“No honking, no alert, just drove by and soaked us all.”
— Caroline Dao
Last night just after 10:30, a group of people were headed home from the Timbers game, riding up North Williams Avenue near Knott Street (just north of Russell). According to Caroline Dao, who was in the group, a City of Portland street cleaning truck was also headed northbound. As it approached, Dao says, it “soaked us all.”
“No honking, no alert,” Dao recalled via email to BikePortland, “it just drove by and soaked us.”
According to one of the riders in the group, the street cleaner doused the group with a high-pressure spray. No one was hurt in the incident, but there “a lot of angry folks,” Dao says.
Halley Weaver was also in the group. “We heard several riders shouting profanities behind us,” she recalls, “and looked back just in time to be soaked by the street cleaner.” Weaver says her friend, Adam George sped ahead to stop the driver and get the license plate number. Here’s how Weaver describes what happened next:
“Adam rode ahead and stopped the truck (which aggressively lurched towards him several times) until he turned off the water. Then Adam came back to the side of the road and the driver turned back on the water, soaking even more cyclists. Adam once again halted the truck until the driver got out and shut off the bike lane side nozzle.”
George left a complaint about the issue on the City of Portland’s 24-hour street maintenance hotline. Portland Mayor Sam Adams is also aware of the incident. One of the victims contacted Adams about it via Twitter, asking him, “Are we debris to be washed to the side?”
“I am very sorry,” the Mayor replied.
PBOT spokesperson Cheryl Kuck says, “We are investigating the reported incident. We take all reports of safety concerns regarding our trucks and operators very seriously.”
Thanks for reading.
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Shocking. The city has street cleaners? Never seen them in outer southeast…
I’ve seen their trails, a lot like snails.
You have to call them. They’re are not on regular schedules as far as I am aware. They only appear when summoned. It let’s the city prioritize how the funds are spent on street cleaning but may result in neglect in neighborhoods that aren’t aware of the hotline or don’t care to leave a quick message.
Glad to see this made BP! I was one of those cyclists, returning from the Timbers game. If it had been a hot day I might not have minded!
I did not think that street sweeper/ cleaner trucks could move faster than an urban cyclist.
Sadly, Perhaps it is time for all City service vehicles to have video cameras fore and aft…like city buses.
My experience is that there are often separate sprayer trucks that precede the sweepers. These sprayer trucks move much faster.
Not to place blame on anyone, but could the cyclists not hear the truck coming?
Nick. Why would that matter? It’s certain the driver saw them! I’ll go ahead and place blame. Dude driving the truck was rude to people who live in the City he works for. He was rude on OUR time.
Well to avoid a scene and all this hubbub, I might have just hopped up off the street for the 10 seconds it probably took for the truck to pass. That way the driver can do his job and move on. That might not be the “right” thing to do, but it would be the “nice” thing to do. Not unlike when a snow plow comes down the street in the winter – I’m sure as Chicago gonna get out of his way.
Sounds pretty extreme Nick. Maybe to be polite we should also walk out bikes on the sidewalk during rush hour since lots of cars need to pull out of on-street parking spaces.
Yuh, plus the truck came from behind without warning.
quoth Mr. Hand
“Are we debris to be washed to the side?”
WOw, thats dramatic. Don’t take this action taken by an individual and turn it into “mayor Adams rage.” I am sure Adams hasn’t issued a memo directing street cleaners to spray cyclists.
Hopefully, if this story is true, they fire the person operating the street cleaner. But I am a little confused how a street cleaner outran cyclists? Don’t those things move like 5mph?..and aren’t they loud as all heck? Those things drive down my block occasionally and wake up the entire neighborhood.
I believe that there are two different vehicles; the conventional street sweeper, that sort of looks like a giant bristle-y dustbuster and another which is essentially a big dual axle water tanker with spray nozzles at either end. Sounds like they’re talking about the latter.
Ah, I know the sort. On the same page now. I could conceivably see this happening, but this story reeks of over dramatization. Don’t these trucks spray down at about a 75deg angle, so didn’t the cyclists get hit with overspray from the road being doused? Their account makes it sound like the truck was spraying horizontally directly at them. “Doused” seems like a very strong word as well. Riding next to a SUV on Stark in March is doused, this seems more like “misted.”
