Advocacy & Safety - Don't Bother Complaining in Oregon

I was threatened by a vehicle during my morning commute earlier this week. After my "incident" last Friday where an inattentive driver ran me down, I figured I'd had enough. I can almost stomach a lax driver, but I will no longer tolerate menacing behavior from a motorist.

This particular truck honked at me as I continued forward at a point where the bike lane ends. The road is the same width with or without the path so I remain to the right and vehicles can pass safely - I've even ridden alongside large tractor/trailers in this area. Evidently, this driver felt I didn't belong anywhere on the road when the bike lane ended. After the driver blasted the horn, the truck pulled around me, then quickly darted back over, nearly hitting me with the trailer. Then he cut as close as he could to the curbside so I couldn't pass or ride alongside. When the bike lane resumed, I stood up on my pedals and started racing to see if I could identify the company logo and the vehicle's license (I only had the trailer's at this point). When I drew nearer, the driver swerved in front of me to cut me off in the bike lane and stayed there for about 50 feet. At this point, the traffic in front of him had dissipated and he took off. I never got the company or the plate, just the license on the trailer.

The suburb where this happened is policed quite heavily and I think the community prides itself in this fact. I visited their website to find contact information for the police department. When I navigated website, I felt somewhat encouraged because they had a "Traffic Complaint Form". I thought maybe notification from a police agency would be more likely to inspire future consideration. If I were to contact the driver or company (if I knew it), I almost assuredly warrant little if no consideration from the driver - I'm just some "loser" on a bike.

I didn't expect much, but I had hoped that maybe a simple reminder from a police agency might strike a little fear into someone that bases their livelihood on commercial driving. I also thought I could perhaps use the same site for inattentive drivers whereby a police notification might increase awareness and perhaps prevent further lapses in a driver's attentiveness; this would be a nice side-effect of the, "Traffic Complaint Form," if I and others were able to use it this way.

Evidently this is not the case. Below is the response from an officer appointed to respond to these complaints:

If I don't see the violations occur I can't take any enforcement action. Unfortunately I'm not able to provide the registered owner's information on the trailer license for you to make contact. State Statutes are very specific on these two issues. If you've lived in Oregon for over 5 years you may remember DMV information being illegally obtained via CD and copies being passed pretty much thorugh out the Internet. Until that time, if you had a license plate and paid a fee to DMV they would provide you with the registered owner's information. That changed when the CD was made available to anyone who wanted to buy a copy of it from the person who'd obtained it. As a result you can make the request to DMV but you won't get any information. From that incident, the Legislature changed the laws concerning a "citizen's complaint" with respect to traffic violations. It used to be that if you provided us with the license plate number and a description of the vehicle and the driver then we would investigate the complaint. If a citation were to be issued, you would be notified by the court to come in and sign it at the Court clerks office. When the laws were changed, if the complaining party does not know the name and address of the driver or registered owner, we can no longer pursue the complaint. While I can look up the registered owner's information I'm not allowed to pursue it, nor can I provide the information to you or the Court so enforcement action can be taken. You have to have that information at the time you contact the Court.

So, after the law changed, if a person is threatened in a manner that amounts to a traffic infraction (which is what the driver was cited for after running me down on Friday. . . a mere traffic violation for failure to yield), a complaint from a citizen cannot legally be pursued or enforced, whereas previously this is not the case. What the hell? I didn't want the contact information for this person. I'd be content if the police contacted them - I never need to know their information. Granted, there was previous abuse of this information and making it unavailable to the general public may have been warranted, but why stop police investigation? This makes no sense whatsoever.

Anyway, don't bother lodging a complaint, unless of course you already know the address and name of the person that tried to kill you. What a joke!

Lodge the complaint anyway so that there is a written record. Find out if there are any police that ride in your area, I know one in Savannah that house no problem making house calls and giving driver instruction to such morons. Good luck.

Looks like it's time for some good 'ole vigilante justice. I consider myself a pacifist, but I wouldn't be against arming ourselves with blowguns or ninja stars or something so we can pop the tires of a deadly driver after assaulting us like that. If the authorities aren't going to treat it like the extremely dangerous assault that it is, then we should take it into our own hands to defend ourselves.

This is not the same as some other gun zealots on this board that want to carry guns so they can shoot the person. Just something that can slow a car down enough so we can lean in the window and ask the driver if we can please have their name and address so we can file a complaint. :D

On a serious note, I am extremely sorry for all the incidences you have been involved in recently. Really too bad that this does happen even though it's such a great place to ride otherwise. My observations have led me to believe that even though suburbs like Beaverton may have a safe reputation and atmosphere, there are a lot of back wards thinking people that reside and work in these areas. I feel much more comfortable riding in town than anywhere on the outskirts or suburbs.

