A couple of weeks ago, cycling to work i had an NHS-liveried van jump a red light out of a hospital onto a main road, just as i was approaching the junction - i was on a shared use footpath/cycleway and had right of way given that he was under a red light.
I thought 'pillock', clocked his reg number and shrugged.
The next week, same day and same time, i was approaching the same junction and remembered what had happened the previous week, lo and behold as i was actually in the middle of the junction the fool arrived again! Jumped (again) the red light that gave me priority and screeched to a halt a couple of feet away from me as i passed through.
I pointed up at the red light and yelled "it's a bloody red light!" and carried on.
Next thing i know he is driving alongside me, window down and yelling obscenities etc before driving away.
Not chuffed, i banged off an e-mail to the local NHS complaints dept and recieved this today :-
Dear Mr ***
Further to your email of 18th February 2013, please accept our apologies for the delay in responding to the issues that you raised concerning the alleged inconsiderate behaviour of one of our Trust drivers.
As the driver in question has been on annual leave, the Transport Manager Mr ********** has only just had the opportunity to discuss your allegations with the driver and has spoken to him at length on the matter and will be issuing a letter that will be retained in his personal file. The driver has been made fully aware that as a professional driver for the Trust he is expected to work to a consistently high standard, considering both other road users and members of the public at all times
Sometimes complaining does have an effect!
Well done, that was worth the effort and good to see something coming of it.
As the owner of a fractured spine due to a bad driver I hope people will take heart from this and go to the effort of reporting bad drivers.
Well, it wasn't much of an effort to be fair and he was stupid enough to drive like a bell-end whilst in a company liveried vehicle!
Result. Good work, sir.
You'll be sure to give him a smile and a cheery wave on your next encounter, of course.
He'll be looking for your cheery face any time soon....
I'm looking forward to it 🙂
He may not be driving his hospital van next time,but at least you have reported him and his poor driving,and it may make him think about cyclists.
Yeah, but "what" will he be thinking about cyclists?
I'll bet it ain't charitable!
It may however make him think about "cause and effect" when he tries to get another driving job.
I'm glad he got a warning, and glad thats all it was. He certainly didn't need to lose his job over it although he did need reminding of his duty of care to other road users.
You can just imagine what his letter to the Daily Fail/Grauniad will consist of, though... 😀
😆
To be fair, he doesn't sound like a Guardian reader.
For arguments sake 🙂 .... Why is it right that the driver was disciplined on one person's say so? Was there supporting evidence?
If not, all sorts of complaints could be made against innocent people and their career jeopardised. Just saying like 😀
There's a chap on here who is a bus driver - pretty sure he's posted something up about his company's disciplinary processes, best ask him 🙂
For arguments sake .... Why is it right that the driver was disciplined on one person's say so? Was there supporting evidence?
I imagine his manager has said "This came in about you...is it true?" The driver may have fessed up. There may have been other incidents reported and the manager may have thought that there was no smoke without fire. Or simply the manager thought, "jesus, this guy threatens people with medieval swords and once bullied someone driving a Range Rover because he was a bit overweight." Let's just write him a letter to get him to shut up, or else we'll be next. 😀
As the driver in question has been on annual leave, the Transport Manager Mr ************* has only just had the opportunity to discuss your allegations with the driver and has spoken to him at length on the matter and will be issuing a letter that will be retained in his personal file. The driver has been made fully aware that as a professional driver for the Trust he is expected to work to a consistently high standard, considering both other road users and members of the public at all times
Don't want to piss on your chips but a mate of mine got an almost carbon copy from the local bus company over 20 years ago. Even down the fact that the driver had been on leave. Sorry buddy but it means jack, only sent to appease you.
Axes my dear fellow, axes!
I reserve swords for gentlemen of good social standing 😆
Axes my dear fellow, axes!
Ah yes, sorry, I mis-remembered. 😕
Thinking about Coyote's comment, if the rogue driver now gets caught doing something similar, the NHS transport manager will be looking a bit stressed. Does he or she know whether MD also went to the cops, or not?