McGrath Lexus Driving Into Traffic at Elston & Division - Insights Needed

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Joe Asbury on November 19, 2011 at 5:34pm

While I am impressed with Mr. Douglass' response to this Chainlink concern, my overall experience with their dealership and repair shop has been very negative. Over the course of two years I paid them thousands to address suspension and ride issues, with each subsequent repair more costly than the previous. It was a nightmare that might have been avoided if someone with expertise had taken a few moments to consider if the exhorbitantly costly repairs made sense given my car's likely prognosis. In the end, I sold the car for far less than McGrath took from me in fees. Not everyone who drives a Lexus has bottomless pockets.

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Permalink Reply by Ian on November 19, 2011 at 7:26pm

Katie and John - 

 

Wow.   Great job to both of you for resolving a problem without conflict and possibly saving a life.  

 

This seems like a good time to mention that although I am not a McGrath customer (yet), I was impressed that they have installed a couple of baby and child car seats for me in non-Lexus and non-McGrath vehicles for no charge. One of their service managers is certified for this and the Chicago Police and Fire Departments don't offer it.  The three times I came in, I did not have to wait, was treated well, and was patiently shown correct installation techniques.  Thank you to McGrath for being a good neighbor and responsible member of our community.

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Permalink Reply by jonathan on November 20, 2011 at 9:30am

I like the No left Turn sign solution

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Permalink Reply by Darren Knox on November 20, 2011 at 7:35pm

While it's probably not usual for an auto distributor to make such concessions to the bicycle community maybe we should take a step back and look at this with a little perspective.

The situation: employees of a car dealership at a busy intersection have been reckless and dangerous for a while. Instead of addressing what was probably a pretty obvious problem on their own, this dealership had to be prompted by people who feared for their lives on numerous occasions before doing anything.

So now that leaves us lowly cyclists giving them high fives for doing the sane thing rather than being completely dangerous. If the death or injury of a cyclist was the impetus for this change would we be thanking them so gratuitously? I think not.

The fact is that we live in a city where drivers are dangerous regularly. We don't have to thank them for being safe only after we call them out. We deserve a lot better than that.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin C on November 20, 2011 at 7:52pm

John Douglas found this link on his own. According to Katie, she had not yet approached McGrath Lexus regarding the problem. Is there a safe guarding of inventory component to the prompt action? Probably. But I certainly think high fives are deserved for a car dealership to have behaved so proactively. My thanks are not gratuitous.

The death or injury of a cyclist was NOT the impetus for this change.

With respect to your perception that "drivers are dangerous regularly," my perception is that I have far more positive interactions with cars than negative ones.

Darren Knox said:

While it's probably not usual for an auto distributor to make such concessions to the bicycle community maybe we should take a step back and look at this with a little perspective.

The situation: employees of a car dealership at a busy intersection have been reckless and dangerous for a while. Instead of addressing what was probably a pretty obvious problem on their own, this dealership had to be prompted by people who feared for their lives on numerous occasions before doing anything.

So now that leaves us lowly cyclists giving them high fives for doing the sane thing rather than being completely dangerous. If the death or injury of a cyclist was the impetus for this change would we be thanking them so gratuitously? I think not.

The fact is that we live in a city where drivers are dangerous regularly. We don't have to thank them for being safe only after we call them out. We deserve a lot better than that.

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Permalink Reply by notoriousDUG on November 20, 2011 at 7:57pm

How would they know it was an issue?

 

I very much doubt the management of the dealership is out there watching traffic.  I think you are working very hard to view this in a negative light when it is, in the big picture, a positive.  While I will concede that, in part, you are right; we should not be praising people for behaving as they should after being called on it think if it like this:

 

• Some people who work for, visit or just cut through the lot at McGrath have been acting like fools when it comes to driving.
• It was pointed out and management who were not aware of the problem, instead of being defensive, decided to look into the problem.
• Upon review they found people working for them to be responsible for part of the problem and took steps to fix it.
• They found people they have no connection to doing it and took steps to help prevent it.

 

So where in there had Mcgrath done anything wrong in the first place other than not have a great location when it comes to access?

 

Darren Knox said:

While it's probably not usual for an auto distributor to make such concessions to the bicycle community maybe we should take a step back and look at this with a little perspective.

The situation: employees of a car dealership at a busy intersection have been reckless and dangerous for a while. Instead of addressing what was probably a pretty obvious problem on their own, this dealership had to be prompted by people who feared for their lives on numerous occasions before doing anything.

So now that leaves us lowly cyclists giving them high fives for doing the sane thing rather than being completely dangerous. If the death or injury of a cyclist was the impetus for this change would we be thanking them so gratuitously? I think not.

The fact is that we live in a city where drivers are dangerous regularly. We don't have to thank them for being safe only after we call them out. We deserve a lot better than that.

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Permalink Reply by Darren Knox on November 20, 2011 at 8:45pm

Its true I don't know if the management had a clue about the reckless driving. It doesn't seem a stretch that if people commuting on that part of the street saw dangerous behavior then the management who works there every day might have seen it too. It also seems that parking giant trucks in the bike lane is part of their normal operations which is something the management is surely aware of.

Regardless, I don't think we should congratulate them for being sane and doing the right thing after being so irresponsible and I don't think that having a bad location is a good excuse for being dangerous.

I think those that were dangerous should be held accountable for their actions. What is happening to the employees that were caught on camera? Are they getting fired? Are they getting tickets? Nope, they just getting a stern talking to and promising never to do it again. If they do it again will they be fired? Are "chicago's finest" giving tickets to trucks parked in the bike lane?

