Tag Archives: Commuting

Following my ‘Bus W*****s in Bristol & Reading’ post of a few days ago, I finally have a response from one of the ‘customer champions’ of Reading Buses. Before you read what she says, you may want to read the original email I sent to the bus company. You’ll find it in the ‘Bus W*****s’ post;

Thank you for your telephone call and subsequent email of 5 February 2012, firstly let me apologise for not responding as quickly as we would normally as your comments were of great concern to me.

All our drivers are expected to display the highest standards as professional drivers and to be courteous to other road users, I was therefore most concerned.

I can understand how you must have felt as the driver clearly seen in CCTV footage should have demonstrated a more considered approach.  I agree that his actions were inconsiderate and not up to our usual high standards.  The Driver has been interviewed and cautioned by his manager.  We have now taken appropriate action to prevent a reoccurrence of the incident.

Please accept my sincere apologies for the upset our driver has caused you, we are constantly striving to maximize safety in our operation and I would like to thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.

Regards

A heartfelt apology. Thank-you to Reading Buses. It clearly is worth the bother of complaining. It’s just a pity that I have no-one to complain to about the two louts in a black Volvo 4×4 who came very close to ending my life last night as I cycled home from work. Rather obligingly, they pulled into the petrol station only a few metres down the road from the scene of their attempted manslaughter crime. The passenger told me I shouldn’t be on the road as I don’t pay road tax. He didn’t seem interested in me informing him that ‘Road Tax’ was abolished by Winston Churchill many years ago and replaced with ‘Vehicle Excise Duty’ which, courtesy of Twitter followers later in the evening, I discovered is zero for vehicles with zero emissions. When I asked one of the louts where I could cycle if not on the road, he explained that I should be on the pavement. Their ranting continued to the point where they asked ‘…just what do you want?’. I suggested an apology but non was forthcoming. I did ask if they could, on leaving the petrol station, try not to knock me off my bike as they drove down the road as well. It was a nice touch that a police van was positioned at the speed camera about hundred metres further along the road at which point their driving became somewhat subdued. One wonders what else, apart from their appalling driving abilities they had to hide. Volvo w*****s!

The above expression was coined of course by The Inbetweeners to great comic effect but what follows is at the other end of the spectrum of mirth. A Bristol bus driver has been sentenced to 17 months in prison afer using his bus as a weapon to knock a cyclist off the road. Watch the video and read the full story on the BBC website. Beyond belief. I will use the opportunity of this dreadful story to to mention my own bus w*****. I never mentioned the incident on this blog at the time it happened – two weeks ago tomorrow – as I thought I would give Reading Buses time to take some action. But they have been silent ever since I spoke to their customer relations department on Friday 3rd February and sent the follow-up email below on the 5th February;

“At around 7:10 am I was cycling north through Caversham. I crossed the river using Reading Bridge and turned left at the junction with Gosbrook Road. As I neared the Fox & Hounds pub (just opposite the turning right into Westfield Road), I had been caught up by one of the ‘Vitality’ buses. The road is quite narrow at that point and I needed to turn right to go up Westfield Road. I signalled to turn right and moved into the centre of the road. There was an on-coming vehicle and I was not able to turn right immediately however the bus behind me didn’t appear to be slowing down. I gestured with my hand (politely!) that he should do so but I felt obliged to slightly overshoot the turning. I then turned right and once on Westfield Road made a swirling motion at my right temple to indicate that I thought his actions were crazy. He seemed, from my perspective, to be far too close to me before I had turned. The incident at that point finished and I continued to the top of Westfield Road where as the light was red, I waited opposite the Prince of Wales pub. The same Vitality bus passed the pub heading up Peppard Road after having climbed Prospect Street. He looked at me and ‘gave me the finger’.”