Almost Getting Run Over (Or, Steinhafels Sucks)

Last evening on our Tuesday night ride we almost got wasted by a Steinhafels truck. Steinhafels for those of you not in Wisconsin is one of the larger furniture store chains. We were riding east on Highland Road in Mequon at about 5:30 pm (if any of you work at this place look at the driver log and find out who this dick head is, I'd like to get him fired). We were riding on the shoulder of the road and the driver of the delivery truck was literally hugging the white line while driving at an excessive rate of speed. He was inches off of our left elbows and had one of us slipped or swerved due to the crumbling asphalt or the wind we would have had no place to go but under his wheels. There was zero margin for error.

Let me quote a few of the Wisconsin Statutes pertaining to bicycling;

1) Section 346.80(2)(a) states that a cyclist should ride as far to the right as is practicable (not as far right as possible). Practicable means safe and reasonable. Unsafe surface conditions is one of the listed situations where riding far to the right is not practicable. This was the case last evening. The shoulder was full of cracked and crumbling asphalt making bicycle travel tricky, at best. Bicyclists have the right to be in the lane of traffic and are not required to ride on the shoulder. In fact, some municipalities prohibit riding on the shoulder, feeling that it is safer for bicyclists to have an established position in the lane of traffic. We were however, right of the white line and not in the lane of traffic at all times.

2) Section 346.02(4)(a) states that the operator of a bicycle is granted the same rights and subject to the same duties as the driver of any other vehicle.

3) Section 346.80(3)(a) states that riding two-abreast is permitted on any street as long as other traffic is not impeded. I add this one because we're constantly getting honked and/or yelled at anytime we're not in single file. There appears to be a wide-spread and complete misunderstanding of this law by motorists. We were in single file at the time of the incident.

4) This one is key; Section 346.075(1) - The operator of a motor vehicle overtaking a bicycle proceeding in the same direction shall exercise due care, leaving a safe distance, but in no case less than 3 feet of clearance when passing a bicycle, and shall maintain clearance until safely past the overtaken bicycle. In no case less than 3 feet, 4 is better, 5 is great. This one is violated frequently and was certainly violated by the Steinhafels driver. Jerk.

Anyway, had one of us been crushed by this knucklehead and his truck, both he and Steinhafels would be facing a huge financial and public relations disaster. And we and our families, well, I don't even want to go there. There is simply no excuse for this type of driving or behavior.

I only wish that I hadn't been so pumped up on adrenaline that I would have thought to note the plate number, had I been able to see it in the fraction of a second that he was close enough for one to read it.

Don't buy anything from Steinhafels, we shouldn't enable this type of activity.

Click the link below to view some bicycle rules and safety tips from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Hey Steinhafels! Have your bone-headed drivers review this.

Bicycle Safety Tips

There, I feel better now.