



Member





Group: Members

Posts: 1,193

Joined: 29 Sep 2003

From: London, UK

Member No.: 376



MemberGroup: MembersPosts: 1,193Joined: 29 Sep 2003From: London, UKMember No.: 376









I was driving south along Kingsway (middle lane) in Holborn when I passed a bus stopped at the bus stop shown on the left at this







You can see from the broken line under the bus how far I had been pushed over. At this point, I heard a bang on my roof which I knew was the bus driver banging it from his window. I immediately got out of my car and took the above picture (the reason being to get a picture of the proximity of the bus to my car before seeing if he'd damaged the roof of the car).



Suddenly, the bus driver floored it and drove towards me. I stepped forward and turned my right shoulder towards the bus in an effort to protect my body, maintain stability and to use my superpowers to potentially stop the bus. The bus impacted my right shoulder and came to a stop. It appeared my super strength was the reason it stopped, but it transpired later that the bus driver braked when he hit me.







Several passers-by and a bus passenger saw the incident and advised me to call the police against the bus driver. The police and ambulance came. The police on arrival thought they were dealing with a fatality due to the front window of the bus being smashed:







Then they saw I was on the bus being assessed by the ambulance personnel who arrived first. The police spoke to all the witnesses then decided to arrest the bus driver on suspicion of assault.



I was asked to go to Holborn Police Station a few days later for a voluntary interview on tape to discuss what happened that led to the bus colliding with me while watching the bus's CCTV. A few days after that, I was told that the CCTV had been shown to the sergeant and he believed that both I and the bus driver should be charged with offences. The bus driver was charged with driving without due care and attention. I was charged with driving without reasonable consideration.



Personally, I think the police have been pressured by Transport for London and felt compelled to show non-bias after they initially arrested the bus driver (which I was told the police received a lot of flak from TfL for this - apparently, a lot of very senior people were looking at this because this was a PR issue due to a bus deliberately running down a person). For that reason, they have charged us both in order to let the court decide.



, but it doesn't really detail why I have been charged with driving without reasonable consideration. Therefore, it is quite difficult for me to formulate a defence if I don't even know the grounds of the charge. My understanding is that it is something to do with when I passed the bus, possibly not allowing the bus to pull out. But that conflicts with the bus driver's charge which I understand is for pulling out into passing traffic, namely me. My defence on this will be that I was already committed and passing when the bus started to move and I tried to stay in the middle lane to avoid hitting traffic in the outside lane and also because the outside lane was a filter lane for turning right and I was going straight ahead.



The court date is in less than three weeks and I need to consider whether I should get a solicitor. I also need to obtain a copy of the CCTV and I'm guessing I should be provided with the prosecution's case given that the charge sheet doesn't really set it out.



