Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Student driver - no duh

Heading west on Heron tonight around 7:30, I was, as usual, preoccupied with dodging potholes while keeping an ear out for traffic behind me. It was twilight, a tetchy time of day, but I had all the lights going: a turtle on my helmet, a big flashing taillight, reflective patches on my pant legs and pannier.

And then, as I was coming up on a big field of potholes, I heard the engine behind me. I didn't realize it was an eighteen-wheeler until the massive cab loomed up beside me, far too close. Way, way too close. And then I hit the brakes hard, because there were potholes ahead of me and a gigantic transport truck passing me really, really close, and the damn thing just kept coming and coming like the Star Destroyer at the start of Star Wars.

When it was finally past me and I could start pedaling again, I found I was muttering, "'How's my driving? Call 1-800-yadda-yadda'" under my breath.

The truck had a left turn signal on that never seemed to amount to anything, although I wondered why the hell it hadn't gotten into the left lane before passing me: it's not like there was a ton of traffic. But I started to realize I was going to catch up to the truck, because it was at Heron and Bank waiting - and waiting and waiting - to turn right.

And then I saw the sign on the back that said, "Student Driver."

Great.

I whipped out my iPhone and got a picture of it before the light even turned green, hoping to get enough information off the back of the truck to identify the student driver in question, contact his trainers, and bring to their attention the fact that a transport truck should always, if possible, get over a lane to pass a cyclist, especially if their truck has no side guards.

But sadly, I'm not sure which bits of information on the back of this truck are actually useful: anyone have any ideas?



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3 comments:

  1. Matt RoseMarch 19, 2014 at 7:41 AM

    Unfortunately, the info you wanted is probably on the door of the Cab. Trailers are swapped out on a trip-by-trip basis, and usually have nothing to do with the driver.

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  2. CentretownerMarch 19, 2014 at 2:59 PM

    Lucky for you, this vehicle has also driven in Centretown, meaning I have photos of it too.

    There is nothing on the side of the yellow cab with identifying or contact info, other than the name of the company, "Crossroads Truck Training Academy", which is also on the back of the trailer. The cab had an identifying number 407 on the one pulling trailer 9828 when I saw it. You'd have to look up the company online, and the trailer's number plate (K65 59Y) may be useful, but for the company's purpose trailer 9828 is probably sufficient.

    Since this is a training vehicle, it is highly likely that the trailer is always, or almost always, connected to the same cab, and either way the company should have a record of who is driving which vehicle (as, I believe, is required for all commercial vehicles).

    The red print on the left door is merely a Crime Stoppers PSA.

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  3. Kathryn HuntMarch 19, 2014 at 8:07 PM

    Centretowner, you're a star! That's awesome.

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