There was a bit of car traffic on Williams and the sprayer truck blended in with that sound. I didn’t even hear anything out of the ordinary until I heard screaming behind me. By then, I turned around in my saddle just in time to nearly have my bike sprayed out from under me. There was no time to calmly get 8′ out of it’s way and over the sidewalk as it completely sprayed both sides of the street from its way down the center of the road.
I’m just relieved that we had decided at the last minute to ride regular bikes to dinner instead of our recumbent tandem that we have been favoring this summer. Otherwise, we would have had a blast full in our faces and not just the lower halves of our bodies.
“…Don’t these trucks spray down at about a 75deg angle, so didn’t the cyclists get hit with overspray from the road being doused? …” Chris July 8, 2011 at 4:13 pm
Maus’ story quotes Christine Dao, saying “it just drove by and soaked us.”: “Chris mentions these trucks shooting water downward toward the street. in his story, Maus reports word of a “…high pressure spray…”, and in what would seem to corroborate that, Halley says: “…to nearly have my bike sprayed out from under me. …”.
How much of people’s bodies were soaked? Was it somehow, head to toe, or was it lower…knee down, or something like that. I’m wondering if the truck’s water nozzles were incorrectly aimed, and whether the driver has the means inside the cab, by which to adjust the nozzles angle. Knowing this would help to better understand how it was these people got water sprayed; if it was unintentional, careless, or possibly deliberate.
Personally, I don’t see being offended about getting fricking soaked at nighttime while on my bike “over dramatization”. Everyone has the right to get to where they are going, by whatever means they choose to do so, without encountering situations like this.
wsbob’s got a fair question:
“How much of people’s bodies were soaked? Was it somehow, head to toe, or was it lower…knee down, or something like that.”
I’ve watched those trucks do their thing and am always impressed by the fact that they can spray underneath parked cars and get all the way to the curb, without spraying the cars themselves. My assumption therefore would be that:
(a) the nozzles were set correctly and the cyclists were surprised by getting the lower half of their wheels wet (I know I’d be mighty surprised even if perhaps not very wet), or
(b) the nozzles were set differently from what I’ve observed.
Can anyone clarify?
And of course the erratic behavior of the truck driver when pursued by Adam is another matter.
Late one evening about two years ago I was walking with a group of friends south on Mississippi ave, around the downhill curve that leads down to Widmer, and one of those large tanker trucks was sitting in the street, idling.
Right before we reached the vehicle it decided to turn on the water sprayer – it certainly looked like it had a lot of force. We all had to run to the other side of the street to avoid being sprayed as the truck started to move forward.
No real point to this story, other than I think the drivers of these vehicles may get tired of “everyone in their way” and probably just expect people to get out of their way while they do their job.
It was a hot day so isn’t this a good thing to get some water spray. What a bunch of wussies!
Yesterday’s high was 71. The incident occurred at 10:30pm when it was likely even cooler.
Uh, isn’t this vehicular assault? I wouldn’t have called any hotline, I’d have called PPB.
It could count as an assault –if you could prove intent. This being Portland, I wouldn’t suggest calling the police.
valid point.
cops probably would have cited the cyclist that blocked the truck
Intent is proved in the same manner as guilt is implied on the rear driver in a rear end collision.
1) The cyclists were in front of the truck. The law states that a “reasonable person” would see a valid road user in front of them and share the road in a safe manner. The Basic Rule Law
For a vehicle with other functions (spraying any substance) that can endanger the safety of other road users the use of those functions in a way that endangers said users would be “careless driving” (Section 5, p77).
2) The spraying of water from this sort of truck uses detracts quickly from the total range that the vehicle can cover before it needs the tanks refilled. As such standard operating procedure dictates that the sprayers only be turned on when needed to preform their appointed tasks.
Because the cyclists were in front AND the water spray was off AND then it was turned on we can infer that a “reasonable person” driving this truck saw the cyclists and CHOSE to turn the sprayers on.
Unless of course his lawyer decides that he is not a “reasonable person” which will hopefully make him un-insurable as a professional driver because he would then have a court documented history of unstable behavior behind the wheel.
