who probably won't) and TfL.
Shame this didn't take place in Camden or the West Midlands...

@helly ....you mention Camden. I'm intrigued.

I had a very similar incident to @Hades with the 253 pulling into me opposite Sainsburys Camden. Submitted a SAR to Arriva and have CCTV from the bus and will be submitting a complaint to Arriva. However, if you think there's any other channels I should pursue then let me know...

I understand that Camden MPS, like West Mids, are acting to reduce the number of close passes.
I think this is mostly 'having a word' with drivers they see to pass to closely, rather than dealing with scary close shaves.
They might be interested in your story but 'no collision occurred' they might not.

Ah yes, I was aware Camden MPS were doing this, but had forgotten. Will drop them a line in case they're interested.

Clipped by a 'sun in my eyes' bus driver at camberwell green this morning. Down hard on my hip but I don't think anything's broken as I was able to continue my errands and walk home.

Pretty stiff now and joint with top of the leg hurts a lot when straightening.

Will reassess in the morning and maybe hobble to king's if it's still bad.

Probably be more stiff tomorrow - heal up good.

sorry to hear that - reported?

Heal up well.

Cheers. He pulled over to the bus stops and we exchanged details/filled out the incident forms. An old lady on the bus took a spill when he slammed on the brakes, so not a good day for anyone.

This used to happen a lot back in the years of the bendy bus experiment. It was scary as fuck and made for very dangerous roads. There was no excuse then and there is certainly none now.

So. Things have escalated quickly. Everything felt loose enough to ride my tourer, did so on Thursday. Still pain when move it in one particular direction. This morning, set out, got as far as Waltham Marshes, went to clip out quickly as it looked like I might fall off.

I yanked what has been a small fracture of the femur just below the ball joint into a much bigger one. Surgery required and possibility of a nice new hip.

Balls.

Oh sh*t.

Sorry to hear that. Hope it gets sorted quick as poss.

Ah, man. Not cool. :(

Hope medic-types sort it out for you soon. Heal up buddy!

Sorry to hear that mattioats. I hope it ends up being less serious than you mentioned!

Bad news. Did it happen when you commuted or did you go for a longer ride?

I hope no new hip will be required, but lengthy time off the bike probably will be. :(

With any luck, you'll be able to use cycling as part of your rehabilitation soon, though. Fingers crossed!

Ouch! Hope you heal up well and fast.

Thanks all. Had surgery last night, consultant came in the morning and said they were very happy with how it went. No new hip required, thankfully, and a seemingly good union with plate.

Was on the longer on my two commutes. Had gone to hospital on Monday where they'd diagnosed a hæmatoma and didn't x-ray, which made sense at the time. I probably would have worsened the original fracture eventually as I wasn't aware it was fractured at all.

Just so happened I did a little panic-unclip as I didn't want to lose my front wheel of a slippy edge of the path. Damn my powerful muscles, able to fracture my own bones.

Mend well soon, mattioats!
Your powerful muscles did not fracture your bone; they completed and displaced the fracture caused by the initial crash.
I hope the people who didn't X-ray you initially are informed of your condition for their education.

Ah, thank you for the extra detail. I should have remembered his name to pass on a note, but I'm not one for apportioning blame. Except when starting personal injury proceedings against the bus company and their insurers.

I would not want to be blaming anyone, but as both a retired doctor and a once mismanaged patient, I would want to educate those involved in what, with hindsight, would appear to be suboptimal care.
Your current consultant might also wish to let the initial doctor know (and/or present your case as a 'Lesson of the Week' case).

The fact you attended hospital on Monday means there should be documentation there to back up claims for compensation, as well as your current admission. This illustrates why it (in general terms) is important not to settle too soon after any incident as significant injuries can sometimes become apparent after a substantial delay.
Make sure you collect ALL relevant documentation.