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Tailgating London bus driver (Twitter: Rendel Harris)Bus driver disciplined by employer for tailgating cyclist before calling police for rider "getting on his nerves"
A London bus driver has been disciplined by operator Go-Ahead London for tailgating a cyclist before getting out his vehicle, swearing at the rider and trying to phone the police because he "got on his nerves".
The incident, footage of which we shared on road.cc yesterday, happened in Herne Hill in south London on Saturday morning and saw the driver travelling just "two to three metres behind" the cyclist, before trying to overtake twice, despite the rider already cycling at the 20mph speed limit.
In the following moments, at a red light, the driver began shouting at the cyclist, Rendel Harris, before leaving the bus to phone the police, telling Mr Harris: "You stand right here and shut up. I'm going to call the police you piece of s***"
Today, Go-Ahead London has apologised to the cyclist and said the bus driver had been identified. It was determined that he "did not carry out his duties to the standard expected" and has "been dealt with formally, in accordance with our company's disciplinary procedure".
Herne Hill 2/9/23 11.30AM
1/5 Bus driver of Go Ahead vehicle SN58CEY (out of service) tailgated me all the way down Herne Hill, driving 2-3m off my back wheel, and twice attempted dangerously to overtake, even though I was riding at the 20mph limit for the road. pic.twitter.com/iUDfYRHX8Y
— Rendel Harris (@Rendel_Harris) September 2, 2023
Go-Ahead London says it is "unable to disclose any information regarding interviews with our staff as this is a confidential issue between the employer and employee".
Writing on X, the social media platform formerly called Twitter, Mr Harris said the statement "speaks for itself" and "hopefully the fact that, having reviewed the CCTV from the bus, the company agreed that the driver was not driving in an acceptable manner might silence those who have accused me of making up the whole incident and aggravating an innocent bus driver."
"Obviously I would prefer to know what sanctions the company has applied but it's good to know that at least something has been done," he added.
In a letter to Mr Harris, Go-Ahead London said: "Complaints of this nature are taken seriously, and I would like to apologise for any distress this situation may have caused you.
"All drivers trained by Go-Ahead London undertake a comprehensive training programme with a very strong emphasis on both safety and customer care. They are expected to operate their vehicles in a polite, friendly and professional manner, consistent with maximum safety of and with due concern for passengers, cyclists and all other road users. I am sorry you have had reason to report the contrary on this occasion.
> "He has to wait, that's all there is to it": Jeremy Vine slams bus driver for near miss
"Using the information provided [...] we have managed to identify and interview the member of staff responsible for your complaint. The management responsible for the operation of this service have viewed the CCTV footage from the vehicle in question and your footage; our driver did not carry out his duties to the standard expected by the company.
"Our colleague has therefore been dealt with formally, in accordance with our company's disciplinary procedure. Unfortunately, I am unable to disclose any information regarding interviews with our staff as this is a confidential issue between the employer and employee.
"Go-Ahead London employs just over 6,000 professional drivers and the overwhelming number serve our city with distinction. As a result, the number of comparable issues reported are very small, but those that are will always be treated with the utmost seriousness and we strive to learn from them."
The bus driver's outburst came after failing to overtake Mr Harris above the speed limit and then driving behind him for around 90 seconds.
Once stopped at a red light, the driver shouted: "I've got you, I've got you!" before he told the cyclist, "You stand right here and shut up. I'm going to call the police you piece of s***."
"I'm a bus driver and I've got a cyclist here," the driver could be heard on the phone. "I need police assistance right now." Presumably being asked what was the emergency situation, the bus driver said: "He's really getting on my nerves."
Back in February a London cyclist spoke out about "bullyish" behaviour from bus drivers in the city. Road safety campaigner Lauren O'Brien's footage of an incident which saw a driver overtake her, before immediately pulling into a stop, pushing her towards the kerb, prompted Transport for London to launch an investigation.
In October, in a story involving another Go-Ahead London employee, a bus driver lost an employment tribunal appeal after it was deemed he "used his bus as a weapon" against a cyclist who rode in primary position.
Dan is the road.cc news editor and joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan has been at road.cc for four years and mainly writes news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He has hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.
Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, when he's not working you'll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he'll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he's a bit strange like that.
Latest Comments
- biking59boomer 3 min 50 sec ago
Looks like yet another bike share service that's going to fold because of selfish idiots.
- biking59boomer 7 min 32 sec ago
It would be more educational to give them a fine. They wouldn't forget that in a hurry.
- Rendel Harris 16 min 25 sec ago
Interesting article but it does in fact seem to prove that coaster brakes indeed aren't suited for descents: "the bikes’ antiquated hub coaster...
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Here in Leeds the fantastic network of city centre protected cycle lanes are annually partly blocked by the Christmas Market. I can only guess what...
- quiff 4 hours 8 min ago
Fair point - I was restricting myself to pedal bikes. As I've never spent that kind of money on anything though (mortgage doesn't count), it's kind...
- brooksby 5 hours 10 min ago
And finally: I wonder how many of the "more than 3,000" signatures on that petition are actually locals, who live or work there (and are not just...
- Doug_D 6 hours 46 min ago
Another book suggestion - I can highly recommend "Lost Summers and Half-Forgotten Afternoons: A Mint Sauce collection" - a beautifully presented...
- mdavidford 8 hours 37 min ago
I think you're missing an opportunity to pack even more tech into it - add accelerometers that can detect whether they're pedalling or stepping....