Doubtful that anything would come out of it, but like Bobatin said, you should go ahead and file a complaint just to have it on record.

This is not the same as some other gun zealots on this board that want to carry guns so they can shoot the person. Just something that can slow a car down enough so we can lean in the window and ask the driver if we can please have their name and address so we can file a complaint. :D


Too funny! Um, excuse me, may I have your name and address please. And do you have any identifying marks, scars or tattoos? Do you like ABBA?



On a serious note, I am extremely sorry for all the incidences you have been involved in recently. Really too bad that this does happen even though it's such a great place to ride otherwise. My observations have led me to believe that even though suburbs like Beaverton may have a safe reputation and atmosphere, there are a lot of back wards thinking people that reside and work in these areas. I feel much more comfortable riding in town than anywhere on the outskirts or suburbs.

And my experience is the same. All of my near-misses and collisions have been in the suburbs, during the evening commute. Nothing in the morning (well, until this one) and nothing while in the downtown area.

...This is not the same as some other gun zealots on this board that want to carry guns so they can shoot the person...

I'll speak for the gun zealots. We DON'T want to shoot anyone. We just know that some idiots will attempt to kill us because society could give a good gosh darn about the lives of some bicyclists. Sorry, but where I ride it is dangerous. I know this from experience. I just want a smidgey-bit of control over my own destiny. If a gun backs an a-hole off it has served its purpose. If I have to take a life we both loose. I just get a jury trial instead of a funeral. I like those odds better than those of the dead guy.

This particular truck honked at me as I continued forward at a point where the bike lane ends.

Evidently, this driver felt I didn't belong anywhere on the road when the bike lane ended. After the driver blasted the horn, the truck pulled around me, then quickly darted back over, nearly hitting me with the trailer.
While you're correct in that this was menacing behavior tantamount to road rage, you are also correct in that this driver, like so many other ignorant and uneducated drivers on the road today, probably assumed that where there is no bike lane, there should be no bikes.

In our country, it seems the smaller your self-esteem, the more powerful vehicle you seem to need to drive, and drive it more aggressively. Though in this case it was a company truck, it still applies, I think.

Too bad.

In two incidents that I had, the local police contacted the drivers. I lodged formal complaints at the police department. While no tickets are issued, contact from the police led to better behavior on the part of the drivers. I was told that if I recieved continued harrassment from the drivers and complained, tickets and court appearances would be in the drivers future.

Do you remember anything about the trailer like a picture on the side/rear or color of truck. Maybe I can help you at least get the right company to talk to and complain to the persons boss or terminal manager. I have been driving a truck in the Portland/Vancouver area for the last ten years and know most of the trucking companys.

Hmm,

If the driver tried to run you off the road woudn't that be attempted murder/manslaughter, not failure to yield?

I would think the police are obliged to investigate more serious crimes like that and any law about the police having to be there for a traffic offense would be moot.

Imagine if only murders where the police saw it happen could be prosecuted, a lot of people would get away.

Push for justice! Talk to the mayor or city council, talk to the police chief. Someone tried to kill you and you want help.

Just MHO,

Jester

In two incidents that I had, the local police contacted the drivers. I lodged formal complaints at the police department. While no tickets are issued, contact from the police led to better behavior on the part of the drivers. I was told that if I recieved continued harrassment from the drivers and complained, tickets and court appearances would be in the drivers future.

Way to go!

I'll speak for the gun zealots. We DON'T want to shoot anyone. We just know that some idiots will attempt to kill us because society could give a good gosh darn about the lives of some bicyclists. Sorry, but where I ride it is dangerous. I know this from experience. I just want a smidgey-bit of control over my own destiny. If a gun backs an a-hole off it has served its purpose. If I have to take a life we both loose. I just get a jury trial instead of a funeral. I like those odds better than those of the dead guy.

Sorry, JoeTown244GL, I didn't mean any disrespect, maybe gun zealots was not the right term. What I was getting at, though, was that I would use a weapon to render a car undrivable, not to end the driver's life. The only way I can think of doing this is by popping a tire. Not by carrying a cannon-like weapon on your bike that would stop a car by essentially blowing it up, like someone on the other thread suggested. In this certain case, as ChezJfrey pointed out, you have to get the person's name and address to get any sort of action taken towards the driver. As an ironic symbol of the ridiculous nature of this law, my only suggestion would be to stop the car so you can politely ask the driver for his name and address. If the driver was dead, it would be useless and impossible to teach him a lesson via legal action.

Do you remember anything about the trailer like a picture on the side/rear or color of truck. Maybe I can help you at least get the right company to talk to and complain to the persons boss or terminal manager. I have been driving a truck in the Portland/Vancouver area for the last ten years and know most of the trucking companys.

