On Monday night (the 7th of
December) at 5.45pm, a Dublin bus came up behind me, went halfway past me and
then pulled across the cycle lane and right into the kerb. This resulted in me
having to make an emergency bunny hop up manoeuvre up onto the pavement and
into the queue of people waiting for the bus. This was the 46A going south
along Donnybrook Road. The bus driver, a grey haired, thin man who, though
sitting, seemed tall, could not have missed me.
I ride with a hi-viz jacket on, a bike
light under my saddle, a massive bike light on my back pack (which has a hi-viz
cover), a bike light is attached to the back of my helmet and I also wear red led
light straps around each of my arms. What clearly happened is the bus driver
wanted to get past me but under-estimated the speed I was going. He couldn’t
get past and needed to brake to let me go on while he indicated and pulled into
the bus stop. He didn’t bother waiting and just pulled in.
This is the most dangerous thing I have
ever experienced on a bike. Had I not been an experienced cyclist (I rode around
d 250km per week, every week) I would have been knocked off the bike and gone
under the rear wheels of the bus. When the driver opened the passenger doors he
seemed unsurprised to find those in the queue and myself asking him what on
earth he was thinking. I didn’t have to say anything, the people waiting for
the bus were angry on my behalf. As they shouted at him, the driver just looked
on. He seemed bored. He looked like a man so used to causing near accidents
that why would he care about another one. I said I’d report him but he just
told me to go ahead. He said Dublin Bus could not care less – cyclists should
not be on the road and would I just go away.
My wife has been telling me for some time
that I need a GoPro to record my commute in case something happens. Arising
from this incident, yesterday I purchased one of these and attached it to my
bike. If a Dublin Bus driver acts again in the dangerous manner I experienced on
Monday night, I will immediately take the recording to the Gardai. It is clear
that this Dublin Bus driver felt he was above the law; that no possible
sanction would ever be taken against him. Ultimately Dublin Bus needs to train
their drivers to respect cyclists on the road and to have policies in place to
sanction drivers whose behaviour places cyclists in genuine danger.
There is no war between bus drivers and
cyclists, as sometimes portrayed on social media platforms like Facebook. I had
not had an issue with a bus driver prior to this incident. I have seen both cyclists
and bus drivers do silly things, but in almost all cases, neither is trying to
kill the other. On Monday night I felt like the bus driver had actually been
trying to kill me. The speed at which he swung in cutting off my space on the
road was scary and deliberate.
Had I been hurt this would have resulted in
the closing of the road while the emergency services dealt with the incident.
The driver would have been investigated and, given the number of witnesses who
I was forced to ride into who saw the entire incident unfold, found guilty of
dangerous driving. As it was, I reacted to save myself and in doing so saved
this driver from sanction, but the next cyclist may not be so lucky.
Based on this incident, I advise all
cyclists to start to record their commutes and I advise Dublin Bus to start
addressing the risks that some drivers are taking with the lives of cyclists.
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