I hope readers of this blog will take a very skeptical view when commenters give lay legal analyses.
It’s very easy for those with no particular training to take some snippet they read somewhere, conflate it with their own version of “common sense”, and present an argument that sounds sensible but is incorrect.
Here, q’Tzal is making incorrect analogies between different types of legal processes that he doesn’t understand –civil, criminal and tort. Up above, Paul Johnson strenuously defends a made-up legal theory that would be rejected in two seconds by every judge in the country.
It’s a very good thing for people to understand their legal rights and responsibilities, but posts like these confuse and harm more than they help.
So don’t get your legal advice from a blog!
At least allow some investigation of the driver’s truck and actions on the driver’s part before jumping to what are possibly wild conclusions that directing reportedly high pressure spray from the city truck, toward people riding their bikes, was intentional on the driver’s part.
Comments to this bikeportland story seem to indicate there wasn’t so much as a single injury, scratch or crash to anyone or their property. That’s a fortunate thing. Now let the city and Public Works come promptly forward and explain how this occurrence came to happen.
OUCH! Burn!
Pardon my uneducated quasi-legal smack talk.
The only solace of the armchair lawyer is that so many professional lawyers seem as incoherant as to the law as the “common man”.
I know an operator who belongs in jail!
The City that Wets?
Given the rampant unemployment in this city, that’s a lot more apt than the actual slogan.
wow someone could have crashed !
Yesterday was weird, on Taylor I was brake checked and lady nailed my right side with her car, I’m ok but after that, car right hooked 2 lanes in front of me, driving habits getting crazy this ” summer ” so far
Yeah I have noticed that too. Its extreme this summer, the general public is becoming completely unhinged. Had a lady lean on her horn and lurch forward at me for crossing the street…on a MUP crosswalk…with a big blinking sign with a bicycle on it.
makes me think are these ppl from Oregon? not that it matters, just saying. my fav was dude driving in bike lane on Stark til Natio pwky. green lane dude..
I get this this all the time in Wilsonville, just unfriendly, sad ppl don’t care for others
Welcome to Oregon!
What, do these people get paid by the mile? Let the cyclists get out of range before turning on the water.
The city should release more information other than ‘we’re investigating the incident and take it seriously.’ Taking it seriously is publishing the name of the driver and then saying he’s been suspended pending further investigation. If they don’t name his name, there’s no way for us to hold the city accountable for what it does in the future regarding this case.
“I know I would vote against conviction […] if it went to court and I was on the jury.”
Maybe so, but by making this post, you’ve probably just sealed the deal on getting kicked off of any jury for a similar case in the future. Lawyers tend to Google things these days.
You’ve been reading too much ‘Guns and Ammo’, Paul. Please consult a knowledgeable lawyer before you go exercising this right you claim. You might just save yourself from a life sentence for murder.
I don’t read or subscribe to Guns and Ammo. I think you might be surprised to learn that this is not the UK, though.
Eliminating me by name would severely impact the jury pool. Very common name, you know.
The City That Works, LOLz
Most of the spraying that I saw, and was directly hit by, happened while we were stopped at a red light, so it wasn’t hard for the truck to catch us.
Snark: Maybe the city heard all the complaints over the years about debris not being removed from bike lanes, and decided to just spray everything in sight. 🙂
Dangerous and juvenile. Someone should be fired.
Lets not forget, there are two sides to every story, even if most bikeportland readers have the blinders on… The motto seems to be, “guilty until proven innocent” for anyone not on a bike!
Glad you got the whole story, JMaus. @Nootelluh.
The city doesn’t give you much info – they just say we’re investigating. If they’d comment or make the driver available for comment that would be great, but it’s not in their best interest.
i hope that water didn’t come from reservoir number 4…it’s full of one man’s pee
“…it’s full of one man’s pee” marshmallow
That would surely be, a lot of pee.
yes, that’s why the city emptied the reservoir…for one man’s tiny bladder of pee
It’s kind of silly when you think of how many people boat and play in reserviors anyway…you know they’ve been peed in, and it’s not like anybody cares.
