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Truckers at it again

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01 / Original postTruckers at it againEmail address hidden · 8 May 2006 02 / This pagePosts 1–20Page 1 of 3 · chronological order 03 / Latest replyPost #55Bill Baka · 19 May 2006

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8 May 2006
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  1. Original post
    Email address hidden
    Archived post
    #1

    Date: 5/6/06 4:25 PM
    Received: 5/6/06 9:39 PM
    From: 5/6 Palo Alto Weekly, [email hidden]
    Reply-To: [email hidden]
    To: [email hidden]

    Published Friday, May 5, 2006, by the Palo Alto Weekly

    Bikers, police target hazardous truck driver Police officer's comment
    also draws ire.

    By Bill D'Agostino

    Police have targeted a pickup-truck driver with a bad habit of
    speeding dangerously close to bicyclists, after a recent incident
    disturbed the local cycling community and left one cyclist recovering
    from injuries.

    The events prompted the Palo Alto Bicycle Advisory Committee to
    tentatively approve a letter this week calling for the police
    department to treat such incidents seriously.

    "We're not just going to take this sitting down, or lying down in the
    ground," said committee member Paul Goldstein. "We want to get these
    bad drivers off the road and have them to lose their licenses."

    On the morning of March 25, Jon Simms was bicycling along upper Page
    Mill Road, near Skyline Boulevard in Palo Alto, with a club of regular
    cyclists. Around 11 a.m., a black Dodge Ram pickup truck with tinted
    windows and a "Let's Rodeo" sticker on its rear bumper began speeding
    recklessly in Simms' lane, forcing him into a ditch.

    "To pass me that closely was just irresponsible," Simms said. "Either
    it was intentional or this person is a hazardous driver. Either way, I
    don't think they belong behind the wheel of a car."

    Simms, the vice president of software development at Oracle, was left
    with a separated shoulder, bruised ribs and a part of his tooth that
    ended up in his glove. Five weeks later, he still has trouble
    breathing and lifting his young son onto his shoulders.

    Other members of the club, the Monte Vista Velo, told Simms the pickup
    truck also passed close to them. Because they only caught a partial
    license plate number, Simms began offering a $1,000 reward for
    information to help arrest and convict the driver.

    The news was posted on Internet blogs and listservs.

    "This thing's kind of taken on a life of its own," Simms said.

    Two Fridays ago, the same driver sped dangerously close to Palo Alto
    bicyclist Dan Lebach while he was riding on Highway 84.

    "He went by me as if I wasn't there," said Lebach, who had seen a
    posting on Craigslist and successfully noted the pickup truck's
    complete license plate number.

    Palo Alto police identified the vehicle and its owner last week, but
    the case is complicated since Simms and fellow riders didn't see the
    driver through the tinted windows. Officers in unmarked cars are now
    watching for the truck, according to Simms.

    Investigator Kim Collet did not return calls for comment.

    The tale's infamy grew when Palo Alto police Agent Dan Ryan, quoted in
    the San Mateo Daily Journal's April 14 edition, labeled Simms' spill
    an "accident" and pointed out that the roadway is "narrow"

    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/30018

    "I certainly wouldn't ride there with my bike," Ryan reportedly said.

    "That particular comment was disturbing, there's no question about
    it," Goldstein said. "It's a little bit like, 'She deserved to be
    raped.'"

    Ryan, however, denounced such claims about his comment as
    "outrageous," he said. "It's a hit-and-run accident, and we realize it
    was frightening for everyone involved."

    Bicyclists hope the police will take serious action against the
    menacing driver.

    "I really do think it is just a matter of time if nothing isn't done,"
    Lebach said.

    Simms could sue the driver, but would rather the police catch him or
    her.

    "This really isn't about money," he said. "This is about trying to
    send a message to somebody that you've got to live peacefully with the
    laws of the State of California. And if you don't agree with them you
    can't carry out some form of vengeance or alternative justice."

    Ideally, the driver would lose his or her license and be forced to
    commute on a bicycle, Simms said.

    "They'd get a picture of what it's like when you're peddling down the
    road and just how intimidating a car can be."

    Bicyclists and pedestrians can report incidents of hazardous driving
    at:

    http://www.penbiped.net/incidentReports.php

    Staff Writer Bill D'Agostino can be reached at :

    [email hidden]

    [BATN: See also:

    Letter: Palo Alto police should uphold law in truck-vs-bike hit+run

    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/30047

    Letter: Outrageous police comments in truck-on-bike assault

    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/30045

    Cyclists seek truck driver who swerved into group, injuring one

    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/30018

    Homicidal former GG bus driver pleads innocent in bike assault

    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/29806

    GG Transit driver used bus to attack bicyclist, faces prison

    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/29243

    GG Transit driver facing charges for bus-bike assault resigns

    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/29244 ]
    -----------------------------------

    Jobst Brandt

    Report
  2. Mark Hickey
    Archived post
    #2

    [email hidden] wrote:

    Why the plural form of "trucker" ?

