D E S I G N /// ck

A hair raising experience on the road this morning prompted me to do something I don't usually do- send an angry email. Luckily the culprit was well marked:

To: karen.estes@knoxcac.org

Ma’am,

I bicycle commute down Western Ave. everyday and typically have no problem with cars passing me in a lane. However, this morning one of your buses showed that they are apparently unaware how to safely share the road with bicycles. Bus No. 3172 passed me between 11th St. and Henley St. without giving the legally required 3 feet of buffer space, which wasn’t so bad, but they also accelerated extremely rapidly while doing so. Bus No. 3172 could have easily caused an accident this way. I understand that your driver has a schedule to keep, but such driving behavior is very dangerous for bicyclists on the road. While one might expect this from a common driver, seeing it from a public vehicle with a commercially licensed driver is startling.

I am trying to be polite here, but I have to say that it makes me very angry to see a professional driver so flagrantly disregard the rights of others on the road. I trust that this letter will reach whomever it needs to so that the driver of 3172 will be reprimanded for his/her actions this morning. If your drivers don't know how to properly accommodate bicycles on the road I fear that accidents may be inevitable, especially in the downtown area where there are hundreds of bicyclists everyday.

Thank you for you attention to this matter-

Regards,

Christopher King

Which was promptly responded to:

Mr. King,

Thank you for your email. I am sorry that this occurred. I will follow
up with the driver and also check into some Bicycle Awareness Education
for all staff.


Thank you.

Karen Estes
Senior Manager
Knox County CAC Transit

Hopefully this will lead to good things.