Witnesses say TriMet employee drove recklessly, used truck to threaten riders

Participants in the Thursday Night Ride on SE 7th Avenue with a TriMet truck driver passing on the left. (Photos: Sent in by a reader)

The driver of a TriMet service truck dangerously passed, became upset, and threatened a large group bike ride with his vehicle last week.

According to several people who were on the weekly Thursday Night Ride on September 19th, it was a severe case of road rage. A person named Phil took photos of the interaction, which happened around 8:30 pm, and sent them to BikePortland.

Here’s how he describes the incident:

A TriMet employee road raged and endangered the lives of a ride tonight. We were cycling down 7th and hooking left onto Division. The road is narrow, we had the lane as the front of the ride was preparing for a left turn (and you can’t fit many cyclists in that pathetic bike lane) — when suddenly a car was honking behind us, hitting the gas and yelling.

This driver went across the entire turn lane, into opposing traffic, in an intersection, during a blind turn (as 7th becomes Division)… Cars were coming the other way, so he moved from opposing traffic to the turn lane. When the center divider approached, he swerved into the group and forced his way in — essentially using the threat of bodily harm to merge in. He was coming in, people had to scatter. We had to box him into that brief divider at 8th so he would stop threatening and endangering our lives.

Phil’s photos clearly show the driver was in his TriMet uniform and driving an official TriMet service truck. Phil also says that he feels the ride was being “well led and well behaved.”

To verify Phil’s story, I reached out to other people who were on the ride. I heard back from four different people who were among the 50 or so in the group. Here’s what they told me:

“Definitely happened. Dude was trying to drive around the ride. Very unsafe. Didn’t seem to care.”

“I would brand it as a typical ‘get out of my way I can’t be slowed down by bikes for a few minutes’ type of interaction. Honked a few times, then tried to go around the huge amount of bikes in the middle suicide lane (as shown in the photo). Some bikes were able to block him and a shouting match occurred between the driver and the cyclists. We all got past and left.”

“I didn’t see the driver trying to hit people, just dumb impatient driver doing dumb impatient driver stuff.”

“He jumped over the curb/lane divider from oncoming traffic back into our lane, speeding ahead of the end of the group and cutting off a bunch of others right after the track crossing (headed south). He ultimately just stopped and starting yelling after turning the flashing lights off. Didn’t appear to be collecting signs or doing anything that late at night, just speeding and trying to insert into the group of bicyclists.”

TriMet Public Information Officer Tyler Graf confirmed to BikePortland Wednesday that the agency received a complaint from Phil that shared these photos and a detailed narrative of what he saw. “The complaint was processed and is currently under investigation,” Graf shared. “Beyond that, we do not comment on personnel matters; however, the photos that were shared will be considered during the investigation.”

Phil will likely continue to follow up with TriMet until the investigation is complete. “No way this guy should be driving or working for our government,” he told BikePortland.

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, contact me via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a paying subscriber.

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Fred
Fred
9 days ago

Probably safe to say that public agencies have as many impatient, unreasonable people working in them as the rest of the population.

All I can say is that this Trimet employee must have been looking for a way to be fired from his job, since he must have known he couldn’t count on the usual anonymity that seems to immunize most drivers from being rude to cyclists.

qqq
qqq
9 days ago
Reply to  Fred

 he must have known he couldn’t count on the usual anonymity that seems to immunize most drivers from being rude to cyclists.

I agree. On the other hand, I think there’s an opposite force happening. A lot of people (not all) driving trucks involved in construction, utility work, etc. (government or private) seem emboldened to drive and park badly, as if the logo on their truck exempts them from all laws.

My experience is they feel totally justified with their behavior, viewing streets as their jobsite. I’ve had them (again, public and private) more than once threaten to call 911 on me for “illegal job site interference” when I pointed out they were blocking crosswalks, etc. It’s actually dangerous to confront them directly sometimes, especially if there’s more than one.

