On my way home on Wednesday, I was buzzed (within one foot) by a driver for a company called MedSpeed. I called their corporate HQ in Illinois, was connected to their local manager. I told him the story (leaving out the fact that I had hi-def video) and he promised to investigate.
He called me back today to tell me that the driver has been disciplined, and a subsequent issue will result in her losing her job. He apologized on behalf of the company, and said that they take this type of thing very seriously.
I don't want anyone to lose their job, but I don't want to lose my life either...I am satisified with their response, and looking forward to the day when I don't have to make these calls.
i've called UPS and got a similar response. I felt very similar about not wanting someone to lose their job, but there's a simple solution...don't drive like an asshole. It's so difficult to give actual feedback to drivers, and this is one of the few tools that we have, and if it saves the destroying of someone's life, then so be it
Hey, if this person's job is driving, it's only a matter of time before their careless actions harm someone if left uncorrected.
Think of it as saving the person from themselves, and/or jail time. 
The sad thing is these drivers may as well be a bunch of robots anymore. They are all GPS tracked and start getting chewed out if they are running late or even too early even if the reason is TRAFFIC or something outside of their control.
I'm not saying they should run bikers off the road etc., I am just saying they are in the middle of a crappy situation. I've sat there on the PAT busses watching the drivers having to put up with the rude-ass customers, drunks screaming and yelling, bad drivers -- (a group which many of these drivers also belong to), etc...
And THEN hear them getting simultaneously being chewed out over the radio for running late to the stops along their route — when a giant traffic jam or some other uncontrollable event is causing EVERYONE (except the cyclists) to be running late that morning.
That is why if I were a bus driver I would get so angry within a week I would just leave the bus parked in the middle of the Route 51 / 88 intersection (or equivalent), and just walk off the bus, throw my bus driver hat in the garbage and never come back.
Same goes for UPS drivers and maybe even pizza delivery drivers now (but they probably need to supply their OWN iphone or other tracking device).
I think you did right. You were not trying to get someone fired, just trying not to get killed. Big difference.
it amazes me how many otherwise normal, caring people don't even think to wait when it's unsafe to pass a bicyclist. i was at a party a few weeks ago, when the four foot passing law came up. this was a pretty common refrain, and one i've heard before: but what if i can't give them four feet? what if traffic conditions don't allow it? it doesn't even occur to them that waiting is an option.
i'm glad to hear this was handled so well. hopefully it provides a learning experience to the driver, and not just more fodder for rage. maybe next time the driver will realize that you're not just another car for which a "fender bender" is no big deal.
The sad thing is these drivers may as well be a bunch of robots anymore. They are all GPS tracked and start getting chewed out if they are running late or even too early even if the reason is TRAFFIC or something outside of their control.
aside from PAT, do you have knowledge of this? Many of these people do the same routes every day, so they know what traffic will be like on a normal day. In my case, most UPS drivers are very courteous, and this one was a serious problem to my well being, so i called him in. I've had hundreds of non-noteworthy times where i've passed, or a UPS driver passed me safely. Why this guy was so special is beyond me.
There is no excuse for driving like an idiot. I've known people who worked for UPS specifically who hated it for the whole "being tracked all day long" reason. I heard a story recently about a truck driver getting fired for being an hour late making a delivery across several states as well. I mean...
Anyway, I wasn't saying it was a bad idea to call a company regarding a maniac driver. If the driver can't handle that stress they obviously should not be driving a company vehicle for a living.
You can roughly estimate what your time should be if you drive the same route every day and be pretty accurate. However, even when I go to work the same general route every day, there have been times it took an hour instead of the normal 20 minutes.
I'm guessing that no one loses their job because one person calls up and complains. Could be different with video, of course.
Either the person has a few complaints or the complaint dept is telling people what they want to hear.
