BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Wow what an asshole! There is absolutly nothing coming in the other lane either (not that it should matter).

jesus christ. glad you're ok.

PS what a shit road to have to ride on.

stef, you should have seen the road BEFORE they fixed it!

Watching that some more: you are between the curb and the track, his wheel looks to be about a foot from the track – so he probably passed you at less than two feet! And he did not seem to slow down either. I would go to police with this and ask to file a report and not wait for the companies response.

Also, that street sucks!

shit pass, for sure.

yeah, that sucked ass.

@Marko82 I think van moved a little bit away when it passed. I got an impression that it less than foot from the track at the passing moment.

it definitely seemed to be driving way too fast (though I don't know the speed limit/their actual speed).

WL Roenek is the freaking worst.

I literally saw two of these vans drag racing

down smallman once.

Speed Limit is 25 on that stretch. I would guess he was doing 40-45, easily. He did pass very close; he moved away from the curb, after he passed me. The edge of my handlebar is usually right along the edge of the track, and I would say he was about a foot away.

I may go to the police today--the more I see these Roenigk van drivers, the more I'm convinced the company doesn't give a crap. Another one today in the same stretch--not as close, but still fast and loud.

Here's a thought that makes me think about getting a helmet cam - if a few people have videos interactioinn with this company's drivers, then complain and don't get any action, theya re opening themselves up for some kind of class action suit. Which would be lovely publicity. Althgough Ronegk might not think so, I guess.

I cant believe that the local news has

never done a story. Most of those drivers are

transporting kids. I think rl pays nothing and

probably has poor employee retention.

I was thinking similarly - scary school transportation is like A+ action for the local news reporters.

If you don't hear back from the company, that might be an option.

+1 Pinky. I'm going to call the company this afternoon, and that might be a good plan B.

OK, just received a call back from the garage manager at WL Roenigk. They said they are investigating, and this driver will be brought in for a hearing on Monday. Their safety officer will call me after the hearing.

When I recounted the story for the manager, and said he passed me within a foot, she immediately said "That is against the law!" Glad to hear that reaction.

Curious.

When they say "hearing," I think "evidence." Did you mention the video?

It would be unfair for the company to give the guy any serious discipline solely on the basis of "Some dude called and said..."

Companies are not under the same strict rules of evidence as courts. And especially when any form of customer service or publicity is concerned, the complaint is often enough to have a meeting with an employee.

I did mention the video today when the manager called. I did not mention it yesterday, when I called to notify them. Apparently they had already scheduled the hearing without knowing I had video. Her "that's against the law!" response makes me think that maybe they take such complaints seriously.

I kinda like the news media angle. With all of the bike/car crashes they have been covering this year they might like to show some video from our perspective. If a picture is worth a thousand words… Plus, how many parents are going to see that and think about their child being in that van – with a dangerous driver!

I have a couple of friends who are on-air news reporters, I'll ask them what they think.

I had a guy in a truck driving straight at me yesterday on one of those city streets that is only really wide enough for one vehicle... he was taking the lane straight down the middle, never moved over an inch, only leaving me a foot and a half to not get hit. As he rolled past, I also noticed he never looked up from his cell phone. I dont know why I didnt turn around to get his plate number. Missed opportunity on my part.

this is why i'm so god damn loud on the road. my mouth is my horn.

cburch, this is for you...both incidents on my way home tonight. I think the lady in the white SUV may have peed herself. The guy in the red truck flipped me off after he turned past me, so I named him.

http://youtu.be/-ReU47aDg0o

This is a good post to share the following images regarding "Sharing the Lane" vs "Taking the Lane". They are from "Commute Orlando", an organization I've been in-contact with via "CyclingSavy".

Personally, I try to stay on the right of the road when it makes sense. But when there is no space on the lane, or feel car traffic is too wide, I take the lane AND move to the right when there is enough space so cars can pass me.

I KNOW we have the 4' Passing Law in PA, but so far only 50% of cars I've encountered had followed it, so I take the lane more as-needed.

Thanks Bikeygirl! This is great info. I have recently (early October) started taking the entire right lane on West Liberty Ave on my commute, both ways, and have noticed less conflict. People know that they need to change lanes to pass me, and have been good about doing so.

In the case shown in my video, I do not take the lane for several reasons. First, it is one lane in each direction, with tracks down the middle of the lane. Second, it is so lightly traveled in the morning that I almost never have problems. This particular van driver, in my estimation, would have buzzed me no matter how many lanes there were, or where I was riding.