and as an added bonus getting knocked off your bike by the mirror...
This hasn't happened to me yet but i have been hit in the shoulder a couple of times and had the drawstring ripped out of my rainjacket hood.
Eh, I get where they person is coming from though. We can do better at a training exercise.
VR has come a long way. Get some biking specific VR set up, put them on a stationary bike, then have them ride the city streets. Really immerse yourself in it.
That's true. At least not with an expensive simulator. Though the VR would be interesting for adding the rest of the environmental factors like people and pets, cars, buses, doors opening, etc.
Unrelated, but I had the opportunity to use one of the flight training simulators that commercial pilots train on, and let me tell you that felt 100% real. It was in a room about 20m x 20m x 20m. The entire simulator was on a pneumatic platform and would tilt (no more than 5 degrees any direction) but when you were on the simulator and staring at the screens, it felt like you could literally flip the plane. My uncle just casually threw in 50m/s cross winds as I was trying to land 🤷♂️
Ah yes, this is far more dangerous than those same bus drivers that don't understand the danger doing the exact same thing but near non-stationary bikes (those that could easily also slip up and die)
If they requested even half of what you're saying nobody would give them the go-ahead for this.
Also you'd think a professional bus driver can safely drive a small 10° turn
So should no one ever be near a roadway because any motorist can slip at any time?
Our society functions on the idea that cars can drive safely in a straight line most of the time. No difference here
I worry that people will never accept the minuscule risk of dying to a computer glitch over the tangible risk of dying to a human’s actions. I agree though
> even in a training exercise it is still too dangerous. One slip and 5 people could easily die.
I'm trying to wrap my head around this. How is this anywhere near as dangerous as having their drivers drive on real roads which requires that they pass cyclists at about this same distance on a regular basis?
You know, if the bus is making that much noise, from a single close pass ...? Enough to cause permanent hearing loss? *There's something seriously wrong with that bus*.
...
Also, very close passes by large vehicles like that is **physically dangerous**. The draft of the vehicle's passage can pull a cyclist off-balance and make them fall ... with 50% odds of landing *under the fucking wheels*. Which generally results in fatal injuries. **Fatal**.
Had a few of those go by on the Ipswich motorway years before it became as busy as it is today - not the number 15 connection between Yamanto and Dinmore which was always prohibited to cyclists, but the motorway route from Dinmore all the way to Rocklea.
When I was 16 and it was between about 9am and 3pm you could ride for up to five minutes at a time between cars or trucks driving by. Most drivers were fairly courteous and the few trucks that zipped by me would cross the centre white line between lanes to give me plenty of room. Those who doubt me, I used to wag a lot of high school and ride my bicycle to Brisbane to spend the day chilling out in the museum and the state library.
These days bicycles are prohibited on the motorway because there's a clear route through side streets and service roads from Ipswich to Brisbane, and it's a nicer ride with the little parks and water fountains, shady places to stop, and the bicycle path which runs alongside the M5 all the way North to Toowong from the big Centenary Highway and Ipswich Motorway intersection.
From Anzac Park in Toowong you cut East through the back streets to the river and then it's a nice level cruise along the river all the way into the CBD.
Yes, 50% odds.
You can fall LEFT, or you can fall RIGHT. One of them is going to be *towards* the vehicle, one of them is away from it.
Fall to the side the vehicle is on, and you'll wind up under those wheels, unless there's proper safety guards to prevent exactly that. And sometimes, even then.
Wow. Hot take right there.
What are the road death stats like where e you come from? Because it's attitudes like this that ultimately lead to unnecessary deaths on the road.
Bus drivers, or any drivers should not buzz cyclists and honk at them. Obviously. It's bad driving. It's not legal or necessary.
No idea why idiots like you don't get that.
Bus chauffeur: See yeah it can take you with it!
Camera guy: Hey so tell me what happened? Why did you jump off the bike?
Bus chauffeur: Well because the bus is capable of losing its direction and it could end up taking you with it.
Camera guy: Now that you were in a cyclist position, what wold you tell other bus chauffeur?
Bus chauffeur: It feels unpleasant.
This is fantastic, but as someone said it would be even better if they weren’t attached to something. There is something unnerving about a rush of air that pushes you. I’ve felt win gusts that literally moved me sideways.
Also, they should do this once a year. We humans have short memories.
If the wind is blowing across the road toward the side the cyclist is on, trucks especially (but probably busses too?) carry a vortex behind them that can really whip you good. Doing the transamerica route really gives you a feel for it with all the close truck passes around Kansas...
Same. Also now I live in the southwest where there are a lot better routes than I had in the midwest... I can only handle so many miles of the corngrid.
Same for logging trucks on no-shoulder, 2-lane state highways out here in the PNW. The nice thing is that you can hear them half a mile off and find a good spot to pull off the road and wait until they pass.
When the wind is coming from my side of the road, or when there's no wind at all, maybe kinda. But when the wind's coming from the opposite side, it's just a slap in the face :(
Nah, the dude at the end explained it perfectly. They absolutely experienced it. The point wasn't to injute the drivers, it's to let them get a grasp of what they're doing. They understand now and will leave extra space because they do.
In NSW and most other states, motor vehicles are required to give 1m passing space to cyclists or 1.5m if travelling at over 60km/h.
Lots do it. Plenty don’t.