It wasn't a freight truck, more like one used by a general contractor or something. The truck was a dump-style and towing a flat-bed trailer with a small back hoe.

Something else to think of (which may have been made reference to already) -- has there been any thought of taking this complaint to a different officer? I know that in my dealings with, well, just about any organisation, if a particular employee doesn't give me any satisfaction, I'll just take my complaint to someone else (sometimes with an additional complaint about the first employee). You'll be surprised just how often that actually works.

In our country, it seems the smaller your self-esteem, the more powerful vehicle you seem to need to drive, and drive it more aggressively. Though in this case it was a company truck, it still applies, I think.

I don't know about over there, but around here you could replace the expression "Self-esteem" with the word "penis" in that sentence. :D

jester69 commented:
If the driver tried to run you off the road woudn't that be attempted murder/manslaughter, not failure to yield?

I would think the police are obliged to investigate more serious crimes like that and any law about the police having to be there for a traffic offense would be moot.
I think this is a major component of our problem. I can only say this anecdotally; I have no statistics to back it up... but it seems to me that cops routinely reduce the importance of the bad acts that drivers commit—some of which rise to the level of serious crimes. When a driver, controlling tons of fast-moving steel, uses it to harass or punish a cyclist, that driver is guilty of, and should be charged with, reckless endangerment at the very least. For a cop to let the driver drive off with only a traffic citation smacks of favoritism or cynicism. He's turned what should have been a criminal case into a spot of revenue generation.

Sorry, JoeTown244GL, I didn't mean any disrespect, maybe gun zealots was not the right term. What I was getting at, though, was that I would use a weapon to render a car undrivable, not to end the driver's life. The only way I can think of doing this is by popping a tire. Not by carrying a cannon-like weapon on your bike that would stop a car by essentially blowing it up, like someone on the other thread suggested. In this certain case, as ChezJfrey pointed out, you have to get the person's name and address to get any sort of action taken towards the driver. As an ironic symbol of the ridiculous nature of this law, my only suggestion would be to stop the car so you can politely ask the driver for his name and address. If the driver was dead, it would be useless and impossible to teach him a lesson via legal action.


What we need is something on a bike that would disable the engine and stop the vehicle. Right now the only equipment that will do this is not portable enough for us to use.

I think this is a major component of our problem. I can only say this anecdotally; I have no statistics to back it up... but it seems to me that cops routinely reduce the importance of the bad acts that drivers commit—some of which rise to the level of serious crimes. When a driver, controlling tons of fast-moving steel, uses it to harass or punish a cyclist, that driver is guilty of, and should be charged with, reckless endangerment at the very least. For a cop to let the driver drive off with only a traffic citation smacks of favoritism or cynicism. He's turned what should have been a criminal case into a spot of revenue generation.


The police regularly charge people that try to hit them with a vehicle with "Assault With a Deadly Weapon". They seem to refuse to do this with regular citizens. A conviction of "Assault with Intent to do Grievous Bodily Harm" would open many eyes.

The police may try to tell you that if physical contact - a 'crash' - didn't occur, then there is nothing they can do for you. And they would be wrong. Under Oregon law, even without physical contact, drivers who harass, threaten or endanger bicyclists can be charged under several statutes, for assault (ORS 163.160), menacing (ORS 163.190), reckless endangerment (ORS 163.195), harassment (ORS 166.065), reckless driving and/or careless driving. See Section III of Pedal Power, link below (a newer version is available in hard-copy print format for $10.00 from the Oregon Bicycle Transportation Alliance http://www.bta4bikes.org/act/gear.html ):

http://www.stc-law.com/PedalPower.pdf

The police would also be wrong if they told you that they couldn't help you even if you had a description of the vehicle and driver (including a license #, which, unfortunately, you didn't have), unless the police personally witnessed the incident; that's just plain BS. Also, you could make a citizens' arrest with enough information, even if the police are uncooperative.

In my opinion, you did the right thing by going to the police, if nothing else by putting them on notice that such motorist misbehavior is occurring and they should be watchful for future incidents.

I'll quote just one paragraph from the legal guide:

"If any motorist spits on you, throws something out of a vehicle in your direction, pretends they are going to run you off of the road or hit you, swerves their vehicle in a menacing manner toward you on your bike, or touches you or your bicycle in any way, then it's important for you to prosecute them, even if you are not hurt. Ther reason is that perpetrators of (such) crimes usually get away without being identified or apprehended. If you are a victim of harassment by a driver, it is likely that your incident is one of many and, if you do nothing, the next time the driver goes after another bicyclist, a serious injury may result."