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64 comments
Well - I hope not. You'll be the guinea pig (and rich_bc, cugel etc.) so at least we'll learn what the effects were.
TBH I'd have thought most 30mph in rural areas will be in reasonably obvious residential places. I agree that people are impatient, some drivers are dangerous and a few even aggressive. And that cyclists may be a focus of that. Sadly I think that if that happens we'll have to (continue to) take one for the team e.g. the improved safety of pedestrians / other vulnerable road users.
Or rather - it's all on the drivers and there's little I can do if the don't want to obey the law (other than cycle faster... limits don't apply to me! That probably would push some drivers over the edge!)
Hadn't really paid attention on this before (thanks for the reminder!) so for benefit of others the government's site on this change says:
So it sounds similar to what was proposed (and didn't pass) in Scotland. IIRC the failed Scottish bill was phrased in terms of residential / urban areas (apologies if misremembering this). The main reason given for rejection here (which was recommended by the committee to MSPs) was that it was inappropriate to have a one-size-fits all default limit(!) I still struggle to grasp the logic behind this - because we do have a one-size-fits-all limit already (30mph default). The change was merely to reduce this.
The other objection was that Local Authorities were best placed to decide this. However (like Wales) I think the bill made it clear that (as now) it's entirely possible for local authorities to vary this where appropriate. No hands tied.
I don't know Wales. In Scotland roads outside of village centres tend to be derestricted (even where the houses straggle on for a while). Presumably people are concerned about "where there are empty roads how will it not seem unfair to reduce the amount people put their foot down?"
Didn't notice this till now - kudos to road.cc for squeezing another article out about our esteemed fellow commentator over a non-issue.
I remember seeing him at Skegness years ago. Captain Kudos and his Ensuing Chaos - I think Ted Rogers was top of the bill. Summer camp with the boys brigade. Happy days.
Great. Smashing. Super.
Look what you could have won.
Sorry to correct you but you're thinking of Jim Bowen. Ted Rogers was 3-2-1 and Dusty Bin
Never could get the 3-2-1 fingers done correctly or quickly.
I thought that at the time yesterday and would have mentioned it but didn't want to come across as a bit "door mirror" as spannergate already was in full flow on another thread.
I stayed well away from Spannergate - or is it Pliersgate??
Dammit!
Neither, it turned out, could Ted - as shown when they showed it in slow motion.
I'm sure if the video had shown me screaming and swearing at the driver and calling the police to report him for getting on my nerves because he'd stopped me breaking the law, rather than vice versa, you would have thought it equally a non issue? Really, your obsession with me is making you look just the tiniest bit of a silly old sausage.
. . . . they may have accused you of shouting at your other half and being a misogynist?
- Still no proof of your speed
- You wife was apparently with you, yet once the bus stops, there is no evidence of her presence on video (from the ones I saw)
- Still no proof that he was "tailgating you"
Just looks like you're attention seeking like usual.
That reminds me - I was listening to Weird Obsession the other day. They were quite good in their day but they just sound dated and boring now. I think the rot set in when the original members left.
They should have changed their name instead of living on past glories. They just became irrelevant and had nothing left to contribute.
Weird Obsession? Didn't they go on to become Querulous, Misery Loves Company and Bitter Recriminations? A case of the parts being less than the whole I think. They had a reputation for being frequently rediscovered - mostly due to being instantly forgotten about.
Yes. The one common thread was the vocalist Johnny Lickspittle. His whiny warbling was an acquired taste. Reviews were quite bad - '' incoherent warbling'', ''a bit silly'', ''just plain daft'' were some of the better ones.
They didn't leave, they just changed their names and tried to pretend they were new band members.
I posted proof of my speed but it was deleted when your comments were deleted, presumably for their offensive and/or foolish nature. I'm happy to share it again: below are two screenshots from my Strava showing that from Danecroft Road at the top of the hill, where the bus started tailgating me, to Herne Hill station where I braked, I covered 600 m in 60 seconds, which equates to 36 km an hour, which is just over 22 mph.
My wife can clearly be seen alongside me at 1:10 (yellow helmet and gilet, orange bike) in the Twitter video and thereafter you can hear us talking to each other. Why would I lie about my wife being there? It makes no difference to the driver's offence in any way, it's very peculiar that you would insist on me proving she was there.
No proof that the driver was tailgating me apart from the fact that the company have reviewed the CCTV footage from his bus, agreed that he is not driving to the required standard, have apologised to me and subjected him to formal disciplinary procedures. That's quite a lot of proof really.
Somebody is certainly seeking attention but it ain't me.
Oh Loser, you do make us laugh. Your last line is a classic.
There's also no hard evidence that you're simply on a trolling mission.
I emplore you to try to get psychological help.
Thank you for your concern.
IMPLORE
(door mirror)
If that's true then don't give him any, you idiot!
But you just can't help yourself, idiot troll.
Hopefully a bit more chill now he's had time to think about it
Well done Go Ahead. Absolutely a disciplinary offence with 'Mr. Unhinged' being a 'so called' professional driver. This story made my laugh as the driver seemed to convince himself that he was in the right and then incriminate himself. What a complete loser!
I'm sure he has learned his lesson and no longer hates cyclists....
I presume you're being ironic.
Just maybe, this will make him evaluate why he's bringing any emotional reactions into his driving job and why he considers himself to be more important than other road users. I reckon he'll mainly be embarrassed by the whole situation that he pointlessly created.
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