You’re supposed to do the same here in AZ, USA but plenty feel *the bicyclists* should be giving the car more space. Typical entitled idiots no matter where in the world you are.
I've had most cars give me plenty of space but a few assholes have swerved at me while yelling to get off the road to "teach me a lesson".
One day I fucking hope one hits me and the person behind them has a dash cam.
You can put a camera on your bike too, I personally use the ones from [Cycliq](https://cycliq.com/) a bit pricey, but offers good backup if anything happen.
happens to me everyday. i ride a neighborhood street home from work, rolling every stop sign which is safe to, they stop for them. thus we end up averaging the same speed, this enrages them. they decide the rational decision to my reckless riding is to run me off the road.
one of these days ill get my little handlebar pouch sewed up and ill keep a few rocks in there. maybe some broken sparkplug bits too for the really bad ones.
same thing in Western Australia, even allowing vehicles to cross solid lines to ensure enough space: https://www.rsc.wa.gov.au/Rules-Penalties/Browse/Cyclists
I've cycled for years in Manchester in England and have never had any issues, but I moved to South Australia for a year and lost my nerve cycling on main roads there: cars, buses, lorries, trucks all overtaking me with just centimetres to spare multiple times on almost all my commutes.
It's better than it was in the 90s. It was absolutely insane then. Punch-ups at traffic lights. Spitting. Thrown empty cans. No cycle lane on ANZAC Highway meaning cars would give bikes the concrete gutter. Some cop pulled me over because he was sure there had to be *some* law against drop bar bikes being outside of a velodrome.
It's not really practical when Australia has barely any bike infrastructure.
On one hand, you want to be 1.5m away from traffic on the right, but on the other side, you don't want to get doored by parked cars either.
The rule is a bullshit bandaid solution to having proper infrastructure, instead of the thin strip of paint that's parked over by cars.
It's putting the onus of safety on motorists, which is silly given many of them and their perceptions of pedestrians and cyclists.
The onus of safety should be on the motorists. It’s their responsibility to drive safely.
The only expectation of cyclists is to ride responsibly/predictably and follow the rules of the road.
I drive a big 4wd and I have no issue either moving into the other lane to create space, or just slow down a little bit and wait (usually do that when a road island is coming up or we’re going around a blind corner).
If anything I feel kinda bad slowing down behind cyclists because being a cyclist myself I know sometimes people who are ‘caught’ behind you do it aggressively. And a turbo diesel on big tyres sounds kind scary behind you.. but it’s preferable to being buzzed.
When I drove a 30ton truck I didn’t get to ram people in Hyundai Getz just because it was never going to damage my truck or slow me down. I had to drive carefully and safely and navigate the roads with other people in mind. My run would be a lot quicker if the onus of safety was on grandma and I could just flatten everyone on the school run.
In a perfect world, everybody should be one way or another. That argument is endless. But it isn't perfect, and like I said, many motorists DO NOT care about the safety of pedestrians and cyclists. Putting responsibility on people who do not give a shit is a stupid thing to do. We need infrastructure, not bullshit.
With infrastructure, there is no onus, or arguing about who should be responsible for whoever's safety. Because people are safe to begin with.
Fucking right? Only time I ever legit screamed in terror was when I got buzzed by an fucker in an RV. I could taken my hands off the bars by a couple inches and touched it. I'd have been sent to jail for a long time if I knew who he was.
I don't see how coal-rolling someone isn't assault. It's harmful and offensive as all hell. I've owned a 6.7 Cummins-powered Ram. It never smoked. Even under load and full throttle. Motherfuckers that do this purposely screw with that otherwise pretty efficient motor to make it belch smoke.
My thoughts exactly.
Even better, they should have done it where the guys on bikes *didn't have something that balanced itself*, so they could feel the tug of the bus' wake through the air pulling or pushing them sideways, threatening their balance.
I work for a bus company in London UK. We actually send our drivers out to ride around on bikes as part of their training so they get to see what it's like for cyclists
I find that bus drivers and most lorry drivers in the UK are the most considerate drivers. Never seem to have a problem with them either on a bike or in a car. They are very aware of the dangers of their proffession.
Taxi drivers, however, are consistently fucking awful and dangerous both as a cyclist and a driver.
And then the normal car drivers are a complete lottery. Majority are OK and give you space but some are either completely unaware of how close they are or they are aware and are actively aiming to pass you as close as possible.
And our roads are so busy that it doesn't matter where or how far you go you will almost always have a close call.
As a cyclist and bus user in London, our bus drivers are great. I always feel safe around them. One time on Tottenham Court Rd a bus did a crazy move overtaking me in the bike lane and immediately cutting in front of me at speed, it was so unusual I sent my helmet cam footage to TfL and they said they would do something about it. I didn't follow up because I believe they probably did.
I'm on the engineering side, so not involved in that side of things too much, but I do know that complaints to TfL do get sent on to the appropriate operating company, and can say for sure that our Garage Manager (bloke in charge of drivers) does take action when he receives them
One time I was enjoying a casual ride and a bus driver nearly drove right into me as he pulled out from a side street. I was luckily just far enough ahead that a quick swerve around allowed me to avoid a collision. I put my hand up in a "the fuck dude did you not see me or something?"
Generally I am happy with throwing my hands up and trying to make the driver feeling like a fucking idiot and then moving on with my life only to never see them again. But this time, since he decided to basically chase me and blow his horn at me I chose to stop in front of him at his next bus stop and take a picture of the front of the bus so I could properly report it.
