I've put up with drivers yelling, honking, right-hooking, passing too close, etc., but today was a first. I'm riding to work on my usual route, which passes through an area with normally light traffic that has been complicated by an on-going construction project. As I approach the construction site, there is a truck waiting to pull out in traffic. As I get close, the truck pulls out right in front of me to cross the road, forcing me to hit my brakes. I throw up my arms and yell something like "watch out." Then I get the double whammy. It's a watering truck used to keep dust down on construction sites, and the driver turns on his water sprayers and totally soaks me.

Now, I'm really PO'd, so I pull over and get out my cell phone to take a picture of the truck. The driver stops and hops out, and I'm expecting trouble. Instead, he walks over and appears to be genuinely sorry. He apologizes over and over, saying he never saw me, and didn't mean to spray me. Said he would never intentionally spray someone, and looked both ways before pulling out and never saw me. I'm skeptical because I'm wearing my usual neon yellow jersey with a headlight blazing, but he seems sincere. He's either telling the truth or a very good liar. I put away my camera phone and told him to look more carefully next time.

Ironically, I was thinking as I rode in that the weather couldn't be more humid, but I found out otherwise.

I discovered -- through reading on the Internet -- that during normal daylight conditions neon-yellow/lime-green tends to blend-in with surrounding vegetation, while neon/blaze-orange stands out boldly; OTOH, this is reversed, at dawn/dusk and during conditions of lower visibility. Something to consider -- I dress accordingly.

Damn___!

That was absolutely horrible!..Well, I'm glad this guy wasn't violent or abusive...

Well, on second thought, he was kinda abusive. He knew what he was doing. He just knew that your ability to take pictures could very well cost him his job. The prospect of losing one's job can be a quick catalyst to deep and decisive thought!

Glad you're alright, though!

PS.

Next time, stay home to avoid the humidity!

Absolutely not the case here. The road I was riding on is very wide, 5 lanes, and there was plenty of pavement surrounding me. I don't agree with your premise regardless. I ride in traffic in daylight conditions all the time, and neon yellow jerseys show up better than any other color, IMHO. Studies bear this out, and it's the reason why most highway crews wear neon yellow vests, shirts or jackets. Do a search for "color visibility," and you will find all sorts of studies that show that neon yellow is the most visible color.

pity it wasn't like 90+ on the thermometer

@ tarwheel, if you have the pictures report him to contractor, municipality, and whatever. He was fibbing to you to save his own butt. Cyclist, especially commuters, are not toys to mess around with on the street. People think it is funny to scare us, toy with us, and endanger our lives. REPORT HIM and follow up.
BTW - it is kinda funny though.

In which case, there obviously was not a problem with "surrounding vegetation"; I mentioned this as part of the overall conclusions reached by both US DOT and European ISO studies, independently of each other. WRT what highway crews wear, I only see neon-orange here in Florida... and you might consider the color used for lane-marking cones and barrels -- neon-orange.

Glad you emerged safely from this. Personally, I think he was shining you on.

Crazy situation. I guess it's better to get hit with water than a door panel. Glad you're at least physically ok.

Wow, that might have been nice if it was really hot out, but this just reinforces the idea of riding like no one can see you and everyone is out to get you. Glad you made it through ok too.

In the Triangle today, it will be 90+ verrry shortly, so really he got soaked a few hours early.

priceless story. great liar no doubt.

It's hard to know if the driver was being truthful or not. The good thing is that you could have been creamed, made flat, deceased, etc. but weren't. I'd chalk it up to material to use in a chapter of the book you'll write about communing adventures.

You have such a negative attitude towards people that I wouldn't be surprised that it self fulfills. The vast bulk of people anyone meets on the road are caring and courteous, though maybe not aware of how to deal with bicyclists. Odds are the driver was telling the truth and didn't see the cyclist because he as looking for cars, and the bike wasn't squarely in the middle of the mirror. Likewise with the spray.

If the driver were malicious, he wouldn't have bothered coming out to apologize.

It's getting to the point here in Phoenix where I'm kinda wishing I had a watering truck like that to spray me down every mile or so. It was about 105° during my commute home yesterday. The morning commute, in contrast, was a brisk 85°.

I have found that when interviewing people after they have been caught doing something wrong they will say things like "I didn't mean to do that" when in reality they mean "Now that I have been caught, I regret what I have done." You can do things intentionally, recklessly, with negligence, or knowingly. Without knowing how one turns on those sprayers I cannot say 100% but I would guess that action was done intentionally. The failure to yield was likely reckless behavior.

Go back under your bridge "TROLL."

Based on the tone of your post, my bridge is a much nicer place to live than wherever you are.

[this is my FBinNY imitation]




















Just kidding FBinNY I agree with your appraisal of the situation.

Actually, internet "trolls" comes from the verb "trolling" as in dragging your net behind the boat to catch fish. Nothing to do with the creatures living under bridges.

The more you know...

And OP, he totally did it on purpose. Why would he have his water sprayers on outside of the construction site?

So, you're assuming they dispatched a water truck on the rumor that a cyclist might come by. To turn the question around, why would a spray truck be at a construction in the first place, if not to spray.

Answer: they spray at construction sites to manage dust. Especially if the work leaves dirt or dust on a road open to drivers. The company doesn't want their workers to work in a dust cloud raised by passing cars, so they spray.

Airzound air horn. I honk to make sure they see me. Works better than having no horn.

Was the truck crossing dirt at the time, or just on asphalt? If it was at least on dirt, it might excuse it as accidental, but I have my doubts.

I don't doubt that the truck driver was supposed to be spraying the roads. There is a lot of dust around this site as they are doing a massive amount of grading on both sides of that street. The timing is what was suspicious, as he turned on the water just as I veered around the back of his truck (to avoid hitting him). I really have no way of knowing whether he was lying to me or telling the truth, but he seemed sincere when we talked. I generally give people the benefit of the doubt, if they talk to me. In retrospect, the whole situation was rather humorous, but it sure didn't seem funny to me at the time.

Compost happens, and often what seems most annoying at the moment is good for laughs later on.

BTW- a positive attitude about this kind of stuff, and giving people the benefit of any doubt, keeps them from spoiling your day.

IME- if you look for the worst in people you'll have no problem finding it. If you expect the best, you'll find that too.

Glad you were OK!

- Andy