    Doesn't sound like a conspiracy or a team effort.

    It's one yahoo in a pickup truck. Could be an SUV or a Buick.

    Mark Hickey
    Habanero Cycles
    http://www.habcycles.com
    Home of the $795 ti frame

    Report
  3. Ken C. M.
    Archived post
    #3
    Mark Hickey said:

    [email hidden] wrote:

    Why the plural form of "trucker" ?

    Doesn't sound like a conspiracy or a team effort.

    It's one yahoo in a pickup truck. Could be an SUV or a Buick.

    Mark Hickey
    Habanero Cycles
    http://www.habcycles.com
    Home of the $795 ti frame

    And around here lots of the "yahoo"s yell YAHOO!
    Sorry just a bit of red-neck humor.

    Ken
    --
    New cycling jersey: $49
    new cycling shorts: $39
    Not being a slave to the petrol pump: priceless.

    Report
  4. Werehatrack
    Archived post
    #4

    On Mon, 08 May 2006 05:55:29 -0700, Mark Hickey <[email hidden]>

    Quoted message said:

    [email hidden] wrote:

    Why the plural form of "trucker" ?

    Doesn't sound like a conspiracy or a team effort.

    It's one yahoo in a pickup truck. Could be an SUV or a Buick.

    Have to concur; the average *trucker* of my experience is far more
    likely to be safe to be on the same road with. OTOH, as my SO is wont
    to observe, [censored] seem to be wildly disproportionately represented
    behind the wheel of pickups.

    --
    Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
    Some gardening required to reply via email.
    Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

    Report
  5. Sorni
    Archived post
    #5
    Quoted message said:

    Date: 5/6/06 4:25 PM
    Received: 5/6/06 9:39 PM
    From: 5/6 Palo Alto Weekly, [email hidden]
    Reply-To: [email hidden]
    To: [email hidden]

    Published Friday, May 5, 2006, by the Palo Alto Weekly

    Bikers, police target hazardous truck driver Police officer's comment
    also draws ire.

    By Bill D'Agostino

    {snip}

    "They'd get a picture of what it's like when you're peddling down the
    road and just how intimidating a car can be."

    A professional writer wrote that?

    Hmmm.

    Report
  6. Email address hidden
    Archived post
    #6
    Mark Hickey said:

    Why the plural form of "trucker"?

    Quoted message said:

    Doesn't sound like a conspiracy or a team effort.

    Quoted message said:

    It's one yahoo in a pickup truck. Could be an SUV or a Buick.

    I see you don't ride bike or you would know that it is primarily
    truckers (or wannabe truckers) with knobby tires, roaring dual pipes,
    black windows, jacked up chassis and wheels extending beyond the wheel
    wells that are harassing us in this region. It's a macho syndrome
    that is visible from a long way off.

    I once experienced such men sitting on a roadside bench at Summit
    Store in the Santa Cruz mountains, one of whom loudly said "Look,
    victims! Let's do for a drive" as we bicycled past. This is not new.

    http://draco.acs.uci.edu/rbfaq/FAQ/6.1.html

    Jobst Brandt

    Report
  7. Frank Drackman
    Archived post
    #7

    <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:
    Mark Hickey said:

    Why the plural form of "trucker"?

    Quoted message said:

    Doesn't sound like a conspiracy or a team effort.

    Quoted message said:

    It's one yahoo in a pickup truck. Could be an SUV or a Buick.

    I see you don't ride bike or you would know that it is primarily
    truckers (or wannabe truckers) with knobby tires, roaring dual pipes,
    black windows, jacked up chassis and wheels extending beyond the wheel
    wells that are harassing us in this region. It's a macho syndrome
    that is visible from a long way off.

    I once experienced such men sitting on a roadside bench at Summit
    Store in the Santa Cruz mountains, one of whom loudly said "Look,
    victims! Let's do for a drive" as we bicycled past. This is not new.

    http://draco.acs.uci.edu/rbfaq/FAQ/6.1.html

    You make me laugh when you quote yourself as proof to backup your claims...

    Report
  8. catzz66
    Archived post
    #8
    Quoted message said:


    I see you don't ride bike or you would know that it is primarily
    truckers (or wannabe truckers) with knobby tires, roaring dual pipes,
    black windows, jacked up chassis and wheels extending beyond the wheel
    wells that are harassing us in this region. It's a macho syndrome
    that is visible from a long way off.

