Advocacy & Safety - did I do the right thing?

Was riding back from work. Fairly busy around 4 ish in the evening and I heard a honk behind me and ignored it. Then I heard the engine gun and a shuttle bus overtook me barely a foot away and we both arrived at the next stop sign together. I took my left hand and slapped it on the glass of the shuttle to say what the heck and push myself away... driver opens the door and tells me I am supposed to be on the side walk and we argue for about a minute and he drives away... I was livid... guy almost ran me over!!!!
Funniest thing?- the shuttle was from my institute. I get the license plate, go home and call security and they take down the report. I clarified that I didn't want anyone to get into trouble but just wanted to make sure they educated their drivers to the rules of the road... they said they would handle it...
Was calling it in going too far?

I think you did the right thing. At least you are not a doctor and arrested for punching him. ;0)
Next time super glue his door shut. :O)
Steven

Sounds like you handled it well.

Calling it in wasn't going to far at all. One way or another the shuttle driver needs to learn how to drive. Learning the applicable laws is part of that.

Calling it in was a very sensible thing to do. The shuttle driver is responsible for knowing and obeying the traffic laws, and his employer has a right to know how he's behaving when he drives their bus around. Slapping your hand on the glass was understandable, but could have escalated into a nasty confrontation between you and the driver. Arguing with him for a minute was a big, big waste of time.

Yes, you did the right thing, except for saying you didn't want anyone to get into trouble. This person almost ended your life.

Absolutely the right thing. Any one driving a shuttle bus must know the rules of the road, including the rights and duties of other road users.

If no-one calls him into account for his ignorance and potentially dangerous driving he will continue in his ignorant behaviour.

May I suggest that you lift a copy of your relevant state laws from the internet and ask your personnel department to test him on them - that's the only way that you, and they, can be sure he knows them. This will mean that he would then be subject to relevant disciplinary action should any further complaint be made about his driving.

Was riding back from work. Fairly busy around 4 ish in the evening and I heard a honk behind me and ignored it. Then I heard the engine gun and a shuttle bus overtook me barely a foot away and we both arrived at the next stop sign together. I took my left hand and slapped it on the glass of the shuttle to say what the heck and push myself away... driver opens the door and tells me I am supposed to be on the side walk and we argue for about a minute and he drives away... I was livid... guy almost ran me over!!!!
Funniest thing?- the shuttle was from my institute. I get the license plate, go home and call security and they take down the report. I clarified that I didn't want anyone to get into trouble but just wanted to make sure they educated their drivers to the rules of the road... they said they would handle it...
Was calling it in going too far?
No, it's not going to far. Beating him in to a pulp, probably would have been going to far, but not calling it in. Although I seriously doubt anything will happen as the result of the call. If you really want to educate the drive, follow up with another call in a few days.

Make sure you follow up with whatever department oversees shuttle drivers, and have that copy of state laws in hand.

Definetly do a followup with Human Resources. And, if he harasses you again up the ante, report him to the police as well, for reckless driving and endangering bicyclists and pedestrians.

Since its a shuttle van at your workplace for the good of non-drivers, i'm going to forego my usual advice to icepick his tires.

You definitely did not go too far. He jeopardized your life by driving dangerously on purpose and his behavior was completely unprofessional. Yelling at peds/cyclists/drivers is inappropriate, and gunning the engine indicates really poor judgment as well as a lack of regard for his own passengers.

Any of the factors mentioned above deserve being reported, and I think you should follow up with HR as another posted suggested. This guy needs to correct his driving behavior while he is on the clock or let go. Otherwise, he could really hurt someone and get the company in a lot of trouble.

Make sure you follow up with whatever department oversees shuttle drivers, and have that copy of state laws in hand.

+1 I've spent five years as a shuttle driver and agree with the above. The Department referred to should be the department of whatever state you live in that regulates commercial vehicles and drivers. In California it is a section of the DMV. A confused Senior once reported me for properly taking an extra loop around the airport and picking up a second ride on my shared-ride shuttle. Three months later I was testifying about it before a top Los Angeles DMV executive. I was cleared of any charges but would not want to go thru the experience again.

I also called in a UPS truck that cleared my by inches when he had room to pass me by several feet. Since then I have seen many UPS trucks on that section of my bike commute home and they have all cleared me by at least three feet as they pass.