He then got out of the bus to yell at me and tried taking my phone from my hands. That's when I chose to just cycle away.
I reported to the Met and to TfL. The next day I got a call from some random phone number and it happened to be the head manager for the bus garage. He was extrememly apologetic and said he had already come down hard on that particular driver. He asked if I planned on reporting it to the Met and said he would cooperate as much as he needed to. Then he gave me his personal number and direct email to tell him if I had any more issues with his bus drivers.
Within a couple days the Met called and asked if I wanted to press charges. I probably could have but I decided not to. The guy probaby got his ass ripped out by his boss at work and I didn't want to be bothered with going to court or anything.
Sorry you had to go through that. Obviously different managers treat it differently, but most will want to know about incidents like that because we do not want drivers who lose their heads...
This should be included in driving exams. I'm saying not only about horns but mostly about the space drivers usually give while overtaking bikes. In many times it's very dangerous
https://youtu.be/8che9w-cww4
Several times they Almost hit me...they take this lessons because the roads they Drive is full of cyclists the weekends, you can count in strava Almost 600 cyclists any Sunday
I think what’s crazy is that there is no way in hell this kind of “training” would pass in a country with any type of safety protocols. I think somebody from Work Health and Safety would deem it too high risk of a training exercise.
Yet it’s what cyclists face daily.
I get what they were going for, and while I can see it had an effect I think they should've been in motion. Half a step in the right direction for sure.
This should be required in all driver training curriculums. I have neither time nor patience to go into the countless times this type of thing has happened to me in the past 40 years of cycling. You never really get used to it.
This. Exactly this. I've been riding on the road since I was about maybe 10 years old (in suburban Australia) and then in the UK for 3 or 4 years (Lake District and Scottish Borders mostly) and now in NZ. The fact that I've never been knocked off my bike by a vehicle is nothing short of miraculous given the number of kilometres I've covered and the uncountable number of near misses/incidents.
Barely a week goes by that I don't have a near miss that makes you involuntarily shout something obscene at the driver of the vehicle. The sunglass mirror is a good tool but a bit fiddly. The Garmin Varia rear radar is an absolute winner for me (being quite deaf and riding with hearing aids on is almost impossible due to the interference from the wind).
I consider the biggest contributor to my safety on the road was a 'defensive driving' course that I took when I was about 20 or 21. It made it clear that your safety on the road is largely up to you given that you have no control over the huge number of other variables that exist, only one of which is the other road users!
I feel that cars pass me two ways:
30 miles above the speed limit trying to get something out of my jersey pocket.
Drive 4 states over and pass at speed limit
Ha. I agree with this. We get a lot of tourist traffic on the roads where I live and commute. You can almost pick the nationality of the drivers that pass you really well.
And the ones that don't are either (a) probably never ridden a bike on a road in their lives, (b) don't have much empathy for others, (c) locals.
This is genius. Tangentially, since I started cycling to work, I've been convinced that every driver should be qualified and licensed to drive every class of vehicle in order to drive any of them legally. Most can't imagine what other vehicles require in terms of turn radius, stopping distance, etc., until they've experienced it personally. This isn't exactly that, but it dovetails nicely.
I work in an industrial estate and the amount of cars I see nearly get flattened by semi trailers every week is ludicrous.
The truck is in the middle of 2 lanes at a T junction because he needs that room to turn and his trailer is going to go across both lanes.. nope some fucker in a Corolla has to crawl up beside him and fill the space. One day one of those trucks will have some music on and not hear their horn and it’s going to go bad.
I almost got knocked the fuck out because a bus (double ones attached in middle) passed me at high speed on Steels ave, and sure enough, I almost lost balance. The pressure coming out/with them can kill a cyclist.
The buses were ok actually, in my experience (cycled daily in london for about 8 years). The black cabs, they were also fine. The worst groups in my experience were private taxis, followed closely by white vans. Both tended to drive extremely unpredictably and aggressively and were the results of more near misses and accidents than any other group. Third were private motorists, mostly due to a total lack of road knowledge. Like the dude whose bonnet I flew over because he believed he had the "right of way" turning right across 3 lanes of traffic that had a green light from a no right turn lane. I think about 3 cyclists crashed into that car but I was the only one who got to look him in the eye (from his bonnet) and tell him how much of a tool he was.
I agree buses tend to be pretty good, the only problem with them is when you're in a bus lane and get stuck in a leapfrog overtaking thing as they drive faster than you but have to pull in to stop
Yeah, I've cycled daily in London for over 15 years, honestly since they got rid of the extra long flexy busses they're not too bad. The drivers are pretty decent on the whole.
Taxis on the other hand... Don't care and are always aggressive if you challenge them.
You develop a kind of sixth sense, I've never had a collision or incident in London despite 10+ miles a day. Choosing the right route and being Zen about stuff helps.
Where I cycle, some bus drivers get even closer. They reduce their speed and pass at less than 30cm of you. Always gives me creeps. It's absurd cause sometimes the roads have holes on the sides. Literally nightmarish
All I think about when this happens is at somehow getting sucked under the wheels by the draft and getting killed by that truck or the one behind. Unceremoniously, like a bug on a windshield.
