The moment was captured on CCTV and a video shows the cyclist being thrown from his bike as the bus is deliberately driven into him, throwing him 10 feet across the road.
The incident is said to have followed an argument between bus driver Gavin Hill and cyclist Philip Mead. After exchanging heated words, Mead apparently tugged one of the bus’s windscreen wipers as he took off from a set of traffic lights.
As the bike pulled in front of the bus, however, Hill swerved and used the bus to push Mead off the road. Despite seeing the cyclist lying on the pavement the bus simply drives off.
Hill pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and causing grievous bodily harm and was jailed for 17 months at Bristol Crown Court yesterday. He described the incident as a “moment of madness”.
Handing out the sentence, Judge Mark Horton said his actions were deliberate.
“You used the bus as a weapon to bully and intimidate Mr Mead,” he said.
Following the incident, Mead was hospitalised for two weeks with a broken leg and fractured wrist.
“I think he meant to brush against me and give me a fright,” the cyclist said.
“I don’t think he set out to break my bones, or at least I like to think not. I remember losing my balance and rolling over a couple of times. I tried to stand up and could see that my bike was under the bus between the front and back wheels.
“It doesn’t matter to me what sentence he gets, it won’t change what has already happened. For me what is important is that he has acknowledged what he did.”
Comments under the video on Youtube have been mixed. Although most people are shocked at the bus driver’s behaviour, some have suggested that the bike should not have been in the middle of the road.
“Cyclists need to understand that they have to pull over when the queue of cars gets too large, not everyone has the time to f**k around at 10 mph for ever. That being said, that bus driver is a psycho and I hope he never gets to sit behind the wheel of a vehicle ever again,” said one viewer.
Another wrote: “Although technically allowed, cycling down the middle of the road is dumb, and deliberately obstructing much larger and heavier vehicles from passing is just plain stupid. What the bus driver did though was totally out of order. I’ll bet the bus driver just wanted to beat the cyclist to the next advanced stop line since drivers never seem to take any notice of them.”
What do you think?