    I once experienced such men sitting on a roadside bench at Summit
    Store in the Santa Cruz mountains, one of whom loudly said "Look,
    victims! Let's do for a drive" as we bicycled past. This is not new.

    http://draco.acs.uci.edu/rbfaq/FAQ/6.1.html

    Where I live, a trucker is someone who drives an 18 wheeler in the same
    way as a biker is someone who rides a motorcycle.

    Report
  9. Leo Lichtman
    Archived post
    #9

    <[email hidden]> wrote: I see you don't ride bike or you
    would know that it is primarily truckers (Quoted and clipped for brevity
    only--full text available in original post.)
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    Several years ago (Jobst, you may be old enough to remember) someone broke
    into the Oakland Zoo during the night and did horrible things to some of the
    animals. A zookeeper was quoted as saying that when they opened in the
    morning they knew something was wrong because the animals were afraid of
    them. These animals were suddenly afraid and hostile to the same humans
    they had learned to trust for years. I think all living creatures are
    programmed for survival, to identify those who threaten or harm them, as a
    group, in terms of visible differences from themselves. This may be an
    economical way of avoiding harm, but it is also productive of all kinds of
    prejudice.

    I see pickup trucks hauling bicycles. I own a pickup truck and five
    bicycles. Some pickup owners are hostile to bicyclists, but most are not.
    Some car drivers are hostile to us, but most are not. It is easy and
    natural to remember the bad things that happen--this can color your view of
    life, if you let it.

    Report
  10. Werehatrack
    Archived post
    #10
    Quoted message said:
    Mark Hickey said:

    Why the plural form of "trucker"?

    Quoted message said:

    Doesn't sound like a conspiracy or a team effort.

    Quoted message said:

    It's one yahoo in a pickup truck. Could be an SUV or a Buick.

    I see you don't ride bike or you would know that it is primarily
    truckers (or wannabe truckers) with knobby tires, roaring dual pipes,
    black windows, jacked up chassis and wheels extending beyond the wheel
    wells that are harassing us in this region. It's a macho syndrome
    that is visible from a long way off.

    I once experienced such men sitting on a roadside bench at Summit
    Store in the Santa Cruz mountains, one of whom loudly said "Look,
    victims! Let's do for a drive" as we bicycled past. This is not new.

    Pickups driven by [censored] are not piloted by "truckers", as the guys
    who drive the real monsters commercially will happily explain to you.
    *Truckers* despise the idiots of which you speak just as much as you
    do, in most cases.

    I'd call pickup pilots the Freds of truckdom, but that would be a
    gross and unwarranted slur of Freds.
    --
    Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
    Some gardening required to reply via email.
    Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

    Report
  11. Werehatrack
    Archived post
    #11
    Sorni said:

    "They'd get a picture of what it's like when you're peddling down the
    road and just how intimidating a car can be."

    A professional writer wrote that?

    Hmmm.

    I think he was misquoting. Or perhaps he fancied himself sufficiently
    psychic to know that the speaker quoted would have made a homonym
    error had the utterance been written.

    (A friend once responded to a declaration of "I know what you're
    thinking, but" with an interjection of "And you're still sane?
    Amazing."😉

    --
    Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
    Some gardening required to reply via email.
    Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

    Report
  12. Wayne Pein
    Archived post
    #12
    Leo Lichtman said:

    <[email hidden]> wrote: I see you don't ride bike or you
    would know that it is primarily truckers (Quoted and clipped for brevity
    only--full text available in original post.)
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

    Quoted message said:

    I see pickup trucks hauling bicycles. I own a pickup truck and five
    bicycles. Some pickup owners are hostile to bicyclists, but most are not.
    Some car drivers are hostile to us, but most are not. It is easy and
    natural to remember the bad things that happen--this can color your view of
    life, if you let it.

    At least a decade ago I read a collision report performed by King County
    WA that found that pickup trucks were overreprestented in collisions
    with bicyclists there. There were x percent of registered pickups, but x
    plus y percent of bicyclist-motor vehicle collisions involved pickups.

    A pickup driver is more likely to be an undereducated male, precisely
    the demographic that would be expected to be aggressive and ill
    informed. That said, I've been harassed by every demographic of person
    driving every type of motor vehicle. But its mostly men and its mostly
    trucks of all sorts.

    Wayne
    Chapel Hill NC

    Report
  13. Sorni
    Archived post
    #13
    Wayne Pein said:

    A pickup driver is more likely to be an undereducated male, precisely
    the demographic that would be expected to be aggressive and ill
    informed.

    The mind boggles at your bigotry.

