Local bus companies are refusing to send bus drivers on cycling proficiency training due to dangers of being on the road with other vehicles - including buses!
As more and more people are being encouraged to switch to cycling as a way to keep fit and do their bit for the environment, incidents of cyclist accidents involving buses are ever present and often end in serious injury. Yet bus companies seem reluctant to send drivers out on roads that are too dangerous.
Following a near collision between a cyclist and a bus on Palatine Road, local MP John Leech suggested to the Chief Executive of a leading bus company, that drivers be sent on cycle training courses as part of their driver training, so that they can appreciate the position of cyclists and recognise the dangers they face.
First responded was that there were 'a host of potential health, fitness, safety and industrial relations issues' that prevents them from implementing such a scheme.
John Leech said:
"We're just going round in circles - if even the bus companies think that the roads are too dangerous for their own drivers to cycle around, how are standards going to improve?"
Advanced driver training is available for all drivers, the company contends, and drivers' standards are monitored through the Driver Standards Agency.
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