The daily dice with death..

yeah in Ireland every single coach I took over the summer, the driver had at least one phone conversation without hands-free kit, whilst driving. Also saw some impressive texting whilst driving and talking to a passenger at the same time whilst playing dodge'ems with the potholes on roads the width of the bus.

scary experience.

When all is said and done about the close shaves and, for me anyway, the yearly big knock off/run down, I would never NEVER swap it for the train. I loves to ride my bike. Simples. And having a tear up once in a while only adds to the fun.. So. Complain and swear and shout. Just stay upright.

... and also, of course, do everything to improve your riding through cycle training. There are plenty of cycle trainers on the forum, including the excellent wiganwill. Or take advantage of the CTUK deal for forumengers:

http://www.londonfgss.com/post1086911.html

As a seasoned club rider, you're undoubtedly already a good rider, but we can all learn more, and cycle training, for instance, helps you understand traffic better. Even with a lot of riding, being knocked off every year is really too often.

... being knocked off every year is really too often.[/QUOTE]

I concur..

I think it's because they are acustomed to driving on motorways and in Milton Keynes.

They aren't even safe in Milton Keynes... I got taken out by one when driving there. Was turning right around a roundabout (with plenty of space) when the coach beside me suddenly and inexplicably changed lanes without any indication. Smashed me between the coach and the wall of the roundabout. Middle of the night so no witnesses and no CCTV, still waiting for insurance payout and possibly have to go and argue it out in court.

Also saw some impressive texting whilst driving and talking to a passenger at the same time whilst playing dodge'ems with the potholes on roads the width of the bus.

Some fucker in a saloon car rolled over the stop line next to me on Belgrave Road (near the Denbeigh Street junction) a few days ago. I was waiting at the lights with another cyclist and he started creeping forward. I was just about to knock in his window and ask him WTF when I saw that he was looking down at his phone and was busy texting.

While the lights were green for pedestrians.

I'm afraid to say that I was too gob-smacked by his stupidity to challenge him, then the lights changed and off he zoomed. Still texting probably. Fuckwit.

Been there.. Elephant and Castle. Some guy texting/emailing and actually swerving all over the place. I shouted at him he's going to kill someone.. He wound down the window.. And said "you're right mate I'm very sorry.. " I wasn't ready for that.. But it made me feel.. Happy. Like I wanted to hug the guy.

yeah. what was exciting was that I caught on the camera on my phone.......
unfortunately the driver had let me off the 15 euro compulsory bike carriage charge (wtf!) for my knackered bike and then started chatting to me and turned out to be kind of nice so I decided not to send it into the bus company and get him sacked, and just told him off instead.

Been there.. Elephant and Castle. Some guy texting/emailing and actually swerving all over the place. I shouted at him he's going to kill someone.. He wound down the window.. And said "you're right mate I'm very sorry.. " I wasn't ready for that.. But it made me feel.. Happy. Like I wanted to hug the guy.

always nice when people acknowledge their actions :D
we had a nice hand-shaking moment with a bus driver who cut us up the other day.......he was very sorry and made a nice change from the bus offenders I have encountered in the past.

Coaches seem to be the worst large vehicles IMO, I think it's because they are acustomed to driving on motorways and in Milton Keynes.

That just reminded me of the awful coach driving back from MK once. The driver was doing 50+ on country lanes, trying to chat up some tart and at one point nearly tipped the thing trying to corner. An old lady was thrown from her seat, and at that point we noticed the tied up carrier bag of vomit on the back seat. Ended up as a proper mutiny with one passenger getting the driver off the coach at Bicester while he called NE to complain. Terrifying.

National Express Coaches are generally driven in an unbelievebly dangerous manner.

I remember a late night NX journey from London to Liverpool. The driver took some ropey detour/shortcut through Birmingham on roads clearly too narrow for a coach to drive down. This was highlighted when he turned left at a junction at about 20mph which resulted in the coach mounting the kerb with a massive jolt. My head may have touched the roof of the coach, and also the chemical toilet possibly fell over because there was a fucking huge crash from the back of the coach shortly followed by a strong smell of poo. Thankfully the driver was a quick thinker and lit up a fag to mask the stench. No point opening the window, just ash on the floor...

Certainly adds a new horror to Birmingham- and that's quite hard.

Not really. It's not really my area of expertise. Anecdotally, I know that most complaints like this don't achieve anything. They only really do if you have evidence or you have a credible threat. There aren't external complaints mechanisms in most companies as far as I know, but I have no idea how National Express deal with it.

If Brave's letter wasn't a joke and he really sent it, it is of course going straight into the bin at the company.

A witness is easy to find, I am unemployed and can be in any part of London if needed.

Plus my surname makes me sound posh and foreign and may add weight to the complaint.

A witness is easy to find, I am unemployed and can be in any part of London if needed.

Plus my surname makes me sound posh and foreign and may add weight to the complaint.

I'm fucking loving that!

Royal Mail lorries and Gwizz/Pirus drivers can also be added to that.

British Gas seem to own a fleet of fuckwads too