Comments on: At safety event, Water Bureau share challenges of seeing bikes

By: Toby

Toby — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 15:21:14 +0000

I forgot to add that I often hear cyclist say that CDL drivers need to spend time in the saddle to see what it\’s like from a cyclist perspective, but I think it\’s even more important for cyclist to see the road from up there. After all, it\’s you ass on the line, not the driver\’s.

Just a reminder, If you can\’t see the driver, the driver can\’t see you. I see people put themselves in some very stupid positions.

By: Toby

Toby — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 15:14:34 +0000

This is awesome, I wish I would have known about it before the event, but my internet was down so I\’ve been more out of touch than usual. I hope they continue to put these events on.

By: Tasha

Tasha — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:40:48 +0000

I saw this and wanted to stop, but I was already late to my class. I think these kind of events are really important and I hope they continue to do them! It is important to step into others\’ shoes to understand their point of view (in this case, literally).

By: TS

TS — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 02:14:29 +0000

Thank you to the Portland Water Bureau… this was a great idea, and I\’m glad they\’ve done it. Hopefully they\’ll continue so new riders and drivers continue to get the message.

It promotes the kind of shared understanding that will make our roads safer all around. (As opposed to the \”us\” vs \”them\” that seems to be a problem sometimes.)

By: matt picio

matt picio — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 23:33:39 +0000

bobcycle (#2) – minor nitpick, it\’s not Detroit – International Trucks is headquartered in Illinois. Mack is in Allentown, PA. Peterbuilt is in Denton, TX. Detroit is still the king of cars and light trucks, but has little to do with commercial truck design in the modern era.

None of which invalidates your point – why are the big truck manufactures not installing adequate safety equipment?

Chad (#11) – Thanks, that is spot on. I still think that redesigned mirrors would help in certain situations, but cognitive overload is a big problem.

General comment: I hope the city does more of these events – I don\’t think a lot of drivers understand how intimidating their trucks really are, and I\’m fairly sure most cyclists don\’t understand how difficult it is to drive one of those trucks, and to be aware in a kinesthetic sense where all parts of their vehicle are in relation to everything. It\’s worse the larger the vehicle is. While I firmly believe that operators of large trucks need more training than what they currently typically get, I think that many of us do them a disservice by being so quick to judge them for things that are out of their control.

On one matter, though, I accept no excuse: there is no excuse EVER for a driver of a commercial vehicle (requiring a CDL) to fail to check that all his signals and lights are operating, or to fail to use turn signals in any instance. The potential consequences of a failure to signal are far too deadly, and may have been a factor in some recent high-profile deaths.

By: jeff

jeff — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 22:04:41 +0000

I\’m glad they had this event. But I rode right by (with a wave and a \’thank you\’). It has always been pretty obvious to me that the visibility on trucks is severly limited, and I adapt accordingly.

By: Peter Nierengarten

Peter Nierengarten — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 22:03:25 +0000

\”It\’s great to see a cooperative effort like this. Did anyone from the Water Bureau get on a bike and see how massive the truck looked?\”

YES, everyday I and about 60 other Water Bureau Employees (including a handful of truck drivers) saddle up and ride the street of Portland to and from work. Working on this event has really taught me alot about how to safely manuver around all large vehicles.

By: Chad

Chad — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:56:40 +0000

bobcycle #2: Coming from the perspective of a former delivery driver who drove a vehicle as large as the city\’s water truck I think the problem is not totally one of blind spots.

The biggest stress driving safely through areas of town with heavy bike traffic was not that I couldn\’t see bikes, but that the presence of bikes sometimes puts the driver of a heavy truck into a sensory overload of sorts that only adds to the already high level of anxeity a driver already feels driving on a busy urban roadway.

As counterintuitive as it may seem I believe that tools such as cameras and sensors, never mind the expense, would only add to the sensory overload and make it even more difficult for a driver to safely navigate Portland\’s busy bikeways.

There\’s not an easy fix to this bike/truck issue, but the Water Bureau (and Tri-met it seems) are leading the way through educating and bringing awareness to both perspectives. The fact that I rode bike and drove truck gave me the skills to safely navigate Portland for four years (in the truck and on the bike) without incident, I beleive the Water Bureau is on the right track to try to give more people these skills and knowledge that I was lucky enough to receive.

By: solid gold

solid gold — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:44:24 +0000

that\’s a good idea. but it would be better and more equal if the truck driver got to see the road from a bikers perspective too. it would give them a feeling of what it\’s like to ride next to a 5 ton juggernaut who may or may not care about your safety.

By: Jonathan Maus (Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Editor) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:25:44 +0000

\”About how many people attended the event?\”

a solid amount. it wasn\’t packed and only small percentage of bikers that passed by stopped.

it was amazing how few people pulled over for the event… even though it was practically in the bike lane and there were freebies and lots of good info.

that being said, i think the Water Bureau folks were pleased at the turnout (they ran out of fruit and water bottles).