Hit by a bendy bus

[Jeronimo]

Hi,

A very frightening experience happened to me today involving a bendy bus:

A friend and I were travelling on a main road, going uphill and round an s-bend. I was out thte
saddle and started climbing very fast (about 30mph..not a great hill) my friend was about 50
yards back.

As I approached the bend (out of the climb) I was doing about 35mph in a 30mph zone. I heard/seen
the bus to my right hand side as it started to overtake me. It then hit me on the shoulder pushed me
into the kerb (which I had to mount to avoid being dragged under the rear wheels) and battered my
leg off a wall (at this point I was doing about 20mph, and managed to get my feet out the pedals)
doesn't end there.

The bus was stopped at traffic lights about 50 yards ahead. I then got on the bike accelerated to
get in front of it. I then positioned myself and my bike directly in front of the bus (bad move, I
know) facing in to the kerb. Obviously furious I shouted "what the f**k are you doing, you f*****g
nutter, you nearly killed me" at this point I still had my left foot in the cleat, the driver
totally oblivious to me starts to move forward into me. I had to unclip my foot as quick as a I
could as my bike was being dragged under the bus, I then had to make a grab for whatever was within
my reach to stop me going under with it. Which happened to be the windscreen wiper (the bus is now
moving about 5mph, dragging myself and my bike along) I was banging onto the windscreen with my left
hand, whilst hanging on to the wiper for dear life with my right, and shouting "STOP! STOP!, my
bike, my bike, STOP!" at this she stopped the bus and gave me a vacant look.

I dragged my bike out from under the bus (not much damage surprisingly) and she sped off.

I had to go to hospital for treatment ot my knee and shoulder (luckily enough its only bruised
and grazing)

I contacted the bus depot and the police station.

She has contacted the police as well and is filing for me to be charged with 'vandalising' the bus
windscreen wiper?

I have contacted the CTC and they have given em some advice.

Any other advice would be useful.

Regards,

John

Regards

 

[Chris Bardell]

"jeronimo" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi,
>
> A very frightening experience happened to me today involving a bendy bus:
<snip>

Sounds like a nasty one - glad you're not to badly injured.

> Any other advice would be useful.

Get the local press involved? Preferably while your legs are still grazed / bruised (for the
visual impact)?

Your story suggests the bus driver left the scene of an accident, when it's obvious someone had been
hurt. Surely that's of relevance too, to the coppers (and indeed the local paper)?

 

[Peter Fox]

Ignore the vandalism aspect.

Get publicity. Write a press release and email it to the local press, radio and TV. It is summer
when nothing much else is going on.

Ask the police (ie Fax the chief constable) why, after 24 hours they haven't charged the bus driver
for dangerous driving. Ask them to get statements from passengers - many will be on the same bus
every day (If they say they can't be bothered to even try then make a complaint - In fact you were
violently assaulted.)

And she failed to stop after an accident - A cut and dried criminal offence.

No magistrates will think that you deliberately decided out of the blue to attack a bus with your
bare hands for no reason whatsoever.

Your mate will have seen you being overtaken by the bus and will be a good witness for at least part
of the affair.

Get the admission/medical record from the hospital.

Sue the bus company for damages.

If not already then retrospectively join the CTC.

BTW: Well done: Next time get off bike and leave it in a good place to get squashed - It makes a
photograph that will get on the front of the evening paper, and you'll get insurance in a jiffy...
...compare if you had say a broken leg - Ha! Just a cyclist.

--
PETER FOX Not the same since the deckchair business folded

Witham Cycling Campaign www.eminent.demon.co.uk/wcc.htm East Anglian Pub cycle rides
www.eminent.demon.co.uk/rides

 

[Asqui]

jeronimo wrote: <snip>
> She has contacted the police as well and is filing for me to be charged with 'vandalising' the bus
> windscreen wiper?

Clearly the correct course of action here would be to start up a record label and join the Record
Industry Association of America then instigate a lawsuit seeking 92.12 billion piesos in
compensation for lost profits due to her son listening to an illegal pirate version of the
"Terrorist Tracks Volume 26" compilation released by your record label.

 

[Tony Raven]

"jeronimo" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi,
>
> Any other advice would be useful.
>

If you watched the TV prog last night on traffic police - OK I'm embarassed to admit it but I
fancied a slob out moment - the police were seriously considering an attempted murder charge when a
lorry driver did something similar to a driver who'd left his car to remonstrate with the lorry
driver and went under the front wheel.