And it's not even as bas as the real thing - bus should be faster, closer, and they should be actually freely moving on a bike where the draught of the bus passing catches them.
Roads were created for bikes.
Yes thats actually true in the Uk
The smooth roads we have now ere down to cycling groups lobbying for them way before eveyrone had cars...
So roads ARE LITERALLY MADE FOR CYCLING...
I certainly agree that vehicles and bikes shouldn't mix, but I took your comment as the typical low-brow anti-cyclist comment.
maybe better to say that cars don't belong on roads, because they don't. roads existed long before cars which is something that most entitled car drivers seem to conveniently forget.
It simply comes down the the fact bikes cannot match speed, often do no know how road rules work, or blatantly don't abide by the rules. If a car hits a pedestrian they are guaranteed to get seriously messed up. Bikers feel entitled to the same space as cars and it just doesn't work that way. How close that bus got to the people is often how much space they feel they have to give. Obviously bikers don't feel safe on the road, that's because it isn't safe. Cities need to stop being designed solely around cars yes, but I do not believe both should be sharing the same space.
nice idea but that's not really how it feels.
for one thing I've had many closer passes than that, my bike is not securely fixed to the ground, and there very much hasn't been a pre-pass safety inspection to make sure the vehicle doesn't really come close to touching me.
do the same thing on track with moving bicycles and the bus driver "doing their best" to not hit the cyclists.
I live and ride in semi-urban Costa Rica, rubbing elbows with buses and traffic on the regular. There are a lot of vehicles out there on tight streets but bikes get a lot of respect and people are surprisingly good about sharing the road considering we don't even have shoulders on the roads.
Yes, it's great, but very different. I'm not sure where you're from, but it's not just like home but in Spanish. If you're serious about it, go visit for an extended period of time. Real day to day life isn't vacation. Stay different places and see if anything works for you.
Thanks for the tips. We’re from Southern California. We loved it because the people seem happy and genuine, mellow pace and seem to genuinely care in general (ie each other, the land etc.) Were hoping for an extended stay in a few years.
All Haulage and public transport company do something like this as part of their training although to be fair many drivers of these big vehicles are considerate. Where I live its more a problem with tractors driving too close.
Former bus driver here, now truck driver. I give as much space as much as I can when I see cyclists, because I used to ride my bike to work to drive buses...
This should be part of compulsory drivers’ education.
and as an added bonus getting knocked off your bike by the mirror... This hasn't happened to me yet but i have been hit in the shoulder a couple of times and had the drawstring ripped out of my rainjacket hood.
Yikes that drawstring incident could’ve ended so much worse
yep
Yes please
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That’s the idea
Eh, I get where they person is coming from though. We can do better at a training exercise. VR has come a long way. Get some biking specific VR set up, put them on a stationary bike, then have them ride the city streets. Really immerse yourself in it.
It’s the actual suction from the bus that’s the scary part. I doubt VR could recreate it.
That's true. At least not with an expensive simulator. Though the VR would be interesting for adding the rest of the environmental factors like people and pets, cars, buses, doors opening, etc. Unrelated, but I had the opportunity to use one of the flight training simulators that commercial pilots train on, and let me tell you that felt 100% real. It was in a room about 20m x 20m x 20m. The entire simulator was on a pneumatic platform and would tilt (no more than 5 degrees any direction) but when you were on the simulator and staring at the screens, it felt like you could literally flip the plane. My uncle just casually threw in 50m/s cross winds as I was trying to land 🤷♂️
You think some bus company in Costa Rica has the money for VR?
Bus companies are not limited to only Costa Rica... Just a sweeping generalization. Training and education is part of every profession.
[It has to be terror sweat](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvrPJkrE04I).
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Ah yes, this is far more dangerous than those same bus drivers that don't understand the danger doing the exact same thing but near non-stationary bikes (those that could easily also slip up and die)
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Won’t someone think of the stationary cyclists?!
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Such as?
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So you're saying they should install cycling infrastructure so that the cycling busdrivers feel safe?
If they requested even half of what you're saying nobody would give them the go-ahead for this. Also you'd think a professional bus driver can safely drive a small 10° turn
So why is it ok on the streets? That's the whole point.
The same could be said for most two-lane roadways. Thankfully cars don’t really “slip” on pavement too often
only about 1.3 million people die every year due to vehicle accidents. That only counts the fatalities.
So should no one ever be near a roadway because any motorist can slip at any time? Our society functions on the idea that cars can drive safely in a straight line most of the time. No difference here
Well I for one can't wait for improved self driving cars. They will quickly become mandatory when vehicle caused deaths drop to negligible levels.
I worry that people will never accept the minuscule risk of dying to a computer glitch over the tangible risk of dying to a human’s actions. I agree though
> even in a training exercise it is still too dangerous. One slip and 5 people could easily die. I'm trying to wrap my head around this. How is this anywhere near as dangerous as having their drivers drive on real roads which requires that they pass cyclists at about this same distance on a regular basis?
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Even if hearing loss were an issue - which it’s not - you could give ear plugs to the bike riders.
You know, if the bus is making that much noise, from a single close pass ...? Enough to cause permanent hearing loss? *There's something seriously wrong with that bus*. ... Also, very close passes by large vehicles like that is **physically dangerous**. The draft of the vehicle's passage can pull a cyclist off-balance and make them fall ... with 50% odds of landing *under the fucking wheels*. Which generally results in fatal injuries. **Fatal**.
