Sunday, June 2, 2013

Bad Passing Checklist


The tandem seems to be a magnet for bad passing.  Some give us room at the expense of the oncoming traffic.  If there's a head on collision right next to us it likely won't end well for us, but I guess it's better than getting hit from behind.  I feel bad for the cars who have to jump for the ditch/shoulder; maybe one of them will call the police.
The driver who had the highest score on the bad passing checklist was the driver for Sidello Property Services.  Pass a cyclist (a tandem no less) with barely more than a foot of clearance, check.  Pass on the crest of a hill, check.  Pass in a double yellow zone, check. And of course the crowning achievement, passing into oncoming traffic, check. The irony is that the driver got behind us and waited long enough to clearly see and know that the crest of the hill was coming up and that it would be safe to pass in a matter of seconds.


The driver of the tanker truck didn't have as many check marks on the list but was every bit as dangerous especially for the driver who had to take the shoulder and basically stop to avoid being hit head on by the truck.

Both incidents took place on Saturday 6-1 the van pass at around 1pm and the tanker truck about an hour later.  The van pass was Northbound on Calhoun between Beloit Rd. and National Ave. the tanker was Eastbound on Lawnsdale Rd.  Both these incidents could have been completely avoided by waiting 5 or 10 seconds more.  Isn't someones life and or safety worth that amount of your time?

1 comment:

salty said...

It amazes me how people will pass at the crest of a hill. I have taken to moving all the way over towards the yellow to prevent this at times (I have a short but steep hill on my daily commute where it happens constantly) but sometimes even that isn't enough and people will go fully into the oncoming lane of a 2 lane narrow road while cresting the hill. It's so insanely dangerous and stupid, unbelievably terribly judgement.