Parking on sidewalks when there’s a parking space 10 feet away, driving like this guy did, etc. seem like intentional attempts to remind people that they’re more important than everyone else on the road. When they get called on it by people with power (clients they’re working for, police, etc.) you can almost see them deflate when their excuses fail.

RipCityBassWorks
RipCityBassWorks
7 days ago
Reply to  Fred

I definitely disagree: this seems to be the exception, not the rule, with TriMet. At least from my experience biking, bus drivers are very professional and leave plenty of room for me. Though I do have less experience with TriMet’s service drivers. I definitely hope TriMet fires whoever is responsible for this illegal conduct.

Sky High
Sky High
7 days ago

They didn’t mention the busses. They mentioned the ones who drive the trucks.

Bus drivers are highly trained drivers that require a CDL-B license.

The ones that drive the maintenence trucks don’t have that training. They weren’t even exclusively talking about tri-met either but truck drivers in general.

A bus driver
A bus driver
7 days ago
Reply to  Sky High

Yes. There is a pretty significant distinction between bus drivers and the mechanics that keep our buses running when it comes to “roadside manner”.

I really wish Trimet would include some bike riding as part of our training(both for bus and the maint staff that are on the road).

David Hampsten
David Hampsten
9 days ago

One of the problems of submitting such photos to a public agency is that it shows several bicycle riders who don’t have basic reflectors on the rear, bicycling at night.

Chuck
Chuck
9 days ago
Reply to  David Hampsten

Another problem is that the riders in the photo clearly could have moved to the right and made room for traffic to safely pass on the left. We ask drivers to share the road so we should be willing to do so as welll.

SD
SD
9 days ago
Reply to  Chuck

Routine reminder that people on bikes are already sharing the road when they choose to use a normal-sized vehicle on the road that takes up less than 1/10th of the space, causes less than 1/1000th the damage and introduces a negligible amount of risk compared to the unnecessarily large vehicles commonly referred to as cars and trucks.

The people in the photo were sharing the road, and by taking the lane were using the best practice of riding safely in a group. The illegal behavior of the driver illustrates why this is necessary and how some people who are licensed and even paid to drive are still incompetent drivers and cannot be trusted to pass safely.

Phil
Phil
9 days ago
Reply to  Chuck

We were taking a left. We had the lane legally. Even if we were not taking a left, we are permitted to take the lane when the bike lane is insufficient, unsafe, or when passing another cyclist, per ORS 814.420. But thanks for your opinion. The truck was sharing *opposing traffic* around a blind corner, and you are (incorrectly) worried about THAT?

And David appears to think a cyclist with no reflector justifies road rage and menacing? I have a problem with a government employee risking our lives while breaking 9 traffic laws, by my count. You have a problem with a cyclist within a highly visible group lacking a taillight.

ORS 811.135; 811.410-1a, 811.1c, 811.2abc; 811.295, 811.380, 811.065ab, 811.120, 811.420;

route
David Hampsten
David Hampsten
9 days ago
Reply to  Phil

You have a problem with a cyclist within a highly visible group lacking a taillight.

I honestly don’t give a f**k about the taillights, but the agency you sent photos to will care about it and any other bike user violation they can track. Broken taillights (on cars) are one of the most common reasons for police pulling over drivers, particularly drivers they want to harass, so it stands to reason that they’ll likely focus on that issue. And it is in fact illegal for any individual to bicycle in any community nationwide without a rear reflector and/or rear light, it’s just rarely enforced. I’m a little dismayed that you are willing to enable the illegal behavior of other users for nighttime rides rather than requiring each rider to take responsibility for their own actions, safety, and the safety of other road users.

I don’t condone any sort of road rage, ever, including my own, by that of motorized drivers, or by bicyclists.

John V
John V
9 days ago
Reply to  David Hampsten

I don’t see, and I don’t think you can see, anyone in any of these pictures who we know doesn’t have a rear reflector, so what are you on about?

