Friday, July 13, 2012

On July 4, 2012, I was riding on Wilson Road (4 lanes), less than half a mile from home, minding my own business, when a truck came upon me and honked its horn.  I motioned to the second lane to indicate that I would not be getting out of his way but that he was free to pass me any time he wished.  Then he went around me, ran me off the road with his trailer as he moved back over, brake-checked me, and got on the freeway to speed away.  Not the brightest thing to do in a marked vehicle.  Did I mention it was a tanker truck full of flammable fuel?  Nice, right?

Of course I filed a police report, and then I contacted the company that owned the truck.  They got back to me immediately and informed me that they had investigated, that the driver had been honest and confessed to his actions, and that they were prescribing some corrective actions against the driver.  He was put on unpaid leave for 3 days, and when he returns, he will spend a day in a defensive driving training course, where, among other things, he will learn about road rage and how to prevent it.  The situation on the 4th will also be broken down piece-by-piece so that he can learn from his mistakes and, hopefully, make better decisions next time.

I completely agree with this course of corrective action.  It is much more satisfying to have a small punishment like the short suspension followed by a learning experience than to have him fired or even charged in criminal court.  This day of training which he will attend may well prevent him from doing anything so stupid again, which could potentially take someone's life.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Today as I was approaching my last turn on the way home, as I started to move into the turn lane, a car whizzed by me nearly hitting me.  I caught up to it at the next light (shows how much good nearly killing me actually did) and told the driver that she had almost hit me.  I was yelling at first (you would be too if your life had just been threatened), so you know what I expected to hear back.  Instead, the woman calmly told me that she was sorry and that she hadn't known I was going to move as she tried to pass me (never mind the fact that I signaled my turn and that she was left of center since I moved as soon as the left turn lane opened up). Then I told her that there's a yellow line there for a reason and thanked her.  Why can't all motorists be like that?