I bike to/from work most every day. About 20K each way. Usually it is a pretty nice route, but this week has sucked. Today I had a bus (double length) driver gun it to pass me, then head for the curb before he had passed me 3 times. I am not sure what is wrong with this guy's head, but I am pretty sure I have encountered him before in the same area(center ST N and 64th Northbound), though not to this extent.
What do you guys recommend that I do? There is no chance that he didn't see me. I called Calgary Transit, they said that they'll look into over the next 5 working days. :/
Probably not a good idea but...
Submitted by Adge on
...take a picture of the bus and the driver and post it on YouTube. There're few better motivators for improving driver behavior than to remind their employers that their drivers are billboards/advertisements for the firm they're working for. If they drive dangerously...let the world know.
Which bus was it? What time of day?
i would agree with Adge -
Submitted by critninja on
i would agree with Adge - take a camera with you and the next time this driver chops you take a pic/video and post it. wouldnt be a bad idea to send it to calgtrans as well.
i have had my fair share of run-ins with calgtrans bus drivers and - to be honest - have had some of the worst experiences with them - getting chopped (cut off) and running right up behind you seems to be their preferred method of dealing with cyclists who "take up too much space". its almost like they think they own the road!
Video camera on the bike
Submitted by wwotl on
I've been playing around with various ways of mounting my camera on my bike, and the following tripod seems to have been the best solution so far.
Get one of these mini tripods from MEC.
It has a large velcro band attached to it. Spread the tripod legs open, and mount the large leg on the top of your handlebar stem. Using some additional velcro (I use green velcro plant ties) fasten the other legs to the handlebars.
Mount your camera and away you go. This will give you a good solid mount.
Another way to mount cameras
Submitted by djmitchella on
If you have a smaller digital camera with a video mode, you can try mounting it through holes in your helmet -- I used a gorillapod, and it works fairly well.
(and while filming my ride to work one day, I had the interesting experience of having a car do the classic trick of waiting until I was just passing the intersection the car was coming out of, and then pull out at exactly the right time to T-bone me; I looked over at them to see if they'd worked out what they'd done, and could clearly see the driver thinking about accelerating to get past me, notice the camera, then slowing _right_ down and pulling in behind me so that I never saw her numberplate..)
It was bus #6013 route 301
Submitted by carbonrod on
It was bus #6013 route 301 at around 6PM. I am pretty sure that this same driver (same route same time of day) has been aggressive in the past, to me and other cyclists that I have observed, but never repeated times like this.
I am seriously thinking of putting a minicam on the helmet, and a recorder in the backpack. Never thought of the youtube/hit up the advertisers angle, but I like it.
Take the time to phone in or write a letter
Submitted by PedalFaster on
As frustrating as it is to phone 311 or Calgary Transit and wait on hold while trying to get on with your day I want to encourage calling or writing in and lodging your complaint or even just making a comment. It doesn't have to be long or involved, but just giving the bus number, time, and location is enough for them to follow up. I know there is no immediate feedback and you can't really vent on the person taking the call because they weren't involved but in the long term I think it helps for a couple of reasonsAs mentioned by Adge, companies/government agencies will generally listen if something means bad press, also, accumulating this kind of input, especially for an organization like a government body or service, does serve to make change in the long run. The more the City hears about concerns from cyclists, whether it is encounters with drivers of city vehicles, or poor pathway or road conditions, or whatever it will pay more attention. I have had my share of close calls with company vehicles and make a point to call, had a close call with a school bus once and when I called in they seemed concerned enough to follow up on it. As for the city, they will give you a file # to follow up with if you want to pursue it further or you can make a file and each time it happens call in and add to it. I doubt that your problem will be ignored if you add 3 or 4 incidents to it and are willing to vouch for the time and date. The video idea is good too and might be the nail in the coffin as far as getting the problem dealt with. It's pretty hard to argue with video footage.
PF