[Closed] Bus driver jailed for using his vehicle as a weapon

I would've got up and kicked his head in with my good leg!

(In case anyone thinks I'm completely serious)
[img] [/img]

No one is saying the bus driver was justified, just that the cyclist appeared to take active steps to wind him up, for which there was no need.

No one is saying the bus driver was justified, just that the cyclist appeared to take active steps to wind him up, for which there was no need.

^^This^^

^^That^^

You should search Youtube for 'fatal accidents'

Nope, you don't. Really

[i]No one is saying the bus driver was justified, just that the cyclist appeared to take active steps to wind him up, for which there was no need.[/i]

Yep, many bus drivers are complete psychopaths who think nothing of running defenceless people over with their vehicle...

defenceles

Really? He could have not bothered having the argument in the first place. He could have just ignored what had happened and ridden on. He could have stepped off his bike, away from the road. He could have not wound the bus driver up in the first place, basically.

Both, and others besides, would have been a defence.

As before,

No one is saying the bus driver was justified, just that the cyclist appeared to take active steps to wind him up, for which there was no need.

So what? I believe it is acceptable to wind people up, if that's the terminology being used. I'm certain flashie, cynical and the druid feel the same 😉 If we're speculating, I'd guess that the cyclist was reacting to previous dangerous driving by the bus. I think it's unfair to place any responsibility for the assault on the cyclist because what happened was such a massive escalation in violence [b]purely[/b] on the part of the bus driver. I'm emphatically not saying that arguing with people is a good idea, just trying to distance the previous poor behaviour from the assault, is all.

I would've got up and kicked his head in with my good leg!

what happened was such a massive escalation in violence purely on the part of the bus driver

Your proof is?

No one is saying tht the bus driver is not to blame for his actions. He is. People are saying that the cyclist could have, and perhaps should have, avoided the unnecessary confrontation which led to the impact.

He seemed to get very close to the bus for no reason I could see whatsoever.

No one is saying that he is responsible in law, it just looks that he could have avoided the whole thing by dealing with it better.

I don't see any signs of conflict from the video only only someone making there way across lanes of traffic.

Wicked recklessness is Scottish law in Bristol it would only be attempt murder if he could be shown to have intended to kill .

I'm not quite sure how you ever prove intent to kill. If you shoot someone in the body can you just have intent to harm? Similarly trying to drive over someone with a bus can you have intent to only harm?

He seemed to get very close to the bus for no reason I could see whatsoever.

Thing is the footage doe not show what happened to piss the cyclist off. Odds on the driver had previously cut him up. In my experience most, but not all, bus drivers are complete and utter ****s where cyclists are concerned.

17 months seems fair? Will he serve the full 17 months? I doubt it.

[i]That would have done nothing to inflame the situation, would it?[/i]

Is davidjones15 one of those bots we were talking about earlier?

Your proof is?

Well they haven't charged the cyclist with assault, have they? If he did assault the bus driver then I would agree that he's escalated the situation. For me though, verbals and arm waving will forever be in an entirely different sphere to violence. Anyone moving a situation from one to the other should take full responsibility for that.

the cyclist could have, and perhaps should have, avoided the unnecessary confrontation which led to the impact.

Nope, for me that's exactly like apportioning blame to the victim of domestic violence because they argued with their partner.

Coyote - Member

Thing is the footage doe not show what happened to piss the cyclist off. Odds on the driver had previously cut him up. In my experience most, but not all, bus drivers are complete and utter ****s where cyclists are concerned.

Coyote - Member
Thing is the footage doe not show what happened to piss the cyclist off

I don't see how that's relevant really. And I bet he never does it again.

Put another way;

Thing is the footage does not show what happened to piss the [s]cyclist[/s] bus driver off. Odds on the [s]driver[/s]cyclist had previously cut him up. In my experience most, but not all, [s]bus drivers[/s] cyclists are complete and utter ****s where [s]cyclists[/s] bus drivers are concerned.

See? Cyclist are not always perfect, nor are bus drivers. Far from it in this case. But....And it's a big but, both parties could, and should do more to [i]avoid[/i] getting in to these situations in the first place.

I've had similar "words" with a bus driver, but stayed behind the bus following those words. If you don't let them know when they cut you up how will thay learn that cyclists don't appreciate having to bunny hop onto the pavement to avoid a collision?

17 months seems fair? Will he serve the full 17 months? I doubt it.

No I'm sure he won't but it is difficult to see how he would get a commercial driving job again so he is likely to end up unemployed for some time. It looks as though he just went mad and did something he immediately regretted. He didn't drive away, he stopped. He admitted guilt at the first opportunity. It's clearly completely his fault but when you are dealing with other humans you shouldn't push them too far.

