Dear Mr. F. Bus.
"I wish to complain about the driving standards and the attitude of the driver of your above mentioned service that I had the misfortune to encounter this afternoon while I was cycling on Princes Street in Edinburgh. The service was No. 27, your fleet number was 36009.
We were both headed eastbound, I was in the left hand lane, between Frederick Street and South St. David Street. Your vehicle partially passed me, at which point it then began to cut across from the right hand lane in to the left hand lane, squeezing me towards the kerb. Your vehicle made contact with my right side and I was able to give it a firm thump on the side wing. I was positioned about half-way down the side, between the leading and rear wheels. I was forced to apply my brakes and slow down as the bus continued to drift across. At no point did I see any indicators.
I caught your vehicle at the next set of lights (outside Jenners) and came alongside the driver's window. I asked him if he had any idea what he had just done, and got in return a sarcastic response that I could not fully discern over the noise of the traffic. I moved around in front of the bus to note the fleet number and your driver pulled a face at me and made a "writing it down" motion with his fingers; the attitude he conveyed was "yeah, yeah, right it down, whatever". At this point I then cycled off as I had no wish to further communicate with someone who clearly did not feel his standards of driving fell well below an acceptable minimum, had no regard for the safety of a vulnerable road user and whose whole attitude was one of flippancy rather than apologetic. Given the level of traffic on Princes Street, I was well ahead of your bus quickly and never saw it again.
Your driver clearly has no appreciation of how to pass a cyclist on the road and when is and when is not a good time and place to try such a manoeuvre - a congested Princes Street, already busy with buses, taxis, cyclists and pedestrians is not. He clearly has no idea of the position he put me in as his 12 tonne vehicle began to squeeze me towards the kerb and then made contact with me - it could quite easily have ended up with me under his rear wheels. He then exhibited a completely childish attitude when confronted with it. Perhaps he would do well to consider he is driving a public service vehicle, clearly marked with his employer's name, a service number and fleet name.
I look forward to your response on this matter.
Regards,
Mr K. Nik"
sticky
posts
