On my way home today on Reynolds St. I was being followed by a Shady Side Academy bus driver from about Linden, and fairly close. We both stopped at the red on South Dallas. As I pulled up to the stop sign at S Lang and slowed he came within what seemed like a foot of me and I rolled through, pulled aside and let him pass me. Ten seconds later at the circle at Homewood Ave he slowed and put on his blinkers to let someone off. I slowed to let the person get off, but when it became clear they weren't getting off anytime soon, I hopped the sidewalk to pass.
As I am passing the bus he yells out for me to come see him. I almost didn't do it, but wanted to apologize to him and move along. He starts in on me how I should share the road so I try to tell him he needs to give me three feet when he passes and a little back and fourth begins.
He was clearly not happy with cyclists in general but I am not happy with how I handled the situation.
it's interesting because that street is plastered with "watch for bicyclists" signs and is a major route between frick and mellon parks. it's ashame that it has to come to that, but bus drivers also shouldn't think that they are the enforcement, judge, and jury. they are professional drivers and should know how to deal with driving on the street safely.
I like the thought about bus drivers in this post:
I feel like I once had the opinion that bus drivers had the character of Santa Claus or Papa Smurf. Older, wise, and patient. Understanding and careful. With the return of school, there are more busses on the road headed off to pick little Dick and Jane up for a trip to/from school. I'm reminded just how wrong I once was about bus drivers. Commuter advice; steer clear of any school bus. Drivers seem impatient and reckless around cyclists.
"I hopped the sidewalk to pass."
that is clearly illegal.
It's not illegal to ride bicycles on the sidewalk in residential areas. Only in business districts (unless otherwise allowed) is it restricted. rsprake was well within his rights to take to the sidewalk.
The bus driver was clearly interpreting the "share the road" concept to mean "get out of my way, I'm bigger and more important than you are." His riding so close was a sort of pressure to encourage the cyclist to fear for his life and yield the road rather than share.
On the other hand, Pennsylvania has no law specifying how much space a passing vehicle must give a bicycle, or that they must show any special consideration at all.
does anyone know what happened to the potential of a 3 (or 4) ft passing law here?
only about a month ago i thought it was due to be up for voting, but haven't heard anything.
"It's not illegal to ride bicycles on the sidewalk in residential areas."
It is illegal to pass a school bus when its flashers are on.
"It's not illegal to ride bicycles on the sidewalk in residential areas."
It is illegal to pass a school bus when its flashers are on.
I suspect this a blurry line, as you can walk past a stopped bus on the sidewalk.
I would not likely pass a stopped bus on the sidewalk, though.
Legal or not, I would not ride a bicycle on a sidewalk next to a school bus whose flashers are on. Chances are excellent for a cycle-pedestrian accident.
I would have no problem, however, with dismounting the bike and walking it on the sidewalk past a stopped school bus; then, once a suitable distance ahead of the bus, if it is still stopped, to resume riding in the street.
I was barely moving went I rode on to the sidewalk.
I normally wouldn't have done it. I am usually a very careful rider, it was just that he passed me with such anger only to stop in front of me not 50 feet away. Why couldn't he have just waited to get around me?
This post was more about me and how I handled the situation, I wanted to get it off my chest and see what some others thought.
If you think that is annoying... I had a little run in with a Port Authority bus driver about a week ago. I was about to put my bike on the bike rack and he was like "Hey, this isn't a bike route bus!" And I was like "It doesn't matter, you use the bike racks on any route!" and he was like "No you can't, I'm leaving!" I yelled out "I'm reporting your dumbass!" but I couldn't get the tiny bus number in time to do so.
Given date, exact time, intersection (or stop), route and direction, they can positively identify the operator.
I recommend using the website, rather than the phone, to report complaints. From the main menu, use Company Info / Contact Information / Complaints, then fill out the form. Use "9999" for Vehicle Number and Operator Number if you don't have them.