Tony

"We haven't failed. We now know a thousand things that won't work, so we are much closer to finding
what will." Thomas Edison

 

[Ben]

On Fri, 01 Aug 2003 00:22:32 +0100, jeronimo <[email protected]> wrote:

>Hi,
>
>A very frightening experience happened to me today involving a bendy bus:
>
>A friend and I were travelling on a main road, going uphill and round an s-bend. I was out thte
>saddle and started climbing very fast (about 30mph..not a great hill) my friend was about 50
>yards back.
>
>As I approached the bend (out of the climb) I was doing about 35mph in a 30mph zone. I heard/seen
>the bus to my right hand side as it started to overtake me. It then hit me on the shoulder pushed
>me into the kerb

<snip accident details>

>I contacted the bus depot and the police station.
>
>She has contacted the police as well and is filing for me to be charged with 'vandalising' the bus
>windscreen wiper?
>
>I have contacted the CTC and they have given em some advice.
>
>Any other advice would be useful.

Did your friend see you get hit by the bus the first time? If they did then you have a solid case
and the dozy bint in the bus doesn't have a leg to stand on.

Insist the Police prosecute for at least driving without due care and attention.
--
"We take these risks, not to escape from life, but to prevent life escaping from us." ***** replace
'spam' with 'ben' to reply *****

 

[Kit Wolf]

jeronimo <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Hi,
>
> A very frightening experience happened to me today involving a bendy bus:
>
> A friend and I were travelling on a main road, going uphill and round an s-bend. I was out thte
> saddle and started climbing very fast (about 30mph..not a great hill) my friend was about 50
> yards back.
>
> As I approached the bend (out of the climb) I was doing about 35mph in a 30mph zone. I heard/seen
> the bus to my right hand side as it started to overtake me. It then hit me on the shoulder pushed
> me into the kerb (which I had to mount to avoid being dragged under the rear wheels) and battered
> my leg off a wall (at this point I was doing about 20mph, and managed to get my feet out the
> pedals) doesn't end there.
>
> The bus was stopped at traffic lights about 50 yards ahead. I then got on the bike accelerated to
> get in front of it. I then positioned myself and my bike directly in front of the bus (bad move, I
> know) facing in to the kerb. Obviously furious I shouted "what the f**k are you doing, you f*****g
> nutter, you nearly killed me" at this point I still had my left foot in the cleat, the driver
> totally oblivious to me starts to move forward into me. I had to unclip my foot as quick as a I
> could as my bike was being dragged under the bus, I then had to make a grab for whatever was
> within my reach to stop me going under with it. Which happened to be the windscreen wiper (the bus
> is now moving about 5mph, dragging myself and my bike along) I was banging onto the windscreen
> with my left hand, whilst hanging on to the wiper for dear life with my right, and shouting "STOP!
> STOP!, my bike, my bike, STOP!" at this she stopped the bus and gave me a vacant look.
>
> I dragged my bike out from under the bus (not much damage surprisingly) and she sped off.
>
> I had to go to hospital for treatment ot my knee and shoulder (luckily enough its only bruised and
> grazing)
>
> I contacted the bus depot and the police station.
>
> She has contacted the police as well and is filing for me to be charged with 'vandalising' the bus
> windscreen wiper?
>
> I have contacted the CTC and they have given em some advice.
>
> Any other advice would be useful.
>
> Regards,
>
> John
>
> Regards

It sounds horrific - keep us posted.

Glad to know you survived.

Kit

 

[Dave]

"jeronimo" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi,
>
> A very frightening experience happened to me today involving a bendy bus:
>
<snip>

> Any other advice would be useful.
>
> Regards,
>
> John
>
> Regards

...er...Beware Bendy Buses with dozy bints driving..... but seriously....glad to hear you survived
relatively unscathed, sue their lilly white asses off!!!

 

[Simon Holt]

"Ben" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> On Fri, 01 Aug 2003 00:22:32 +0100, jeronimo <[email protected]> wrote:
>

> Insist the Police prosecute for at least driving without due care and attention.

I've never had to try to _insist_ that the police take any particular course of action. Are they
likely to succumb to such pressure?

Simon

 

[Tenex]

Ben wrote:

> Insist the Police prosecute for at least driving without due care and attention.

The Police have no influence on the decision to prosecute or not - that's down to the CPS and the
decision will be made on the strength of the evidence alone.

 

[Tenex]

Dave wrote:

> ...er...Beware Bendy Buses with dozy bints driving..... but seriously....glad to hear you survived
> relatively unscathed, sue their lilly white asses off!!!

While I agree with the sentiment the damages aren't likely to be large in this case - but if
Jeronimo has the will and about 18-24 months patience to see it through I agree I think he should.

The negative publicity of local press etc will be of benefit to other cyclists vis a vis that
particular bus operator in the shorter term.

 

[Lee]

"Tenex" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Ben wrote:
>
> > Insist the Police prosecute for at least driving without due care and attention.
>
>
> The Police have no influence on the decision to prosecute or not - that's down to the CPS and the
> decision will be made on the strength of the evidence alone.
>
>

LOL not encouraging - read "J*hn L**lie's case" - good decision by the CPS that one!

