Cyclist speaks out about "bullyish" bus driving that prompted Transport for London investigation

Last week, for the 851st edition of our Near Miss of the Day series we shared a video from a London cyclist who was squeezed towards the kerb by a bus driver during an overtake.

In response to a request for comment from road.cc, Transport for London said the frightening incident, which took place in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and was captured by cyclist and road safety campaigner Lauren O'Brien, was "unacceptable" and an investigation had been launched.

> Near Miss of the Day 851: Transport for London launches investigation after "unacceptable" close passing bus driver squeezes cyclist into kerb

Now, speaking to the Metro, Lauren described the driving as "bullyish" and said that bus drivers often give London cyclists no choice but to brake to avoid a collision.

"That kind of thing does happen quite often," she said. "Where a bus is coming around a cyclist [who] knows they've got to stop. It was probably about half five, so the bus was definitely going to have to stop there and drop people off.

"What [bus drivers] do is get to a certain point where they're sort of halfway past you, then they start indicating, and at that point, you have to make the decision. I don't want to get squished by a bus, so I'm going to have to make a quick decision to brake, get out the way of the bus before I have a collision.

"It just winds you up so much because it's bullyish behaviour, you have no option but to brake or you're gonna get hit by a bus, so they're putting you in this horrible, impossible situation where you've got to just get out their way – which shouldn't be the case at all.

Tonight I got home & bowled my eyes out. It was a horrendous commute home, with this 👇🏻 being the icing on the cake in @RBKC. But you know something? Not matter how many times I get bullied off the road, be it bus, car, whoever, it won’t stop me cycling. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/335yubCJFv

— Lauren O’Brien (@laurencyclist) February 8, 2023

"I'm quite tough on the road and I'm quite tough to driving behaviour but sometimes it just gets a bit too much. When you have one thing, it's like, 'Okay, brush that off, that's annoying'. 

"But then if it's two, three, or four, things, it doesn't happen very often where I get emotional but [in that instance] it just all added up, and I was thinking, why am I getting treated like this for just choosing a brilliant, eco-friendly way around this beautiful city? Why is this happening to me?

"Sometimes you just want to, you know, go up to and be like, 'Why are you doing this? Do you know how scary this is when you drive like that? You clearly don't if you're doing that, you clearly don't understand why or you wouldn't do it'."

"Driving that endangers cyclists or pedestrians is unacceptable"

Transport for London's head of bus operations, Rosie Trew, told road.cc that the government body and RATP, who operate the route on TfL's behalf, are currently investigating the incident.

"Driving that endangers cyclists or pedestrians is unacceptable and far from the required standard of our bus drivers," Trew told us. "We are working with RATP… to investigate this incident and ensure it doesn't happen again."

> Driver "used bus as a weapon" against cyclist, loses appeal over sacking

TfL added that all London bus drivers are currently undertaking a Vision Zero training course, which aims to teach them new skills in hazard perception and to provide them with a better understanding of the risks to cyclists, pedestrians, motorcyclists, and passengers, along with ways to prevent driver fatigue.

TfL says the course is "designed to create the safety culture and attitudes" that will help the body achieve Vision Zero for London.