WATCH: SEPTA Releases Footage of Bus-Cyclist Standoff
The viral standoff’s back.
SEPTA released a 30-minute video to Billy Penn that includes footage of and leading up to the hotly-debated showdown that occurred last Wednesday near 13th and Locust streets, when a biker decided a bus was tailing him a wee bit too closely and pulled over and blocked the bus for an hour (completely reasonable, right?).
The footage shows that both the cyclist and the driver are, at times, at fault: According to the website, the driver didn’t pull into the required bus lane at Broad and Locust streets. The video above shows the cyclist rode in front of the bus. The bus driver also passed the cyclist as they were both maneuvering around a parked vehicle near Broad and 13th streets (state law requires four feet of space between cyclists and vehicles).
It all sounds pretty typical, unfortunately.
Until, that is, the cyclist pulls over a few seconds later, yells something, throws up his arms and blocks the bus. When, seven minutes later, the bus attempts to back up, the biker continues to block it, according to Billy Penn.
The video stops after 20 minutes, the website reports. But the blockage dragged on for an hour.
Was it warranted? You can now watch a short clip of the footage for yourself and decide, in case you weren’t one of dozens of highly-agitated bus riders who got to witness it themselves firsthand.
Of course, maybe this whole issue could’ve been prevented with some more bike lanes.
Follow @ClaireSasko on Twitter.