    Report
  14. Wayne Pein
    Archived post
    #14
    Sorni said:
    Wayne Pein said:

    A pickup driver is more likely to be an undereducated male, precisely
    the demographic that would be expected to be aggressive and ill
    informed.

    The mind boggles at your bigotry.

    It's not bigotry at all. It's simple fact.

    Wayne

    Report
  15. Sorni
    Archived post
    #15
    catzz66 said:
    Wayne Pein said:
    Quoted message said:

    At least a decade ago I read a collision report performed by King
    County WA that found that pickup trucks were overreprestented in
    collisions with bicyclists there. There were x percent of registered
    pickups, but x plus y percent of bicyclist-motor vehicle collisions
    involved pickups. A pickup driver is more likely to be an undereducated
    male, precisely
    the demographic that would be expected to be aggressive and ill
    informed. That said, I've been harassed by every demographic of
    person driving every type of motor vehicle. But its mostly men and
    its mostly trucks of all sorts.

    Since I am a pickup driver and have been most of my adult life, I
    reject the stereotype of pickup driver as undereducated oaf. It
    probably varies with each of our localities, but the most hazardous
    drivers in my personal experience are the multitasking (but nowhere
    near as good at multitasking as they perceive themselves to be)
    luxury sedan and SUV drivers.

    BINGO.

    Report
  16. Specialized
    Archived post
    #16

    On Mon, 08 May 2006 20:12:02 GMT, Neil Brooks <[email hidden]>

    Quoted message said:
    Quoted message said:
    Quoted message said:

    The mind boggles at your bigotry.

    It's not bigotry at all. It's simple fact.

    Don't forget, they drink Budweiser, too!
    Just to make it really damning.... :-)

    Report
  17. catzz66
    Archived post
    #17
    Wayne Pein said:
    Quoted message said:

    At least a decade ago I read a collision report performed by King County
    WA that found that pickup trucks were overreprestented in collisions
    with bicyclists there. There were x percent of registered pickups, but x
    plus y percent of bicyclist-motor vehicle collisions involved pickups.

    A pickup driver is more likely to be an undereducated male, precisely
    the demographic that would be expected to be aggressive and ill
    informed. That said, I've been harassed by every demographic of person
    driving every type of motor vehicle. But its mostly men and its mostly
    trucks of all sorts.

    Since I am a pickup driver and have been most of my adult life, I reject
    the stereotype of pickup driver as undereducated oaf. It probably
    varies with each of our localities, but the most hazardous drivers in my
    personal experience are the multitasking (but nowhere near as good at
    multitasking as they perceive themselves to be) luxury sedan and SUV
    drivers.

    Report
  18. Neil Brooks
    Archived post
    #18
    Specialized said:

    On Mon, 08 May 2006 20:12:02 GMT, Neil Brooks <[email hidden]>

    Quoted message said:
    Quoted message said:

    > The mind boggles at your bigotry.
    >
    >

    It's not bigotry at all. It's simple fact.

    Don't forget, they drink Budweiser, too!
    Just to make it really damning.... :-)

    Please be careful with your attribution. What you said was my quote
    .... was not. It was Wayne Pein's quote.

    Report
  19. Wayne Pein
    Archived post
    #19
    catzz66 said:

    Since I am a pickup driver and have been most of my adult life, I reject
    the stereotype of pickup driver as undereducated oaf. It probably
    varies with each of our localities, but the most hazardous drivers in my
    personal experience are the multitasking (but nowhere near as good at
    multitasking as they perceive themselves to be) luxury sedan and SUV
    drivers.

    You can reject whatever fact you like. It still is true.

    Wayne

    Report
  20. Wayne Pein
    Archived post
    #20
    Sorni said:
    catzz66 said:
    Wayne Pein said:

    At least a decade ago I read a collision report performed by King
    County WA that found that pickup trucks were overreprestented in
    collisions with bicyclists there. There were x percent of registered
    pickups, but x plus y percent of bicyclist-motor vehicle collisions
    involved pickups. A pickup driver is more likely to be an undereducated
    male, precisely
    the demographic that would be expected to be aggressive and ill
    informed. That said, I've been harassed by every demographic of
    person driving every type of motor vehicle. But its mostly men and
    its mostly trucks of all sorts.

    Since I am a pickup driver and have been most of my adult life, I
    reject the stereotype of pickup driver as undereducated oaf. It
    probably varies with each of our localities, but the most hazardous
    drivers in my personal experience are the multitasking (but nowhere
    near as good at multitasking as they perceive themselves to be)
    luxury sedan and SUV drivers.

    BINGO.

    Folks, the fact the pickups drivers are more likely to be undereducated,
    risk taking males is not necessarily a reflection on you personally.

    Wayne

    Report

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