Dear Sirs
I wish to log a complaint against the driver of taxi number 1178 following an incident on Lothian Road at about 8.45-8.50am today (7th April). I was heading from south to north, having set off from the lights where Earl Grey Street turns into Lothian Road. Having crossed the junction with Morrison Street / Bread Street I was in the bus lane, cycling roughly in the middle of the lane. As you are probably well aware the road surface on Lothian Road leaves a lot to be desired at the moment, especially to the left. Cycling to the left would have encouraged traffic to squeeze through, and also place me on a road surface where I would be more likely to fall off and end up under the wheels of following traffic.
Also, there was a bus stopped at the bus stop at the Filmhouse Cinema, and so aware that I may have to move out into the right hand lane to go round the bus I was keeping a position which would make such a move easy and safe. All this time I was moving at the same pace, if not slightly quicker, than the traffic in the right hand lane, which had, a little further down, begun to stop for the red lights at the Western Approach Road junction.
I tell you all of this to set the scene. Poor road surface, with a bus in the same lane ahead, and slightly further on traffic coming to a queuing stop.
It was at this moment I became aware of a car VERY close behind me. I turned to see a taxi (a ‘van’ type). He was partly in the bus lane, and partly in the right hand lane. He passed me with 6 (SIX) inches to spare, moved in front of me, and then was stopped at the lights for the pedestrian crossing just after the Filmhouse (the bus having pulled away just moments before). By this time he was in the left hand lane fully. I indicated to him in his rear view mirror (showing a gap between my finger and thumb) that he had come too close.
Just then another cyclist pulled alongside me and commented, “He did the same to me, just a bully boy.”
As the lights turned green I couldn’t quite believe that he didn’t then move just to the right hand lane, which becomes at this point the middle of three, but to the FARTHEST right lane. There is one simple logical explanation for all of this, he had passed so closely deliberately and in full knowledge of what he was doing while in charge of a couple of tonnes of vehicle.
When passing me, as he was straddling both lanes, there was no-one to his right impeding his progress there, and so there was no need to pass so closely. And the fact that after the incident he moved as far right as possible shows that he didn’t even need to be in the left hand lane!
Your driver is actually fortunate on a couple of counts. Firstly I normally ride with a small video camera on my bike, and had I been doing so this morning I would have been reporting your driver to the police for attempted assault (there is recent legal precedent for this). Secondly, I’m a lawyer. The reason this makes him lucky is that, while I know all about the law on corporate culpable homicide and the consequences for his employers for his actions had I struck a pothole and ended up under his wheels, it also means that I was able to rein in any anger and the driver was able to continue his journey without losing a wing mirror. But I’ll be honest, it was a close run thing. And if I can reach his wing mirror to knock it off while he’s passing me then he is far too close.
As it was he then got stuck in the queue of traffic. I pointed to him as I passed in the clear left hand lane, and tapped the side of my head to indicate my opinion of his mental capacity. I’m afraid I didn’t quite catch his gesture through the windscreen in return, but I can make a very good guess.
I don’t expect that this complaint will go anywhere (as I said, your driver is very very lucky this morning firstly not to have injured or even killed someone, and secondly not to have had this matter reported to the police). But I have no doubt in my mind that the driver acted deliberately and dangerously, which is shame because on the bike I find taxi drivers to be more attentive than most (though strangely the same cannot be said when I’m driving).
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