Even if you could (you can’t), one person in a crowd of 50 will not be reason to ignore this blatant criminal driving behavior.

Sky High
Sky High
7 days ago
Reply to  David Hampsten

No, the agency they sent it to aren’t going to do shit about it.

“I’m a little dismayed that you are willing to enable the illegal behavior of other users for nighttime rides rather than requiring each rider to take responsibility for their own actions, safety, and the safety of other road users.”

Maybe instead you should be majorly dismayed about people in 6000lb trucks driving illegally and putting peoples lives in danger. Your priorities are all fucked up.

Let me guess, you hate bike and people who ride them because sometimes they very minorly inconvenience you

A bus driver
A bus driver
7 days ago
Reply to  David Hampsten

I’ve been spit on, screamed at and threatened with a hatchet while driving a bus. Every time, the first thing Trimet asked me was if there was anything I had done to incite them.

Micah
Micah
7 days ago
Reply to  A bus driver

As a transit rider I have seen many drivers exercise Job-like patience in the face of every manner of disrespect and rudeness that can be imagined. The overwhelming majority maintain a friendly and chipper demeanor that makes getting on the bus a real pleasure. Thank you.

John V
John V
9 days ago
Reply to  Chuck

The road is narrow, we had the lane as the front of the ride was preparing for a left turn

You are incorrect, and maybe didn’t read the story. They were turning left, they were exactly where they were supposed to be.

Sky High
Sky High
7 days ago
Reply to  Chuck

No, as a cyclist you are supposed to ride in the middle of the lane to be the most visible. Moving out of the way I’d actually dangerous.

Sharing the road means you have to wait behind us until it’s safe for you to pass. If you expect bikes to always get out of your way, then you are not sharing the road with us.

So no, that wasn’t a problem at all.

Watts
Watts
6 days ago
Reply to  Sky High

“No, as a cyclist you are supposed to ride in the middle of the lane to be the most visible.”

In fact, the law says you are supposed to ride as fast to the right as is “practicable”.

Matt
Matt
6 days ago
Reply to  Watts

Yep, and not taking the lane is not practicable! Because the farther to the right I am, the less I can see, and the less visible I am to other road users!

Watts
Watts
6 days ago
Reply to  Matt

Sometimes this is true, and sometimes it isn’t.

Matt
Matt
5 days ago
Reply to  Watts

Now you’re starting to see my point: The wording of the law is so subjective as to be meaningless and thus unenforceable.

John V
John V
9 days ago
Reply to  David Hampsten

How can you possibly see that? It’s not like the photos were taken from the POV of a headlight, so the reflectors would not be retro-reflecting, as can plainly be seen from the reflectors clearly visible on the closer bike riders.

dw
dw
9 days ago
Reply to  David Hampsten

“But what were you wearing when it happened?”

Anon
Anon
8 days ago
Reply to  David Hampsten

As a former TriMet employee, I can say with certainty that they aren’t in the business of policing bicyclists for alleged violations and wouldn’t take them into account in a situation like this regardless. The notion that they are “tracking” such “violations” is patently absurd.

Watts
Watts
6 days ago
Reply to  Anon

They’re going to put it down on your permanent record.

PdxPhoenix
PdxPhoenix
4 days ago
Reply to  David Hampsten

Are you suggesting that the cyclists’ inability/unwillingness to follow the law allows this driver to drive dangerously, threatening the lives of those cyclists?

Mary S
Mary S
9 days ago

Phil will likely continue to follow up with TriMet until the investigation is complete. “No way this guy should be driving or working for our government,” he told BikePortland.

The situation does not sound good but maybe we should tone down the “calling for this guy’s head” until TriMet investigates. I’m sure they have a process for how to deal with complaints about employee conduct and corrective actions for employees that do not behave according to their standards.

qqq
qqq
9 days ago
Reply to  Mary S

In addition to what Jonathan pointed out about that being one person’s opinion (so no “we”) Phil wasn’t just a random commenter. He was an eyewitness.

