Near Miss with West Windsor Township Fire Chief

8:53 a.m. I decided that morning to have my cell phone ready to take pictures and/or video of aggressive drivers. I happened to be recording video of cars as they passed. I barely got this video of a West Windsor Fire Chief truck as it passed me about 1.5 feet away. The road, which you can see has a very narrow shoulder, is not wide enough for a cyclist (who must ride to the left of the white lane) and a car to share the lane. It"s very clear from the video and pictures (from the video) that this township vehicle passed me extremely close AND forced the oncoming car to move over the white line.
Commented By :Chris Scherer Apr 25, 2008 11:06 AM EDT

Category:

Education

Tags:

• cycling
• bicycling
• advocacy

[BFO86]

Sorry, there's more than enough room to the right of the white line for you to ride your bike. If you can't fit yourself between the white line and the curb you're either obese or have brain damage.

And the Chief wasn't anywhere "extremely close" to you, you actually even clear him of wrong doing in your statement, because if he actually moved to avoid you and made the other car move over the white line, he actually tried to avoid you.

[wwbikeped]

I was riding within about six inches of the white line and the shoulder varied between 1.5' to 2.5'. He passed w/in 2'. AASHTO guidelines require 5 feet for a bike lane on this type of road (50 mph w/truck traffic). Based on NJ DOT guidelines, this road would require a 5 foot shoulder.

In the absence (and, really, presence) of those treatments, the bicyclist has the same rights as a motorist and is entitled to a 'safety zone' (see post below). The 'Chief' is obligated to pass safely...period.

[4whelrkd23]

lance armstrong wanna bes... think you own the road..

[wwbikeped]

By law in every state, bicycles are vehicles. Every vehicle operator must obey traffic principles, the first being: first come, first served. This means: "Each driver on the road is entitled to a 'safety zone', i.e. the space their vehicle occupies, plus reasonable clearance behind and to each side, and reasonable stopping distance in front of them. Other drivers who want to use this space must first yield to the driver already entitled to it."

[4whelrkd23]

thats the problem.. they arent vehicles.. you dont drive them on the interstate. and why drive on a road with barely any shoulder.. to me thats asking to have an accident

[wwbikeped]

NJ Law

39:4-14.1 Rights and Duties of Persons on Bicycles.

Every person riding a bicycle on a roadway is granted all the rights and subject to all of the duties of the motor vehicle driver.

[pumper8032]

Filming while you rode?.. Recipie for death my friend! Maybe wise up a little, and concentrate on riding rather than filming cars..

IMO.

[trainman6944]

My opinion... a bicycle has no business on a highway that does not have designated riding areas, or at least a decent shoulder. But what can I say, you cannot argue with the laws. Thing that gets me so bad is when they stay in the middle of the lane and won't move. That's when the good old air horn gets a chance to voice it's opinion.

[medic2556]

If you want to use the "Laws of the road" arguement, then by law, you are not to drive and use your cell phone. By posting this, you give video proof you violated the law. He was moving over to give you room to operate, when you ride on a road that has a 40 mph speed limit, you expect every vehicle to slow to 10 mph because you are there? Welcome to NJ, ride at your own risk.

[CycleMan2200]

Its not exackly smart to be holding a cell phone shooting video while you ride. But then again that guy was a freaking moron for not slowing down at least a little. Glad you were not hit.

[carbonfirefighter23]

ok so your throwing a pissy fit because you almost got run over by the chief, but isn't it just as dangerous to be video taping while driving?

[ctm9851]

If he is passing you, did s/he have his lights and/or siren? If so, you are in the wrong for not yielding the right of way and pulling over. If they passed you with out either of those, then ok, they are in the wrong.

[montco73]

the chances of a trained emergency professional causing an accident by passing other vehicles on narrow roads are much less than you trying to take pictures/video while you are driving

[watchingvideoguy]

guess yeah the person shouldnt have been riding there bike or what ever on the road but that chief could of slowed down and passed it wasnt like anything was that close on the other side of the road.