No winners here

Edit: educator has it

No one has an issue with "words", just no need to inflame a situation.

when you are dealing with other humans you shouldn't push them too far.

When you are dealing with someone you've never met before, how do you know where too far is?

RichPenny - Member
When you are dealing with someone you've never met before, how do you know where too far is?

I think the video explains that the cyclist exceeded the limit...

I doubt that the cyclist was able to see the video before he made his choices .

I don't think you can [i]blame[/i] the cyclist until you have an idea of what preceded it. If the driver is a big enough pyschopath to do what we see on the video, he may well have been driving dangerously aggresively before that. It is easy to say 'don't wind the driver up' but with the adrenaline running from the previous near miss that can be easier said than done. 'Fight or flight' is a physiological reaction to perceived danger.

Yes it might have been better not to argue with the driver, but it would have been better still for the bus driver not to (presumably) start it.

Its perfectly reasonable to remonstrate with someone who puts you at risk - even if it gets them cross. However to put yourself in the vulnerable position the cyclist did afterwards in the bit we saw is daft.

In most occasions that is the correct place to ride in the road - however with an angry bus driver behind you the correct place to be is somewhere else. Don't matter where - just somewhere else. Behind the bus preferably or down a side street.

I doubt that the cyclist was able to see the video before he made his choices .

How would the cyclist have felt if someone had behaved like that to him? Always a good start in these things. Clearly the cyclist wouldn't have done it if he could have forseen the outcome and and as has already been discussed, not having a word with the driver initially would also have been wrong.

TJ is right.

Seriously, when he and I agree, you know it's right.

Not only right but beautifully concise. Where's the lock thread button now? 😀

Sorry chaps - shall I develop the argument further?

Leffeboy, + many! 🙂

TJ, remember what I said about stepping away? 🙂

Totally agree with TJ and the Captain, a big bus behind is more dangerous than a big bus in front.

I saw the cyclist appear to follow the bus changing lane and sitting very close to his nearside, more or less on the white line between lanes. That can't be a good place to be?

Its perfectly reasonable to remonstrate with someone who puts you at risk - even if it gets them cross. However to put yourself in the vulnerable position the cyclist did afterwards in the bit we saw is daft.

I did - then he caught up with me again a couple of miles down the road and I crashed while running away

It seems Bristol has more than its fair share of bike-hating psychos...
[url= http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Road-rage-driver-hit-head-butted-cyclist-Bristol/story-15241816-detail/story.html ]Another maniac[/url]

I agree with TJ's perspective about not putting yourself in the way of harm (even if he's not always very good at following his own advice 😉 ), but I can't agree with:

Does look like the cyclist was riding in front of the bus to deliberately block it or slow it down.

- no evidence for that at all from what I can see - I mean the bus had a whole other lane to move into to overtake the bike, and it's the bus driver who controls how small the gap is.

I do wonder why only the charge of "dangerous driving" though. From reported comments (including by the judge) it appears there was plenty of evidence for a charge of GBH using a weapon (an offence with a baseline sentence of 18 months). I presume we still have the issue of reluctance to charge drivers with non motoring offences even when their actions go well beyond the usual scope of such things.

**** me.

Though I reckon that cyclist could have ridden home that day if he hadn't played silly buggers with the bus.
For one brief moment it looks like the cyclist is trying to run the bus off the road 😯

Remember - to all those who ride two abreast: you are antagonising bus/lorry/car drivers and this could happen to you. Don't put yourself in that situation.

Not bad, thread probably too old to get many bites tho.

Not bad, thread probably too old to get many bites th

With so many idiots expressing genuinely held inane opinions, it's ruining it for proper trolls.

From just the video evidence 'the small guy was winding up the big guy', and there is usually only one outcome - the big guy flattens the small guy...

Sentencing feels fine, and as said the driver immediately realised what he'd done.

Hopefully the cyclist will learn from the episode too.

As I said to a chap at work who wanted to get a scooter for commuting; 'it doesn't matter if you are in the right, you're still the one who could get hurt the most'.

I've had similar "words" with a bus driver, but stayed behind the bus following those words. If you don't let them know when they cut you up how will thay learn that cyclists don't appreciate having to bunny hop onto the pavement to avoid a collision?

I've done the same. In my case, it was quite clear that the bus driver couldn't care less that he'd just put me in mortal danger.

Its perfectly reasonable to remonstrate with someone who puts you at risk - even if it gets them cross. However to put yourself in the vulnerable position the cyclist did afterwards in the bit we saw is daft.

I personally didn't see the cyclist putting himself in any situation. I saw him cycling away from an argument and being chased down and knocked off his bike, which I'd say doesn't fall too far short of attempted murder.

Did you watch the same video as me? The bus is in front, the cyclist rides well close to his nearside after he changes lanes, presumably to wind him up, and certainly a daft place to put oneself.