+1 I've spent five years as a shuttle driver and agree with the above. The Department referred to should be the department of whatever state you live in that regulates commercial vehicles and drivers. In California it is a section of the DMV. A confused Senior once reported me for properly taking an extra loop around the airport and picking up a second ride on my shared-ride shuttle. Three months later I was testifying about it before a top Los Angeles DMV executive. I was cleared of any charges but would not want to go thru the experience again.

I also called in a UPS truck that cleared my by inches when he had room to pass me by several feet. Since then I have seen many UPS trucks on that section of my bike commute home and they have all cleared me by at least three feet as they pass.
I've had a similar result from calling in my buzzing by a UPS driver. The guy's in Brown Safety dept. is quite proactive. Of course, the complaint rolled down from National Safety as that was who I called. I got a callback from the Regional Manager to follow up on my complaint and we wound up having a long discussion as to Indiana Bicycle codes and their relevance to traffic. After, he emailed me a copy of the memo distributed to the drivers as to the safety requirement of avoiding a near pass. In addition, the Buzzing driver got a 2 week sitdown w/o pay to think about his attitude on safety. I haven't been buzzed by a UPS truck since! I must say, I am truly impressed with their commitment to safety!

A lot of people are so deep into their own hurry that they have become hostile to bicyclists. Others just resent us and try to 'cut us off' as close as they can just for sport. Anything you do to change this is a positive. bk

Did the same thing with a UPS driver a couple of weeks ago, except the hand slap bit. I ended up talking to his supervisor over it, and like you indicated that I wasn't looking for someone's job, I just wanted them to know that 6" is not an acceptable or legal passing distance, especially when there's an entire lane going the smae direction with nobody in it.

We made jokes about it for two weeks every time we saw a UPS truck while riding...like they were out to get us.

I think you did the right thing. At least you are not a doctor and arrested for punching him. ;0)
Next time super glue his door shut. :O)
Steven


LoL

Yea educate him.
To help your argue ment, carry a index card of the laws.

I've had a similar result from calling in my buzzing by a UPS driver. The guy's in Brown Safety dept. is quite proactive. Of course, the complaint rolled down from National Safety as that was who I called. I got a callback from the Regional Manager to follow up on my complaint and we wound up having a long discussion as to Indiana Bicycle codes and their relevance to traffic. After, he emailed me a copy of the memo distributed to the drivers as to the safety requirement of avoiding a near pass. In addition, the Buzzing driver got a 2 week sitdown w/o pay to think about his attitude on safety. I haven't been buzzed by a UPS truck since! I must say, I am truly impressed with their commitment to safety!

Thankyou for making it safer, not just for you, but for many others.

Well--as you probably saw after 4 pages of "yup, way to go!"--I'm also glad you called it in.

Did it myself after a transit bus "violated" my space; same story as yours minus the altrication.

Was riding back from work. Fairly busy around 4 ish in the evening and I heard a honk behind me and ignored it. Then I heard the engine gun and a shuttle bus overtook me barely a foot away and we both arrived at the next stop sign together. I took my left hand and slapped it on the glass of the shuttle to say what the heck and push myself away... driver opens the door and tells me I am supposed to be on the side walk and we argue for about a minute and he drives away... I was livid... guy almost ran me over!!!!
Funniest thing?- the shuttle was from my institute. I get the license plate, go home and call security and they take down the report. I clarified that I didn't want anyone to get into trouble but just wanted to make sure they educated their drivers to the rules of the road... they said they would handle it...
Was calling it in going too far?

Wrong thing by striking the side of the bus & getting into a shouting match with him. Pushing yourself away was fine, but if you purposly hit the side of the bus harder then you needed to then that was not a good idea, especially with the shouting match that ensued after. If it was not meant to be so hard then so be it, no big deal.

Right thing by reporting the driver, especially if he is an employee of your company or contracted to provide the shuttle service. I would never have indicated I do not want anyone to get in trouble for it. I would have stated I want this dealt with & the driver to answer for & take responsibility for his bad actions, even if it means losing his job. Who knows maybe he has a history of problems when behind the wheel, & despite that he is allowed to continue to drive professionally anyway & probably shouldn't be. this may even be the last chance he had to clean up his act & will now be fired because of it.