Also, your idea that government agencies have processes and corrective actions that are meaningful in cases like this is a fantasy. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. I could give a dozen personal examples where the behavior was bad, and the response was equally bad or worse, including ones involving TriMet.

Phil
Phil
9 days ago
Reply to  qqq

An eyewitness and a victim. When I say “I intend to follow up” I am not head hunting, I am pursuing accountability from my government and this individual. I am fully within my rights to pursue this, and I believe it is my civic duty to do so.

To me, accountability for these egregious and life threatening actions looks like him not driving in service of my government, at a minimum.

Chris I
Chris I
6 days ago
Reply to  Phil

“Pursuing accountability”
“Looks like him not driving in service of my government”.

Given that his job is driving a maintenance truck around, you are clearly calling for him to be fired. No need to sugar coat it.

qqq
qqq
6 days ago
Reply to  Chris I

I disagree. It seems clear Phil’s calling for what he said directly he was calling for: “him not driving in service of my government, at a minimum”.

If he gets fired because he’s not allowed to drive, that doesn’t mean that’s what Phil’s calling for.

It’s no different than any other kind of punishment. If I want someone put in jail or fined for punching me or stealing from me, and as a consequence their spouse divorces them or they get fired, that doesn’t mean I’m calling for those things.

Phil MIGHT also want him fired (since he said “at a minimum”) or he MIGHT be happy if he was only moved to a TriMet position where he doesn’t drive. But what he called for was clear, and not sugar coated.

Angus Peters
Angus Peters
9 days ago
Reply to  qqq

One thing people might do is to work to improve performance and also trust in our local institutions and government departments instead of just complaining with low level vitriol about how they are incompetent as in “ your idea that government agencies have processes and corrective actions that are meaningful in cases like this is a fantasy ”. That’s hyperbolic. As an aside, highly functioning Nordic countries have a high level of trust in their government and institutions. No reason we can’t move that way in the US.

https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2020/the-nordic-exceptionalism-what-explains-why-the-nordic-countries-are-constantly-among-the-happiest-in-the-world/#:~:text=The%20Nordic%20countries%20invested%20heavily,social%20trust%20and%20institutional%20trust.

qqq
qqq
8 days ago
Reply to  Angus Peters

Your calling my comment hyperbolic is ridiculous.

The reason I said that the “idea that government agencies have processes and corrective actions that are meaningful in cases like this is a fantasy” is because I know it’s true from decades of first-hand experience dealing with government agencies, either on my own behalf or working with or for other people.

You also cut your quotation off before my next sentence: “Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t”. That’s hardly hyperbolic.

Do you know who’s agreed with me about the flaws of those processes and corrective actions? The people running those processes, including City Council members and bureau heads, and City attorneys. The last time I really complained at a hearing, a City Commissioner came off the stage during the hearing and asked me to help City staff rewrite their regulations. The last time I wrote testimony about processes, Mayor Wheeler grilled City staff at the hearing using the questions I’d told him he should ask.

And don’t lecture me about “work(ing) to improve performance”. Either on my own or working with other people, I’ve got regulations changed, people fired, decisions overturned, millions of dollars of street work removed and rebuilt, and processes improved.

And there are at least several people who comment here who I’m sure have done far more than me slogging through years of hearings, work sessions, etc. We’re not just typing “hyperbolic” internet comments–not that that’s not a valuable thing in itself.

Your patronizing admonition to me and others to “trust in our local institutions and government departments instead of just complaining” is equally out of line. “Complaining” and trust in government are two separate issues. I complain TO government agencies because I DO trust that there are people in them who will respond constructively. But while there are people in them I trust, I certainly don’t trust that those agencies will always do the right thing, because that WOULD be a fantasy.

One reason I’m responding to you is that yours is just one of dozens of similar criticisms of people “complaining” in comments here over the years. There’s been countless positive changes to what government agencies have been doing that started or were amplified with people commenting or reading comments here, then taking action. The readership here has a huge number of people doing that regularly.