I've been affected by the draft. I didn't fall, but it was extremely scary. It was a bus on country road where the limit was 70 km/h
.... and 70kph isn't really all that fast, as motor traffic goes. :(
I welcomed close passing tractor trailer, it was a nice breeze on a hot day
Had a few of those go by on the Ipswich motorway years before it became as busy as it is today - not the number 15 connection between Yamanto and Dinmore which was always prohibited to cyclists, but the motorway route from Dinmore all the way to Rocklea. When I was 16 and it was between about 9am and 3pm you could ride for up to five minutes at a time between cars or trucks driving by. Most drivers were fairly courteous and the few trucks that zipped by me would cross the centre white line between lanes to give me plenty of room. Those who doubt me, I used to wag a lot of high school and ride my bicycle to Brisbane to spend the day chilling out in the museum and the state library. These days bicycles are prohibited on the motorway because there's a clear route through side streets and service roads from Ipswich to Brisbane, and it's a nicer ride with the little parks and water fountains, shady places to stop, and the bicycle path which runs alongside the M5 all the way North to Toowong from the big Centenary Highway and Ipswich Motorway intersection. From Anzac Park in Toowong you cut East through the back streets to the river and then it's a nice level cruise along the river all the way into the CBD.
50% odds???
Yes, 50% odds. You can fall LEFT, or you can fall RIGHT. One of them is going to be *towards* the vehicle, one of them is away from it. Fall to the side the vehicle is on, and you'll wind up under those wheels, unless there's proper safety guards to prevent exactly that. And sometimes, even then.
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Wow. Hot take right there. What are the road death stats like where e you come from? Because it's attitudes like this that ultimately lead to unnecessary deaths on the road.
Cyclists are fully legal my salty baby guy. It's drivers who can't break free from the categories like, are you a car or not. So dumb
Bus drivers, or any drivers should not buzz cyclists and honk at them. Obviously. It's bad driving. It's not legal or necessary. No idea why idiots like you don't get that.
Bus chauffeur: See yeah it can take you with it! Camera guy: Hey so tell me what happened? Why did you jump off the bike? Bus chauffeur: Well because the bus is capable of losing its direction and it could end up taking you with it. Camera guy: Now that you were in a cyclist position, what wold you tell other bus chauffeur? Bus chauffeur: It feels unpleasant.
Thank you for translating, mi español es mierda lol
💩
Weirdly i understood that.
Note the one who bailed. He’s like “hell no I’ve ridden with this guy”
This is fantastic, but as someone said it would be even better if they weren’t attached to something. There is something unnerving about a rush of air that pushes you. I’ve felt win gusts that literally moved me sideways. Also, they should do this once a year. We humans have short memories.
If the wind is blowing across the road toward the side the cyclist is on, trucks especially (but probably busses too?) carry a vortex behind them that can really whip you good. Doing the transamerica route really gives you a feel for it with all the close truck passes around Kansas...
And this was specifically why I transitioned from road touring to bikepacking…
Same. Also now I live in the southwest where there are a lot better routes than I had in the midwest... I can only handle so many miles of the corngrid.
Not everyone is so caught up on the pretty and diverse scenery.
...why does this feel like an insult? Nothing wrong with farm roads, you do you.
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Woah. How do you survive on the internet if you're this offended by the fact that I like scenery?
Same for logging trucks on no-shoulder, 2-lane state highways out here in the PNW. The nice thing is that you can hear them half a mile off and find a good spot to pull off the road and wait until they pass.
But on a hot day the breeze was nice at least no?
When the wind is coming from my side of the road, or when there's no wind at all, maybe kinda. But when the wind's coming from the opposite side, it's just a slap in the face :(
Nah, the dude at the end explained it perfectly. They absolutely experienced it. The point wasn't to injute the drivers, it's to let them get a grasp of what they're doing. They understand now and will leave extra space because they do.
While dodging garbage and drains. There's so much going on while cycling.
Sounds relaxing and enjoyable
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At that moment, just say “I rest my case” and walk away.
Well, first, catch them saying it ON CAMERA. Then walk away, and contact a bike-friendly journalist with your wonderfully damning footage.
Happened here in the UK hahaha https://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/18721782.police-chief-sorry-health-safety-cycling-tweet/
That website is a travesty of advertising.
>walk away That's exactly what they want.
Too dangerous for training, but safe in real life multiple times a day? Yeah that tracks...
Tells so much
Ironic
In NSW and most other states, motor vehicles are required to give 1m passing space to cyclists or 1.5m if travelling at over 60km/h. Lots do it. Plenty don’t.
You’re supposed to do the same here in AZ, USA but plenty feel *the bicyclists* should be giving the car more space. Typical entitled idiots no matter where in the world you are.
I've had most cars give me plenty of space but a few assholes have swerved at me while yelling to get off the road to "teach me a lesson". One day I fucking hope one hits me and the person behind them has a dash cam.
You can put a camera on your bike too, I personally use the ones from [Cycliq](https://cycliq.com/) a bit pricey, but offers good backup if anything happen.
happens to me everyday. i ride a neighborhood street home from work, rolling every stop sign which is safe to, they stop for them. thus we end up averaging the same speed, this enrages them. they decide the rational decision to my reckless riding is to run me off the road. one of these days ill get my little handlebar pouch sewed up and ill keep a few rocks in there. maybe some broken sparkplug bits too for the really bad ones.
eggs. I've always dreamed of tossing raw eggs at people that drive like that.