Any advice would be greatly appreciated. And feel free to have a laugh over this one. I appreciate it's not exactly your run-of-the-mill moving traffic contravention on PePiPoo. This is a rather interesting and dramatic one, even for me. And yes, a double-decker bus deliberately tried to run me over after a minor road rage incident involving the bus driver banging the roof of my car with his fist from his window. The front windscreen of the bus smashed as it hit me. The bus driver got arrested for assault, then we both got charged for driving offences. Sounds nuts? Let me explain...I was driving south along Kingsway (middle lane) in Holborn when I passed a bus stopped at the bus stop shown on the left at this GSV location . As I was passing, the bus started moving and veered into my lane causing me to have to steer right partially into the outside lane. I beeped my horn to indicate to the bus driver I was there and then tried to remain in my lane to avoid steering into traffic in the outside lane. Due to stationary traffic in front of us, we ended up stopped with me slightly in front of the bus as shown below:You can see from the broken line under the bus how far I had been pushed over. At this point, I heard a bang on my roof which I knew was the bus driver banging it from his window. I immediately got out of my car and took the above picture (the reason being to get a picture of the proximity of the bus to my car before seeing if he'd damaged the roof of the car).Suddenly, the bus driver floored it and drove towards me. I stepped forward and turned my right shoulder towards the bus in an effort to protect my body, maintain stability and to use my superpowers to potentially stop the bus. The bus impacted my right shoulder and came to a stop. It appeared my super strength was the reason it stopped, but it transpired later that the bus driver braked when he hit me.Several passers-by and a bus passenger saw the incident and advised me to call the police against the bus driver. The police and ambulance came. The police on arrival thought they were dealing with a fatality due to the front window of the bus being smashed:Then they saw I was on the bus being assessed by the ambulance personnel who arrived first. The police spoke to all the witnesses then decided to arrest the bus driver on suspicion of assault.I was asked to go to Holborn Police Station a few days later for a voluntary interview on tape to discuss what happened that led to the bus colliding with me while watching the bus's CCTV. A few days after that, I was told that the CCTV had been shown to the sergeant and he believed that both I and the bus driver should be charged with offences. The bus driver was charged with driving without due care and attention. I was charged with driving without reasonable consideration.Personally, I think the police have been pressured by Transport for London and felt compelled to show non-bias after they initially arrested the bus driver (which I was told the police received a lot of flak from TfL for this - apparently, a lot of very senior people were looking at this because this was a PR issue due to a bus deliberately running down a person). For that reason, they have charged us both in order to let the court decide. This is the charge sheet , but it doesn't really detail why I have been charged with driving without reasonable consideration. Therefore, it is quite difficult for me to formulate a defence if I don't even know the grounds of the charge. My understanding is that it is something to do with when I passed the bus, possibly not allowing the bus to pull out. But that conflicts with the bus driver's charge which I understand is for pulling out into passing traffic, namely me. My defence on this will be that I was already committed and passing when the bus started to move and I tried to stay in the middle lane to avoid hitting traffic in the outside lane and also because the outside lane was a filter lane for turning right and I was going straight ahead.The court date is in less than three weeks and I need to consider whether I should get a solicitor. I also need to obtain a copy of the CCTV and I'm guessing I should be provided with the prosecution's case given that the charge sheet doesn't really set it out.Any advice would be greatly appreciated. And feel free to have a laugh over this one. I appreciate it's not exactly your run-of-the-mill moving traffic contravention on PePiPoo.



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Notable Victories: Richard Rippon (2008): Clamped by Richard Rippon's firm Redroute . Successfully sued him in court resulting in an intense media and legal battle that eventually saw his downfall. See the success story here .

Clamped by Richard Rippon's firm . Successfully sued him in court resulting in an intense media and legal battle that eventually saw his downfall. See the success story . Luton Airport (2013): Clamped by Ontime Parking Solutions at London Luton Airport where the police assisted in the illegal clamping of my vehicle on private land, directly in contravention of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 eventually leading to all towing and clamping operations at the airport being ceased for several weeks. See the success story here.

Clamped by at London Luton Airport where the police assisted in the illegal clamping of my vehicle on private land, directly in contravention of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 eventually leading to all towing and clamping operations at the airport being ceased for several weeks. See the success story here. Huntingdonshire District Council (2012): ECN from HDC in in Huntingdon which I contested in the Magistrates' Court. The matter was publicised in the local newspapers and HDC were shown to be wasteful of public money on a minor matter. See the success story here. Current parking tally since 2001 (Council | Private): UK: 87 | 15 tickets (inc. 5 | 9 clamps, 3 | 0 tows). Of those: 60 | 12 contested, 54 | 12 won, 0 | 0 pending.

87 | 15 tickets (inc. 5 | 9 clamps, 3 | 0 tows). Of those: 60 | 12 contested, 54 | 12 won, 0 | 0 pending. NL: 4 | 0 tickets (inc. 0 | 0 clamps, 0 | 0 tows). Of those: 2 | 0 contested, 1 | 0 won, 0 | 0 pending. I am also proud to be in the top 10 longest-serving members on this forum that have been active this year. I am also proud to be in the top 10 longest-serving members on this forum that have been active this year.