I welcome people here complaining and not trusting government.

Sky High
Sky High
7 days ago
Reply to  Angus Peters

We’re in USA, not any Nordic country so how it works in Nordic countries is irrelevant.

In USA cops murder over 1000 people a year. It is incredibly rare for them to be held accountable. This is just one of many reasons people don’t trust in government institutions policing themselves in USA.

J M
J M
7 days ago
Reply to  Sky High

Less than 100 of those shootings are questionable and less than 50 are found by a independent board to be unjustifiable.

Steve
Steve
7 days ago
Reply to  J M

That’s your standard(s)? What’s “questionable”? How many shootings occur in jurisdictions that have truly “independent” boards? “[U]justifiable by what measure? The law – which justifies USA police to shoot someone if they imagine there might be a threat?

Sky High
Sky High
7 days ago
Reply to  Mary S

Wanting dangerous drivers off the road isn’t calling for the guys head.

It’s wanting the streets to be safe.

Driving isn’t a right, it’s a privlidge.

Watts
Watts
7 days ago
Reply to  Sky High

“Driving isn’t a right, it’s a privlidge.”

Everybody likes to say this (even the DMV), but I don’t really understand the distinction in practice.

What do you mean when you say this?

Steve
Steve
7 days ago
Reply to  Watts

I don’t know what Sky High meant, but it’s a legal distinction. It’s why driving privileges can be suspended administratively, prior to due process.

Watts
Watts
6 days ago
Reply to  Steve

This is a good answer, but I am struggling to find an example of how your license can be suspended without some process defined by law.

Can you think of an example where your driver’s license could be revoked or denied with a significantly lower bar than might be applied to other rights such as your right to own a firearm?

Chris I
Chris I
6 days ago
Reply to  Sky High

You want him fired. Be clear about your intentions.

SolarEclipse
SolarEclipse
6 days ago
Reply to  Sky High

True, driving isn’t a right that’s listed in the Constitution, but Oregon law codifies that a person can have a driver’s license and purchase and own products (cars). It’s the state laws that need to toughen the restrictions around driver’s licenses. Until that happens in a sense it’s a privilege that anyone (per state law) can have.

Riley
Riley
9 days ago

I trust the cyclists’ version of events because I experience the harassment from car drivers (especially middle-aged, overweight white guys) all too often. I don’t even look at passing cars, let alone take out my phone and snap pics, unless they’re doing something unusually threatening. I also disparage internal investigations from governmental groups. My punishment: at least a year of suspended driver’s license. Mandatory participation in some number group bike rides to earn back the privilege of driving.

Lois Leveen
Lois Leveen
9 days ago

I hope there will be a follow-up story letting us know how TriMet “resolves” this issue. As a taxpayer, I’m always hoping my money is being used to have public employees maintain the safety of the public, even if it means waiting another forty seconds or so for non-motorized traffic that is ahead of them in the public roadway.

Vans
Vans
9 days ago

Helmet, lights front and rear, GPS tracking, camera/video, 24/7/365

Pics are good, burst would have been better, video could be best.

I had a hit and run, video and GPS were the critical things that achieved max payout against insurance company pushback.

This is proven out time and time again.

Phil
Phil
9 days ago
Reply to  Vans

Heh, I was in a rush to catch him in opposing traffic and didn’t have time for anything but photos. As is, I captured the very last moment of him crossing from the far lane, with a car coming. I will reconsider wearing a camera, thanks. I gave up on the helmet cam but maybe I’ll put one on the bars.

Jason
Jason
9 days ago

We also know nothing will be done. It will just get buried and no update.

dw
dw
9 days ago

Wow, the timing on this one is impeccable. This morning, I had a Jeep driver follow, harass, and threaten me for 10 blocks because I committed the grave offense of pointing out the “No Turn on Red” sign for the right turn lane on Division & 82nd after he tried to plow into me.