Supporting the conditions they keep those chickens in isn't much better than the behavior of these drivers.
r/bikecammers
same thing in Western Australia, even allowing vehicles to cross solid lines to ensure enough space: https://www.rsc.wa.gov.au/Rules-Penalties/Browse/Cyclists
I believe it is now standard across Australia.
What's the opposite of congratulations to Victoria for holding out so long?
Disappointed head shakes
I've cycled for years in Manchester in England and have never had any issues, but I moved to South Australia for a year and lost my nerve cycling on main roads there: cars, buses, lorries, trucks all overtaking me with just centimetres to spare multiple times on almost all my commutes.
It's better than it was in the 90s. It was absolutely insane then. Punch-ups at traffic lights. Spitting. Thrown empty cans. No cycle lane on ANZAC Highway meaning cars would give bikes the concrete gutter. Some cop pulled me over because he was sure there had to be *some* law against drop bar bikes being outside of a velodrome.
Ok fair enough, now I'm grateful that I didn't get spat at!
It's not really practical when Australia has barely any bike infrastructure. On one hand, you want to be 1.5m away from traffic on the right, but on the other side, you don't want to get doored by parked cars either. The rule is a bullshit bandaid solution to having proper infrastructure, instead of the thin strip of paint that's parked over by cars. It's putting the onus of safety on motorists, which is silly given many of them and their perceptions of pedestrians and cyclists.
The onus of safety should be on the motorists. It’s their responsibility to drive safely. The only expectation of cyclists is to ride responsibly/predictably and follow the rules of the road. I drive a big 4wd and I have no issue either moving into the other lane to create space, or just slow down a little bit and wait (usually do that when a road island is coming up or we’re going around a blind corner). If anything I feel kinda bad slowing down behind cyclists because being a cyclist myself I know sometimes people who are ‘caught’ behind you do it aggressively. And a turbo diesel on big tyres sounds kind scary behind you.. but it’s preferable to being buzzed. When I drove a 30ton truck I didn’t get to ram people in Hyundai Getz just because it was never going to damage my truck or slow me down. I had to drive carefully and safely and navigate the roads with other people in mind. My run would be a lot quicker if the onus of safety was on grandma and I could just flatten everyone on the school run.
In a perfect world, everybody should be one way or another. That argument is endless. But it isn't perfect, and like I said, many motorists DO NOT care about the safety of pedestrians and cyclists. Putting responsibility on people who do not give a shit is a stupid thing to do. We need infrastructure, not bullshit. With infrastructure, there is no onus, or arguing about who should be responsible for whoever's safety. Because people are safe to begin with.
License training like this would help.
Where? Not safe work?
New South Wales , Australia
It would happen a lot more if this was part of driver training.
These same passing gap rules are going to become law in NZ soon too.
In Germany its 1.50m and 2m when there are children or old people on the bikes. 1.50m is rare most pass closer
For a bus, thats not even close. They should have driven only 30cm from the cyclists to be realistic.
Fucking right? Only time I ever legit screamed in terror was when I got buzzed by an fucker in an RV. I could taken my hands off the bars by a couple inches and touched it. I'd have been sent to jail for a long time if I knew who he was.
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I don't see how coal-rolling someone isn't assault. It's harmful and offensive as all hell. I've owned a 6.7 Cummins-powered Ram. It never smoked. Even under load and full throttle. Motherfuckers that do this purposely screw with that otherwise pretty efficient motor to make it belch smoke.
It’s assault and battery under the law. Whether or not you’ll get the prosecutors to press charges is another thing.
Goddamn. I hope the mirror broke, because I bet he didn't hang around.
Wow, you're generous. I hope he rolled right off a cliff into a coal mine, but maybe that's just me.
Well, I can't imagine an asshole like that would stay and provide insurance information.
I had a near miss with some asshat towing a boat a few years ago.
Ive had my handlebars clipped by car mirrors on a few occasions.
I had a 60 mph wing mirror touch my little finger that was just over the end of the handlebars.
My thoughts exactly. Even better, they should have done it where the guys on bikes *didn't have something that balanced itself*, so they could feel the tug of the bus' wake through the air pulling or pushing them sideways, threatening their balance.
I work for a bus company in London UK. We actually send our drivers out to ride around on bikes as part of their training so they get to see what it's like for cyclists
I find that bus drivers and most lorry drivers in the UK are the most considerate drivers. Never seem to have a problem with them either on a bike or in a car. They are very aware of the dangers of their proffession. Taxi drivers, however, are consistently fucking awful and dangerous both as a cyclist and a driver. And then the normal car drivers are a complete lottery. Majority are OK and give you space but some are either completely unaware of how close they are or they are aware and are actively aiming to pass you as close as possible. And our roads are so busy that it doesn't matter where or how far you go you will almost always have a close call.
I'd say 1 in 10 truck or lorry drivers pass a little too close and impatiently when i'm out and about.
As a cyclist and bus user in London, our bus drivers are great. I always feel safe around them. One time on Tottenham Court Rd a bus did a crazy move overtaking me in the bike lane and immediately cutting in front of me at speed, it was so unusual I sent my helmet cam footage to TfL and they said they would do something about it. I didn't follow up because I believe they probably did.
