Warm. Warmer. Disco!

This is an updated (and slightly less harsh) version of a previous post I did for Waterloobikes.ca

PLEASE NOTE THESE ARE MY OBSERVATIONS ONLY!!!
This is my Top 6 List of road hogs! Sometimes it seems like a contest on who can come closest to me. Well, time to be named and shamed!! These are in order of furthest away from me as they go around me to the closest brush encounters:

#6 - School Buses

Big Yellow Menace

Don't get me wrong, they aren't terrible, but they have to make the list. For some reason these buses feel it necessary to speed around you wide, but cut back as quickly as possible, almost forgetting that the bus extends beyond the 3rd row of students. If the bus is empty? Even worse!

 #5 - Men in older model Mini-Vans
I don't know what it is, but this is a crazy phenomenon that I have witnessed countless times. Women in mini-vans steer well clear and give plenty of room, doesn't matter if the model is new or old. They seem to have respect. Toss a dude in that same seat and they turn into some sort of bitter crank-pot who is angry they have to drive said mini-van I suppose and therefore feel it necessary to take out their aggression on us poor cyclists by shading ever closer to the side we are on.

#4 - City Buses

GRRRRRT

I think every cyclist out there would agree that it is very dependent on the driver of each City transit behemouth whether or not you are going to feel death coming on.




#3 - Oversized Trucks
See"Monster Truck" but street legal sort-of. Anything with big tires and a big ego along with it are clear winners in the "i'm bigger than you and I can squish you so get outta my way" race. Clearly I, the cycle-commuter, am a much less superior being than you who drives a gigantic, nuclear weapon of a truck. Kudos to  you on coming ever so close.

#2 - Lowend mid-sized vehicles

Low End Indeed!

I'm not sure why, but this is a crazy phenomenon. I think it might have to do with the age of the drivers of these cars. Typically this is an older model Grand-Prix, Ford Taurus or Chevy Cavalier driven by a 20-30ish aged person. Usually females drive closer than males from my observation. It could be that the car is just so junky they figure that if they hit something they can just bang out the dent my head makes without much issue or they can just dump the car and get a new one for a cheap price.



 
#1 - Cabs
Without question, the WORST for coming close, for speeding by and for just plain being annoying. Do these guys drive all day and not actually look in their mirrors? Are they so sleep deprived that they cannot see me and my 2 red flashing lights and reflective jacket? I have had more close calls with these people than any of the above combined.

Some honorable mentions:
Dump Trucks and Cement Trucks: Not consistent, but can be too close if it is late in the day and they are probably on overtime.
Late Model SUV's and Pickup Trucks: Has to be a specific type of driver.'


-- Brendan L., Communitech