Please report dangerous drivers to the police - Roadsafe. Report to plod, not just whinge here.

interrupting

I had a small incident with a bus a couple of weeks ago. It was wet, gloomy, and I was in a bit of a rush, on my shit old bike which has brakes which are working, but are not the modern, efficient kind. To cut a long, boring story short, a bus pulled out from a side road with me bearing down upon it (it was a slight descent), giving me little more than 15-20m to stop. It had been stationary at the side road, which has good sightlines, especially towards the direction I was coming from - I know this as it is a local road I use regularly. The driver pulled out, effectively blocking the whole of my lane, plus a bit more. I pulled a mega emergency stop, but just before I stopped completely the back wheel slid out and I came off. (Did I mention it was wet?) Since I was going so slowly by that point, the only harm done was some ripped bartape.

The driver was very apologetic, but worryingly couldn't really explained why she had pulled out. I was riding in the centre of my lane. The bus driver behind saw the incident and confirmed it was her fault, asked me if I was ok, etc. Anyway, I made a complaint to TFL, and received this today:

Thank you for your email regarding the above matter.

I was concerned to learn of your distressing incident regarding a driver on route 484, and I am relieved to hear that a serious accident did not occur. Our drivers should be professional and aware of the safety of all road users. I am very sorry for the obvious inconvenience and upset caused to you by this incident.

I have contacted Abellio, who operate route 484 on our behalf. They would like to convey their apologies for the incident. They have advised me that throughout training and at regular intervals thereafter, drivers are instructed and constantly reminded of the need to drive their bus in a safe manner, both for the benefit of their passengers and other road users such as cyclists, and to be considerate and courteous at all times.

Abellio have made the Accident Prevention manager at the route 484 garage aware of your complaint.

They will interview the driver in question about her conduct, and follow this up with appropriate action in line with their internal disciplinary procedures. This can include further monitoring to ensure that improvement is made, however, for confidentiality reasons we cannot release details of an interview and any subsequent action taken. However this matter will be taken very seriously to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

I would seek to reassure you that all of our drivers are formally assessed by a Driving Standards Agency Approved Assessor. In addition to holding a full category B entitlement (car) driving licence, all bus drivers take an additional test for Passenger Carrying Vehicle's (PCV) as assessed by the DSA. This includes ensuring that the vehicle is driven, at all times, with the utmost safety and with courtesy and consideration for everyone else on today's busy roads.

We are also actively training bus drivers in regards to behaviour around cyclists. We have consulted with the Cycling Centre of Excellence and London Cycling when devising these training programmes. We currently have a training programme specific for bus drivers dealing with cyclists.

I hope that this helps, and I hope that your future journeys are more pleasant. I should note that most drivers are confident and courteous towards cyclists and we hope that this trend continues. Should you need to contact us again, please feel free to email me.

Personally, I am pretty happy with that response, and am glad to hear that something will be done. I'm fairly sure no one is going to lose their job over this, but hopefully the driver concerned will be a little more alert at junctions next time. In some ways I was rather disappointed it was a bus driver, as in general I think they are among London's most considerate road users. I might have expected it from a van driver or a regular drivenger.