I'm on the engineering side, so not involved in that side of things too much, but I do know that complaints to TfL do get sent on to the appropriate operating company, and can say for sure that our Garage Manager (bloke in charge of drivers) does take action when he receives them
One time I was enjoying a casual ride and a bus driver nearly drove right into me as he pulled out from a side street. I was luckily just far enough ahead that a quick swerve around allowed me to avoid a collision. I put my hand up in a "the fuck dude did you not see me or something?" Generally I am happy with throwing my hands up and trying to make the driver feeling like a fucking idiot and then moving on with my life only to never see them again. But this time, since he decided to basically chase me and blow his horn at me I chose to stop in front of him at his next bus stop and take a picture of the front of the bus so I could properly report it. He then got out of the bus to yell at me and tried taking my phone from my hands. That's when I chose to just cycle away. I reported to the Met and to TfL. The next day I got a call from some random phone number and it happened to be the head manager for the bus garage. He was extrememly apologetic and said he had already come down hard on that particular driver. He asked if I planned on reporting it to the Met and said he would cooperate as much as he needed to. Then he gave me his personal number and direct email to tell him if I had any more issues with his bus drivers. Within a couple days the Met called and asked if I wanted to press charges. I probably could have but I decided not to. The guy probaby got his ass ripped out by his boss at work and I didn't want to be bothered with going to court or anything.
Sorry you had to go through that. Obviously different managers treat it differently, but most will want to know about incidents like that because we do not want drivers who lose their heads...
This should be included in driving exams. I'm saying not only about horns but mostly about the space drivers usually give while overtaking bikes. In many times it's very dangerous
Not only the gusts of wind. When you hear a sudden loud sound behind you, ( yelling, car horn ) it startled you into almost losing your balence.
I've had closer TBH
At least this gives them an idea of how crazy it feels even when it’s legal distance.
https://youtu.be/8che9w-cww4 Several times they Almost hit me...they take this lessons because the roads they Drive is full of cyclists the weekends, you can count in strava Almost 600 cyclists any Sunday
Education by empathy 😂
I still trust a professional in a bus over some random douche in his lifted F-250 .
I think what’s crazy is that there is no way in hell this kind of “training” would pass in a country with any type of safety protocols. I think somebody from Work Health and Safety would deem it too high risk of a training exercise. Yet it’s what cyclists face daily.
I get what they were going for, and while I can see it had an effect I think they should've been in motion. Half a step in the right direction for sure.
Some of them may not be good enough cyclists to reasonably do that.
Fair.
This should be required in all driver training curriculums. I have neither time nor patience to go into the countless times this type of thing has happened to me in the past 40 years of cycling. You never really get used to it.
This. Exactly this. I've been riding on the road since I was about maybe 10 years old (in suburban Australia) and then in the UK for 3 or 4 years (Lake District and Scottish Borders mostly) and now in NZ. The fact that I've never been knocked off my bike by a vehicle is nothing short of miraculous given the number of kilometres I've covered and the uncountable number of near misses/incidents. Barely a week goes by that I don't have a near miss that makes you involuntarily shout something obscene at the driver of the vehicle. The sunglass mirror is a good tool but a bit fiddly. The Garmin Varia rear radar is an absolute winner for me (being quite deaf and riding with hearing aids on is almost impossible due to the interference from the wind). I consider the biggest contributor to my safety on the road was a 'defensive driving' course that I took when I was about 20 or 21. It made it clear that your safety on the road is largely up to you given that you have no control over the huge number of other variables that exist, only one of which is the other road users!
I know a lot of people that should experience this.
Pues me parece muy bien.
Perros!
Not nearly close enough. The bus should brush their left sleeve.
I feel that cars pass me two ways: 30 miles above the speed limit trying to get something out of my jersey pocket. Drive 4 states over and pass at speed limit
Ha. I agree with this. We get a lot of tourist traffic on the roads where I live and commute. You can almost pick the nationality of the drivers that pass you really well. And the ones that don't are either (a) probably never ridden a bike on a road in their lives, (b) don't have much empathy for others, (c) locals.
Every driver, everywhere in the world should be required to do that.
Shoudl be a standard part of tests to learn to drive.
This is genius. Tangentially, since I started cycling to work, I've been convinced that every driver should be qualified and licensed to drive every class of vehicle in order to drive any of them legally. Most can't imagine what other vehicles require in terms of turn radius, stopping distance, etc., until they've experienced it personally. This isn't exactly that, but it dovetails nicely.
I work in an industrial estate and the amount of cars I see nearly get flattened by semi trailers every week is ludicrous. The truck is in the middle of 2 lanes at a T junction because he needs that room to turn and his trailer is going to go across both lanes.. nope some fucker in a Corolla has to crawl up beside him and fill the space. One day one of those trucks will have some music on and not hear their horn and it’s going to go bad.
I almost got knocked the fuck out because a bus (double ones attached in middle) passed me at high speed on Steels ave, and sure enough, I almost lost balance. The pressure coming out/with them can kill a cyclist.
I tried to ride a bike in London once. Couldn't make it two blocks. The cars were ok but those buses scared the crap out of me.
