http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: Response from Lothian Buses en Wed, 13 May 2026 03:38:35 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9517#post-101101 Tue, 19 Feb 2013 20:29:09 +0000 gembo 101101@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Anyone reading this chatter please do not take it as in any way suggesting it is safe to cycle up the left hand side of long vehicles - lorries or buses.</p> <p>Say for example you were crushed due to blind spot, or if new mirrors fitted, due to driver not looking in them, you could say - it is OK because dave said blindspots were an old chestnut and WC agreed, sort of. Both Dave and WC are careful to point out the risk of being crushed on the LHS. You are taking a risk. Do not think you aren't. WC ends with the best advice - hang back unless you know the vehicle isn't going to move or you have an escape route. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9517#post-100999 Tue, 19 Feb 2013 11:13:27 +0000 Wilmington's Cow 100999@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Dave, believe it or not I agree with you - the problem for cyclists is that you can't actually know if the truck you want to ride up the side of is fitted with the best mirrors (as they are not, bizarrely, a legal requirement) nor, really, that the driver is paying proper attention (which <em>is</em> a legal requirement, obviously). I still hang back from undertaking trucks if I'm not 100% sure they aren't going to move, or if I don't have an escape route. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9517#post-100996 Tue, 19 Feb 2013 11:09:13 +0000 Dave 100996@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em>Various members of this forum have acted the goat for LB at training by cycling up the LHS whilst others sat in cab and watched them disappear. </em></p> <p>Just to add a contrary note to this: <a href="http://mccraw.co.uk/sorry-mate-i-cant-see-blind-spot/" rel="nofollow">http://mccraw.co.uk/sorry-mate-i-cant-see-blind-spot/</a></p> <p>Not that I think it's a good idea to be crushed to death, but the old chestnut about blind spots doesn't hold water for me (unless the vehicle is not fitted with proper safety mirrors - an aggravating circumstance IMO). </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9517#post-100978 Tue, 19 Feb 2013 10:01:17 +0000 fimm 100978@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I gave them route number, bus registration number, location and direction of travel - if they hadn't deleted the CCTV before receiving the complaint they should have been able to track it down. From what I remember of what I put, I don't think I was very specific about what the driver did, and my reading of the response ("<em>needlessly hazardous ... clearly avoided using any common sense ...</em>") is that they did see the CCTV.</p> <p>I don't necessarily want the driver to stop driving buses, I just want him to drive them safely around cyclists. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9517#post-100971 Tue, 19 Feb 2013 08:12:50 +0000 gembo 100971@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Lothian Bus do take action. If they have bus no. And time and can check the footage from the various cameras </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9517#post-100960 Mon, 18 Feb 2013 23:59:14 +0000 Focus 100960@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Whilst the wording could have been slightly more diplomatic (even just leaving the cyclists being the danger as the <em>second</em>comment would come across differently), LB are basically officially subscribing to the same ethos I adhere to: assume everybody <em>else</em> on the road is about to behave like an idiot and be prepared accordingly.</p> <p>It certainly doesn't guarantee your safety but it does teach you to remain alert at all times.</p> <p>I would, however, want to know what disciplinary steps were taken. Too often organisations like to only go as far as saying, "leave it to us" and hope we want press for more information. I wouldn't be asking for the driver's name and home address, but I would want to know if they were given a refresher course, a formal warning or whatever, just to indicate how seriously a complaint was taken. Not to say none of those resolutions was undertaken but the letter stops at empathy and admission of guilt without sharing the "sentence handed down". I've never been a fan of that approach. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9517#post-100793 Mon, 18 Feb 2013 08:21:22 +0000 gembo 100793@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@fimm</p> <p>I don't think anything in the LB or CCE response constitutes a reflection on your manoeuvre. </p> <p>The biggest danger cyclists impose on themselves is cycling up the LHS of a bus/lorry into the blind spot. Various members of this forum have acted the goat for LB at training by cycling up the LHS whilst others sat in cab and watched them disappear. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9517#post-100789 Sun, 17 Feb 2013 23:44:49 +0000 fimm 100789@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Hmm. Thank-you for the thoughts. If my memory serves me correctly, I was a bit slow in starting to move into the right-hand lane, so had to wait until the bus had slowed behind me before signaling and moving across, which I had to do quite carefully as I couldn't see anything as I had a bus right behind me. It probably wasn't the best manoeuvre I ever did. Oh well. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9517#post-100721 Sat, 16 Feb 2013 21:55:00 +0000 Uberuce 100721@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Their 'watch out for eejits and take steps to avoid squishing them' policy is head and shoulders above that of too many drivers - 'carelessly squish them and rely on juries being filled with similarly careless driver who will acquit you'. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9517#post-100720 Sat, 16 Feb 2013 21:47:56 +0000 ARobComp 100720@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I must agree to that. I think what they say is fair - sometimes cyclists put themselves in a stupid place - as do drivers and buses. At least they're preparing them to anticipate what cyclists might do. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9517#post-100719 Sat, 16 Feb 2013 21:46:22 +0000 Kenny 100719@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I found the video.</p> <p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW7U16OG0Kc" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW7U16OG0Kc</a> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9517#post-100718 Sat, 16 Feb 2013 21:45:31 +0000 Kenny 100718@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>+1 - what chdot said</p> <p>They have a video that they show to their drivers (it is on youtube) that shows the idiocy of some cyclists and teaches drivers to, for example, hang back and avoid trouble when you have a twat on a bike.</p> <p>I'm fairly certain it isn't a reflection on your cycling. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9517#post-100715 Sat, 16 Feb 2013 21:09:32 +0000 chdot 100715@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Basically means that they tell drivers (show them movies too) how stupid <em>some</em> cycle users ARE so that they can (in theory) constantly be prepared for the worst. </p> <p>It mean drivers are taught that LB expects its drivers to take account of 'vulnerable' road users and not (just) regarded them as a nuisance! </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9517#post-100714 Sat, 16 Feb 2013 20:48:30 +0000 fimm 100714@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>A while ago I had a bit of a moan about being followed rather closely by a Lothian Bus. Not up to their usual high standards was about the sum of it. Anyway someone encouraged me to tell them about it, so I did, and I now have a letter of response, nearly all of which I reproduce below:</p> <p><em>What you describe can only be considered as needlessly hazardous and could quite easily have yielded a different and more serious outcome. The member of staff involved has clearly avoided using any common sense nor did he consider your health and safely.</p> <p>Lothian Buses are regularly involved in Road Safety Partnership events and have invested heavily to educate out staff in <strong>the dangers cyclist[s] impose on themselves</strong> and the dangers that we impose on cyclists when sharing road space. The results have been very positive with less and less concerning incidents being recorded, meaning reported cyclist incidents are on the decline.</p> <p>We do not tolerate dangerous driving in any form and act swiftly to avoid repetition with all members of driving staff. I hope that you never have to experience anything like this in the future. I trust that you will allow me to deal with this matter accordingly.</p> <p>On behalf of Lothian Buses please accept my most sincere apologies [for] your experience and I think you for taking the time to bring this matter to my attention.</em></p> <p>The bit I'm interested in is the bit I've highlighted in bold. I don't read it as a criticism of my cycling, but I can't work out exactly what it is they are trying to express. Any suggestions?</p> <p>A good response, as expected - someone has taken the driver into a corner and given him a talking to and I'm sure in future he'll give cyclists a bit more space. </p>