You Can't Fix Stupid

You can't fix stupid.  I've heard that saying before and tend to believe it with some exceptions.  While you might not be able to fix stupid, perhaps we should arrest stupid or at least cite stupid before stupid kills someone.  The driver of this van with plate 339 bgj passed into oncoming traffic, which by itself wouldn't get me that fired up.  Of course there's more to the story.  This guy not only passed into oncoming traffic, he did so with a young girl in the front seat, while READING (or at least closely examining) some piece of paper.
I'd love to be able to track this guys information down so I could let his wife know about his driving habits.

Get-there-itis

In aviation there is a phenomenon known as get-there-itis.  It has apparently been identified by NASA, albeit under a different more scientific sounding name.
From Generalaviationnews.com

It’s a fancy name for “get-there-itis” — plan continuation bias, which is an   unconscious cognitive bias to continue the original plan in spite of changing conditions — and it can be deadly for general aviation pilots.

Plan continuation bias was identified in a NASA Ames human factors study from 2004 which analyzed 19 airline accidents from 1991 to 2000 that were attributed to crew error. Out of those, almost half involved plan continuation bias.

The problem is in how it can manifest itself. The study offered that it becomes stronger as you near completion of the activity (e.g., approach your destination). It essentially impedes pilots from recognizing that they need to change their course of action and, because it’s unconscious, it often goes undetected.

I can only assume that there is some amount of plan continuation bias or get-there-itis or must-pass-now-itis taking place on roads all across the USA.   This seems to be happening to me more lately and it should outrage not just cyclists but motorists, as this driver put two other drivers in danger as well as the 3 cyclists on this section of road.  The shoulder of the road narrowed just at the point where all the vehicles met.  This meant that the driver not only passed into the lane of two oncoming cars but an oncoming bike on a  narrow road.  If the other driver also had a case of must-pass-now-itis, there likely would have been major carnage on the road. 

I only wish I could have gotten the full license plate so I could have informed the driver just how outrageous her conduct was.  Her license started with 635 and might end with RM? or BM or something like that.  If anyone knows who drives this Chevy, please talk some sense to her. 

One way the pilots can avoid plan continuation bias is to have a alternative options already thought out ahead of time how to deal with certain trouble.  Maybe if someone told her she could wait 10 seconds and not endanger anyone, and she knew about this option ahead of time, she might have done the right thing.

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?

Why I Don't Like Bike Lanes

There are many reasons I don't like bike lanes, but this is the most important one, because they could kill you.


Well actually the drivers who park there would be the ones to actually kill you but using bike lanes can cause you a great deal of harm.

My wife and I were on the second ride on our new tandem when a van driver opened his door right into what would have been our path had we been in the bike lane.  If we had been using the bike lane, the door would have opened right in front of my handlebars.  If my bars would have missed the door the second set of handlebars would have almost certainly been clipped by the door.  In either case our speed combined with the extra length of the tandem would have been a very effective catapult and my wife and I would have almost certainly been thrown into the path of the car behind us.
Bikesafer
Jeff

Spring; The Season of Justice?

I hadn't taken any of my bad driver complaints to the authorities in a long time because I grew to dislike the feeling of beating my head against that wall.  But time has a way of making some memories fade so I decided I would email the details of my latest incident to the New Berlin Police Department.  

Well they didn't have an email address listed on their website so I called to get one.  I was told an officer would call me back.  

Officer Fus called me back rather quickly and rather than get an email address I gave Officer Fus the information about the incident.  He called me back after he contacted the driver.  He said the driver claimed to be a cyclist himself and also claimed to have given 4-5 feet of space as he passed.  

Officer Fus asked me how I'd like to proceed.  As I always do, I told him I'd like him to view the video.  I also said I thought a citation should be issued to the driver.  I explained that based on his actions on the road, combined with his untruthful explanation of the incident, I thought a citation was warranted.  

Officer Fus called me back the next day about an hour after his shift began and told me he had viewed the video and if I still wanted a citation issued he would do so. 

I said I did and he said he would mail the citation and that would close the case unless I was subpoenaed to testify in court.

Big thanks to Officer Fus for investigating this incident with an open mind.  I sensed no anti-cyclist bias and I think that was evident in the final disposition of the case.  

As I have said countless times, I don't go out riding looking to get people in trouble and I don't, even when I contact the authorities, always ask that a ticket be issued.  My goal is to insure that the offending driver change their illegal and unsafe behavior.  Hopefully Mr. 923AVX will get that message from his $157 ticket.  Just maybe, other drivers inclined to buzz cyclists will learn from this incident as well.

Hopefully other officers can learn from the example set by Officer Fus on how to deal fairly with the cycling public.

Spring, The Season of Bad Drivers

So it's spring and that means getting back out on the road.  For the first time in a long time I didn't ride at all this winter so I'm really looking forward to getting back out on the road.  I'm not looking forward to dealing with drivers like the person driving the GMC with Wisconsin plates 923 AVX.  Didn't move over at all and if I hadn't turned to see what who was coming and swerved to avoid them, I would have certainly been hit.
Some things never change.
Nice night for a ride except for this.

Play the Admit Game

Play the admit game.
That's the phrase my sister uses when family or friends deny the obvious, like when I couldn't own up to the fact that my nephew could finally beat me in any feat of strength one could imagine.

It's time for motorists to play the admit game.  Every time I manage to catch up to a motorist who nearly hit me as they passed, I hear excuses.  The latest woman, (license plate "shoosh"), started her pass great but then cut in front of me within a 6 inches to maybe a foot.  Of course as often happens it gained her absolutely no time advantage as I caught up to her at a stop light.  Her excuses were that I shouldn't be in the "middle"  of the road, and that there was a line of cars behind me. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBw2HoSAE9g
I was in the middle of my lane to avoid serious road damage that would have been extremely dangerous for me to ride through.  The "line of cars" behind me was obviously a figment of her imagination.

If you come within 6 inches or a foot of a bicyclist, (or pedestrian for that matter), as you pass them, you were wrong, you  screwed up.  Any excuse, reason or justification you come up with, is all bulls#$%.  Legally and morally if you pass that close to a vulnerable road user, you are wrong. Period.  If you came that close by accident, you were either too distracted or too impatient to pass safely.  If you came that close to try to make a point, you committed a violent felony, "recklessly endangering safety".  You can't use your car as a weapon to impose your will on others.

If you think a bicyclist is doing something wrong call a cop.  It's not for you to decide to run them off the road or scare them literally within inches of their life.  It's not for you to disregard the law and all common sense. 

To help you understand how wrong you were, imagine you actually hit the cyclist instead of just coming within inches of them.  Now imagine the victim was a friend, relative, or co-worker.  Would you go to the funeral and tell the family how sorry you were, but that it's really the victim's own fault and then give your list of excuses?

I've had to play the admit game.  Years back I almost hit a pedestrian at an intersection.  Ever since then I slow more at intersections and look at sidewalks every time I make a turn.
It's time to admit that your actions almost killed someone and they need to change.
I will continue to publicize the ridiculous behavior and excuses and when appropriate, ensure that the authorities punish people to the fullest extent of the law.
Or we could all just follow the rules, admit when we get it wrong, and learn from our mistakes.