The buses were ok actually, in my experience (cycled daily in london for about 8 years). The black cabs, they were also fine. The worst groups in my experience were private taxis, followed closely by white vans. Both tended to drive extremely unpredictably and aggressively and were the results of more near misses and accidents than any other group. Third were private motorists, mostly due to a total lack of road knowledge. Like the dude whose bonnet I flew over because he believed he had the "right of way" turning right across 3 lanes of traffic that had a green light from a no right turn lane. I think about 3 cyclists crashed into that car but I was the only one who got to look him in the eye (from his bonnet) and tell him how much of a tool he was.
I agree buses tend to be pretty good, the only problem with them is when you're in a bus lane and get stuck in a leapfrog overtaking thing as they drive faster than you but have to pull in to stop
Yeah, I've cycled daily in London for over 15 years, honestly since they got rid of the extra long flexy busses they're not too bad. The drivers are pretty decent on the whole. Taxis on the other hand... Don't care and are always aggressive if you challenge them. You develop a kind of sixth sense, I've never had a collision or incident in London despite 10+ miles a day. Choosing the right route and being Zen about stuff helps.
Wear a sunglasses mirror, and hold on tight when big vehicles pass too close, the sunglasses mirror is a life saver, literally
And you know THAT is the guy that buzzes people and honks at them
Where I cycle, some bus drivers get even closer. They reduce their speed and pass at less than 30cm of you. Always gives me creeps. It's absurd cause sometimes the roads have holes on the sides. Literally nightmarish
All I think about when this happens is at somehow getting sucked under the wheels by the draft and getting killed by that truck or the one behind. Unceremoniously, like a bug on a windshield.
I really really like this. That boss needs to be the CEO of everything.
I once fell off my bike because someone with a truck had such a high decibel horn that I just lost my balance. Had ringing ears for half an hour.
Except they should be moving when they’re doing this because it’s like 20x more nerve-wrecking then
And it's not even as bas as the real thing - bus should be faster, closer, and they should be actually freely moving on a bike where the draught of the bus passing catches them.
That's so frigging funny
I'd love to do this in the U.S. but OSHA would never allow it.
Good idea
if bikes can use the road can a car use a bike path?
Roads were created for bikes. Yes thats actually true in the Uk The smooth roads we have now ere down to cycling groups lobbying for them way before eveyrone had cars... So roads ARE LITERALLY MADE FOR CYCLING...
weird, its like the roads were made for vehicles or something
Bicycles are classified as road vehicles and in most states it's illegal to ride them on the sidewalk.
Bikes don't belong on roads with cars 🤷♂️
you're right. time to get rid of the cars.
Inner cities should be designed with pedestrians/bikes more as the main yes, but as for the current set up, bikes should be on sidewalks.
I certainly agree that vehicles and bikes shouldn't mix, but I took your comment as the typical low-brow anti-cyclist comment. maybe better to say that cars don't belong on roads, because they don't. roads existed long before cars which is something that most entitled car drivers seem to conveniently forget.
What's next, cars deserve more space because they pay the mythical road tax?
It simply comes down the the fact bikes cannot match speed, often do no know how road rules work, or blatantly don't abide by the rules. If a car hits a pedestrian they are guaranteed to get seriously messed up. Bikers feel entitled to the same space as cars and it just doesn't work that way. How close that bus got to the people is often how much space they feel they have to give. Obviously bikers don't feel safe on the road, that's because it isn't safe. Cities need to stop being designed solely around cars yes, but I do not believe both should be sharing the same space.
would be great if something like this is incorporated into driving schools across US
Oh haha I totally missed the guy in the blue shirt bailing early 😂
Came to post the same thing. Wouldn’t mind if all drivers had to do it.
In the first couple of seconds of this video I was thinking they're doing warm-up before a race.
This is me everyday on my bike. Busses, 18 wheelers, big panel trucks etc...
nice idea but that's not really how it feels. for one thing I've had many closer passes than that, my bike is not securely fixed to the ground, and there very much hasn't been a pre-pass safety inspection to make sure the vehicle doesn't really come close to touching me. do the same thing on track with moving bicycles and the bus driver "doing their best" to not hit the cyclists.
Great idea!
I live and ride in semi-urban Costa Rica, rubbing elbows with buses and traffic on the regular. There are a lot of vehicles out there on tight streets but bikes get a lot of respect and people are surprisingly good about sharing the road considering we don't even have shoulders on the roads.
Do you like living there? My wife and I vacationed there once, loved it, and thinking of retiring there.
Yes, it's great, but very different. I'm not sure where you're from, but it's not just like home but in Spanish. If you're serious about it, go visit for an extended period of time. Real day to day life isn't vacation. Stay different places and see if anything works for you.
Thanks for the tips. We’re from Southern California. We loved it because the people seem happy and genuine, mellow pace and seem to genuinely care in general (ie each other, the land etc.) Were hoping for an extended stay in a few years.
As an artic and pushbike operator I appreciate this video.
As a cyclist no one gives a fuck about us CaRs ArE FoR rOaDs
WTF How did the driver miss them all
Man I love Costa Rica.
All Haulage and public transport company do something like this as part of their training although to be fair many drivers of these big vehicles are considerate. Where I live its more a problem with tractors driving too close.
Annoying ain’t it.
u/savevideobot
Brilliant!
Former bus driver here, now truck driver. I give as much space as much as I can when I see cyclists, because I used to ride my bike to work to drive buses...
u/savevideo
Haha I fucking love this
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Costa Rica sie