 

[Johnb]

Tenex wrote:

> Ben wrote:
>
> > Insist the Police prosecute for at least driving without due care and attention.
>
> The Police have no influence on the decision to prosecute or not - that's down to the CPS and the
> decision will be made on the strength of the evidence alone.

They have a very large influence on whether or not the case even reaches the CPS. They can ignore
witness evidence (perhaps by choosing not to take statements) and thus make their own judgements in
such incidents.

You can at least insist that they take account of all evidence and then, if no action is
taken ask why.

John B

 

[Dave Larrington]

Dave wrote:

> ...er...Beware Bendy Buses with dozy bints driving..... but seriously....glad to hear you survived
> relatively unscathed, sue their lilly white asses off!!!

And if that fails, shoot them and burn the bodies...

Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/
===========================================================
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
http://www.bhpc.org.uk/
===========================================================

 

[Tenex]

Lee wrote:
> "Tenex" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>> Ben wrote:
>>
>>> Insist the Police prosecute for at least driving without due care and attention.
>>
>>
>> The Police have no influence on the decision to prosecute or not - that's down to the CPS and the
>> decision will be made on the strength of the evidence alone.
>>
>>
>
> LOL not encouraging - read "J*hn L**lie's case" - good decision by the CPS that one!

That the main complainant came back a few days before the trial and changed her evidence? That's
really something within their control isn't it? I'm no CPS-phile but they are the body charged with
making decisions to prosecute.

 

[Tenex]

JohnB wrote:
> They have a very large influence on whether or not the case even reaches the CPS. They can ignore
> witness evidence (perhaps by choosing not to take statements) and thus make their own judgements
> in such incidents.
>
> You can at least insist that they take account of all evidence and then, if no action is taken
> ask why.
>
> John B

Not quite accurate - they must conclude there is an offence and have evidence to support that
conclusion at which point the papers are sent to the CPS and the CPS direct further evidence
gathering etc and the decision to prosecute.

I agree that you really must take a personal interest in pushing it forward - it's too easy for any
case to fall between the cracks, as happened with people I know who suffered a very serious assault
that resulted in a very minor reprimand when a prison sentence was justified (the CPS failed to
gather further evidence of the extent of injury).

 

[Ben]

On Fri, 1 Aug 2003 10:30:20 +0100, "Simon Holt" <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>"Ben" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>> On Fri, 01 Aug 2003 00:22:32 +0100, jeronimo <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>
>> Insist the Police prosecute for at least driving without due care and attention.
>
>I've never had to try to _insist_ that the police take any particular course of action. Are they
>likely to succumb to such pressure?

Yes they do listen to you if you have a good case for it. I was deliberately knocked off my
motorbike last year and after a bit of persuading the Police charged the driver with driving
without due care, failing to stop and criminal damage. Originally they were only going to do the
failing to stop.

Unfortunately nothing came of it due to a lack of good witnesses but they will do it if you
ask nicely.
--
"We take these risks, not to escape from life, but to prevent life escaping from us." ***** replace
'spam' with 'ben' to reply *****

 

[Ben]

On Fri, 01 Aug 2003 09:38:54 GMT, "Tenex" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Ben wrote:
>
>> Insist the Police prosecute for at least driving without due care and attention.
>
>
>The Police have no influence on the decision to prosecute or not - that's down to the CPS and the
>decision will be made on the strength of the evidence alone.

Sorry, prosecute was the wrong word. Charge would have been better.
--
"We take these risks, not to escape from life, but to prevent life escaping from us." ***** replace
'spam' with 'ben' to reply *****

 

[Dave]

"Dave Larrington" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Dave wrote:
>
> > ...er...Beware Bendy Buses with dozy bints driving..... but seriously....glad to hear you
> > survived relatively unscathed, sue their lilly white asses off!!!
>
> And if that fails, shoot them and burn the bodies...
>
> Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/

Yeah!!...unfortunately she probably hasn't got any goolies to cut off!!!....but you could always
check, just to be sure ;-)

 

[Gawnsoft]

On Fri, 01 Aug 2003 09:38:54 GMT, "Tenex" <[email protected]> wrote (more or less):

>Ben wrote:
>
>> Insist the Police prosecute for at least driving without due care and attention.
>
>
>The Police have no influence on the decision to prosecute or not - that's down to the CPS and the
>decision will be made on the strength of the evidence alone.

That's not strictly true - if the Police fail to make a charge then it's much less likely that there
will be a prosecution than if the Police make a charge.

The Police don't /make/ the decision as to whether to prosecute or not, but they have a very
significant /influence/ on it.

Cheers, Euan Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr Symbian/Epoc wiki: http://html.dnsalias.net:1122
Smalltalk links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk) http://html.dnsalias.net/gawnsoft/smalltalk