I don’t think a lot of people boat and play in the city drinking water supply reservoirs…
“It’s kind of silly when you think of how many people boat and play in reserviors anyway…you know they’ve been peed in, and it’s not like anybody cares.” Paul Johnson
Talking about city reservoirs, we’re off topic now. About the water in the Mt Tabor reservoir though, I think probably a lot of people don’t well understand how their city’s water supply system works. I’ll admit I don’t. One Oregonian news article described, in one sentence, the reservoir water in question, as being ‘finished’ water, without explaining what ‘finished’ in this context, meant.
Implication from that sentence was that the water you see in Tabor’s reservoirs has received all the city water treatment it’s going to get. According to this account, from that reservoir, the water is going to the pipes and then to your taps. I think this is generally the basis of the feds whine about every municipal water supply in the country needing to be covered, so it’s all sterile and whatnot, for the public’s protection. Still…that one guy taking a wizz in the reservoir can prompt city officials to drain the whole thing…for the public’s protection…is hysterically absurd. Note that on its editorial page, in a feature article, the editorial staff of our wonderful newspaper, The Oregonian…defended the decision to empty the reservoir because of this one guy’s pee…as a logical and reasonable thing to do.
Back to the great Portland water spray truck incident: Let’s see if the city can or will let maus know this week, just how it happens that its driver somehow managed to spray people riding bikes, after being repeatedly alerted to the fact that the inappropriate spraying was occurring.
Was Mt. Tabor Reservior 1
I know some people are probably upset. But really, picture the scene of it all. It’s really kind of funny.
In a movie or a TV show it would be funny. IRL not so much.
It’s unfortunate, that the public servant driving the vehicle forgets the cyclists he endangered help pay his salary, and pad his pension.
moron
I can’t imagine that the driver didn’t know exactly what he was doing and thought it was funny.
He might think differently soon.
I imagine you’re right
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM0J7eKi0rU
It was more like this truck actually. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml00gVWhSGY
Yeah, that’s what I had in mind. There’s no way dude was unaware of what he was doing.
Hosing the riders was rude & Dangerous. the pressures developed by those nozzles are enough to knock a bike down. Most likely would only get the driver a reprimand.
Lurching at ANYONE in front of a motor Veh in an attempt to intimidate ..should get them fired.
Lets see a “bike 101” on Vehicular Menacing.
yikes.
Has it come to this? Shooting at city workers? This isn’t quite the site I thought it was. I hope the moderators don’t condone this.
the cyclists were also timbers/soccer fans? i see no problem here.
Sounds like the spray truck operator should lose his job. BUT he’s a city employee, so that’s not going to happen…
Oh, come on, suspend the guy with no pay for a week, have him make a public apology, and call it good.
Or, follow police procedure and give him time off with full pay.
Why pay him?
The cyclists were riding home from the Timber’s game at 10:30pm? Didn’t the game end at 3pm? Irrelevant? Maybe.
No, this was after the Thursday night game which ended at about 10 pm.
LOL! “Heading home from the Timbers game.” The game was at 1pm and ended by 3pm. What they were really doing was heading home from getting plastered in a bar after the loss.
personally, i’d sentence the spray truck driver to comute by bike for the remainder of the year
Yes. Or better, to be Hally’s butler for a year! (Seinfeld we miss you)
Jonathan, I hope you’ll follow this up with the City. I’ve had three bad encounters with PBOT crews (ref http://bikeportland.org/2010/06/05/sunny-weekend-open-thread-34448) wherein the crew showed blatant anti-bike hostility.
I would love to see the city implement screening practices when they hire PBOT workers, similar to the screening done for police hiring: city personnel who will be operating dangerous equipment and who will have direct contact with the public should be subject, during the hiring process, to psychological screening that weeds out individuals with a propensity toward open hostility or a generally misanthropic demeanor.
It seems clear that person driving the sprayer intentionally assaulted those people on bikes, that he/she didn’t regard that action as serious or potentially deadly, which it was.
Hagg Reservoir…
That’s probably because The O hasn’t had half a brain in the editor’s department or anyone actually from here writing for it since the 1980s.
If you don’t think this is assault, try throughing a bucket of water on a cop from a moving vehicle, then accelerating towards the officer when they stop you. No better not – you could end up dead.