The thing that really destroys me about drivers who use their vehicles to harass, injure, or kill people walking and biking is how there’s very often little or no justice. Many things in life are like that I guess, but few have such dire consequences. If the guy in the Trimet truck felt emboldened to do that to a group of 50ish people biking while in his work uniform, how many times has he done something similar to a lone, defenseless cyclist or pedestrian that he decided wasn’t following his rules?

I hope some accountability can be achieved in this case, at least. In a restorative justice utopia, the driver would learn how awful what he did is, make amends with the victims, permanently change his driving behavior, and learn how to regulate his emotions behind the wheel. I’m not holding my breath though.

For as much as I get on here and bitch about bad drivers, I find most drivers in Portland to be very respectful of people biking and walking. On the flip side, there’s a non-zero chance you’ll encounter an aggro driver while riding a bike. Most of us are probably numb to it at this point, but how many folks have been completely turned off of riding a bike because of a scary encounter like this one?

Jay Cee
Jay Cee
8 days ago

Why the f@k are we blurring his face. Let’s see this piece of shot. He put hundreds of lives in danger and used his taxpayer funded truck as a weapon to terrorize cyclists. Fick this guy.

Marlee Flanagan
Marlee Flanagan
8 days ago
Reply to  Jay Cee

I’ve felt for a long time that speeding tickets should be over 5k for attempted manslaughter, and aggressive driving should be charged as terrorism (although that will never happen)

Mary S
Mary S
7 days ago

So, here’s the thing: Portland has one of the lowest numbers of police officers per person compared to the 50 biggest cities in the country. A lot of shootings and murders here don’t even get solved. Do you honestly think our police, the DA, and the courts in Portland and Multnomah County have enough staff, resources, or even the political motivation to actually fix this? We need to get back to basics—like having enough police officers, enforcing traffic laws, more detectives to solve crimes, and a DA who’s ready to enforce the law (which we might finally get with Vasquez on 1/1/2025!). It’s time people start supporting the idea of a social contract again. Extreme punishments aren’t the solution.

J M
J M
7 days ago
Reply to  Jay Cee

Because it is hearsay.

Willis
Willis
8 days ago

I’ve been in both sides of this idsue – as a rider in some of the events ocer the years and as driver. When In the group rides, I’ve witnessed impatient cars do sketchy things that put the bikes at risk – that’s never ok. But I have repeatedly been driving downtown when a mass of bikes suddenly appear, seamingly out of nowhere. Right off the bat, it freaks me out and I tend to freeze and not know what I should do next and that is when I start getting emotional. And then there have been some of bikers who will ride with abandone and manouver in front of cars often swerving and weaving right in front of me and wat too closed next to me – it’s so crazy and wrong.

Bikes in small groups are normal andthe traffic can handle it. But the super large groups of riders are not normal and should be better controled and regulated as to where they are allowed to ride e.g., large groups should definately stay out of the downtown district altogether – it not safe for large group bikes rides downtown, and never will be.

Sky High
Sky High
7 days ago
Reply to  Willis

Weird, large groups of cars can drive downtown and it’s considered perfectly safe, but when bikes do it its not?

By the way, I’m talking about traffic as the large groups of cars.

qqq
qqq
6 days ago
Reply to  Willis

I have repeatedly been driving downtown when a mass of bikes suddenly appear, seamingly out of nowhere. Right off the bat, it freaks me out and I tend to freeze and not know what I should do next and that is when I start getting emotional.

I don’t know how to say this without sounding harsh–it sounds like you need to improve your driving, or stay out of downtown.

Since you say it happens repeatedly to you, then you should be prepared for it and know how to respond, versus freezing and–especially–getting emotional.

Sky High
Sky High
7 days ago

He should have his license taken away.

Jonas 2150AD
Jonas 2150AD
6 days ago

TNR has more drama than an episode of Jersey Shore.

Large groups with “no leader” are a recipe for mob rules.