Reply to: Stagecoach bus bowling. Strike!

[BrilloPad]

4/5 years ago on Blackfriars bridge there was a bus lane on the left of the cycle lane. the inevitable happened. The bus lane now removed - does not help the poor girl who died though.

[expat]

And the kid is an imbecile for jumping over the railings when a bus was coming - but then, we all were at that age, and we were just lucky that none of the equally stupid things we did ended up like that.

I shudder to remember. Some of us were not lucky, but they are not here complaining about it.

[KentPhilip]

Nasty accident, but the bus driver isn't to blame, and the kid was just doing what kids do. He'll at least learn the value of having a National Health Service, and maybe even be able to work out what pedestrian crossings (and railings) are for

With that vault he might be joining the 2012 Olympic high-jump team. That is if he can still walk.

[VectraMan]

I don't think anybody's mentioned this, but there are a couple of kids already walking the wrong side of the barrier in the cycle lane. And perhaps the bus driver should have slowed and given them more room.

Not that it means he's in any way to blame for hitting the idiot that leaps the barrier.

[NickFitz]

If you pause it and go to the 7 second mark (just after hitting the kid) you can see that the bus is 18 - 24 inches over onto the cycle lane, but has a car on its offside (in the right-turn lane) which would tend to make the driver keep over to the left. Also, if my interpretation of perspective is correct, the lane is only just wide enough for the bus in the first place.

So, given that people aren't actually robots, it's perfectly understandable that the driver, not wishing to get tangled up with the car to his right, and seeing a clear cycle lane to his left, would tend to move towards the left of the road.

And the kid is an imbecile for jumping over the railings when a bus was coming - but then, we all were at that age, and we were just lucky that none of the equally stupid things we did ended up like that.

Nasty accident, but the bus driver isn't to blame, and the kid was just doing what kids do. He'll at least learn the value of having a National Health Service, and maybe even be able to work out what pedestrian crossings (and railings) are for

[TykeMerc]

The bus was speeding. The white lines in a 30mph limit are 4 metres long with a two metre gap. It takes the bus less than a second to travell 16 metres making the speed around 70 KMPH. The driver is a twat

Where can I buy a vehicle that does 70,000 MPH on the road? I don't care if it looks like a bus I want one!!!!!!

The kid's a Darwin Award candidate.

[Paddy]

The bus was speeding. The white lines in a 30mph limit are 4 metres long with a two metre gap. It takes the bus less than a second to travell 16 metres making the speed around 70 KMPH. The driver is a twat

[expat]

I'm sure if there a bike in the cycle lane drivers would keep out of it for the duration
Kids vaulting over a barrier into your path - er no.

Indeed, I was responding to Dude69's comment "Most drivers seem to find it impossible to stay out of cycle lanes on the side of roads". A large kerb helps drivers to keep it in mind. Focuses motorcyclists' minds too.

[KentPhilip]

I'm sure if there a bike in the cycle lane drivers would keep out of it for the duration
Kids vaulting over a barrier into your path - er no.

[expat]

That bus was very close the the kerb and over the ridiculous painted on cycle lane. Stupid road planning as usual.

They tried painting cycle lanes in Paris. Result as expected. Then they put dividing kerbs along the edge of the cycle lanes. Better.

[dude69]

Cycle lane seems to have been painted on top of normal lane so that the lane became too narrow.

there are clearly a couple of feet to the buses right. Most drivers seem to find it impossible to stay out of cycle lanes on the side of roads. I don't think they contribute much to road safety, you'd be better off without them and have the cars give you a nice wide berth.

[AtW]

Cycle lane seems to have been painted on top of normal lane so that the lane became too narrow.

[DimPrawn]

That bus was very close the the kerb and over the ridiculous painted on cycle lane. Stupid road planning as usual.

[malvolio]

If the bus was doing 50, it would have been long gone before the stupid little twerp jumped the safety fence...

[AtW]

I'd say the bug was a tad on the cycling lane - the boy is sure lucky to be alive and he should not have done what he did though.

On that street 50 miles for a bus would be clearly excessive - not sure how that guy survived, the video seems to show he was hit on the head, even 30 miles would do. Perhaps he was thick?