I don't normally post to the chainlink but when I saw the newsletter something just hit me wrong. I think we cyclists take a lot of abuse (middle fingers, horns, getting hit, doors, yelling, passing too close etc.etc.) on a regular basis with little or no recourse. So, when people make concessions for us it seems like we've won a battle. I'm not trying to be anti-car here and I know there are a lot of responsible drivers out there on the road but if we just see reckless driving as a fact of life and feel vindicated when dangerous drivers get a slap on the wrist then something's really wrong. I think that we should hold everyone to a much higher standard than that. Otherwise, what happens when someone DOES get killed or injured? Well, oops! It's just a fact of life.

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Permalink Reply by Meg Matthews on November 20, 2011 at 8:50pm

In this economy, do you really want to fire someone for an infraction like that? I don't. I think the business did everything they could without over- or under-reacting.

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Permalink Reply by Michelle Gregorek on November 20, 2011 at 9:11pm

+1

For Chicago to get where the plan/vision sees, it is just this sort of thing that needs to be applauded.  I talk bicycle commuting all the time anymore, so much that my kids and grandchildren are starting to wonder just what has happened to me, lol. 

There is so much education that needs to be done.  When the bike share program gets to Chicago I believe things will change quickly.  More people on bikes of course brings on the safety in numbers, but it will also get more car drivers on a bike and that will help them to understand just what we face.

I have linked to this thread as much as my limited online social networking can do.  I would love to see this covered on the television and print news. 

 

Meg Matthews said:

In this economy, do you really want to fire someone for an infraction like that? I don't. I think the business did everything they could without over- or under-reacting.

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Permalink Reply by in it to win it 8.0 mi on November 21, 2011 at 11:10am

-1

 

You're applying a lot of generalities to a specific business.  Focus don't continue to divide.

 

 

 

Darren Knox said:

Its true I don't know if the management had a clue about the reckless driving. It doesn't seem a stretch that if people commuting on that part of the street saw dangerous behavior then the management who works there every day might have seen it too. It also seems that parking giant trucks in the bike lane is part of their normal operations which is something the management is surely aware of.

Regardless, I don't think we should congratulate them for being sane and doing the right thing after being so irresponsible and I don't think that having a bad location is a good excuse for being dangerous.

I think those that were dangerous should be held accountable for their actions. What is happening to the employees that were caught on camera? Are they getting fired? Are they getting tickets? Nope, they just getting a stern talking to and promising never to do it again. If they do it again will they be fired? Are "chicago's finest" giving tickets to trucks parked in the bike lane?

I don't normally post to the chainlink but when I saw the newsletter something just hit me wrong. I think we cyclists take a lot of abuse (middle fingers, horns, getting hit, doors, yelling, passing too close etc.etc.) on a regular basis with little or no recourse. So, when people make concessions for us it seems like we've won a battle. I'm not trying to be anti-car here and I know there are a lot of responsible drivers out there on the road but if we just see reckless driving as a fact of life and feel vindicated when dangerous drivers get a slap on the wrist then something's really wrong. I think that we should hold everyone to a much higher standard than that. Otherwise, what happens when someone DOES get killed or injured? Well, oops! It's just a fact of life.

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Permalink Reply by notoriousDUG on November 21, 2011 at 1:03pm

Considering how many places regularly do the wrong thing I think it is worth congratulating them for doing the right thing now.  Considering I once had a knife pulled on me by a manager of a business for arguing with a valet who almost doored me I consider McGrath's behavior to be worth lauding.

 

You would really want to fire somebody over this? 

 

Darren Knox said:

Its true I don't know if the management had a clue about the reckless driving. It doesn't seem a stretch that if people commuting on that part of the street saw dangerous behavior then the management who works there every day might have seen it too. It also seems that parking giant trucks in the bike lane is part of their normal operations which is something the management is surely aware of.

Regardless, I don't think we should congratulate them for being sane and doing the right thing after being so irresponsible and I don't think that having a bad location is a good excuse for being dangerous.

I think those that were dangerous should be held accountable for their actions. What is happening to the employees that were caught on camera? Are they getting fired? Are they getting tickets? Nope, they just getting a stern talking to and promising never to do it again. If they do it again will they be fired? Are "chicago's finest" giving tickets to trucks parked in the bike lane?

I don't normally post to the chainlink but when I saw the newsletter something just hit me wrong. I think we cyclists take a lot of abuse (middle fingers, horns, getting hit, doors, yelling, passing too close etc.etc.) on a regular basis with little or no recourse. So, when people make concessions for us it seems like we've won a battle. I'm not trying to be anti-car here and I know there are a lot of responsible drivers out there on the road but if we just see reckless driving as a fact of life and feel vindicated when dangerous drivers get a slap on the wrist then something's really wrong. I think that we should hold everyone to a much higher standard than that. Otherwise, what happens when someone DOES get killed or injured? Well, oops! It's just a fact of life.

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Permalink Reply by Cameron 7.5 mi on November 21, 2011 at 1:48pm

While in a perfect world the problem would have never existed and there would be no reason to thank the management for addressing it, we live in a far from perfect world. When raising a concern with a business's management for the first time I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt for two reasons. First, it's impossible for them to know everything their employes are doing all the time. If they could always be there watching, then they wouldn't need employees they could do everything themselves. If I don't know that the problem has been brought to them before, then I assume that this is the first they've heard of it. Second, many dangerous things that drivers do that seem so obviously wrong from a cyclist's perspective are less obvious to someone who has never cycled in traffic. While ideally everyone driving would know how to do so safely, this sadly isn't the case. Assuming that the driver is a fundamentally good person that doesn't mean to drive dangerously and they just need some education is more likely to have a positive outcome.

 

Given that I would say that McGarth jumping on concerns the moment they were raised is a good outcome. In fact compared to other experiences I've had raising concerns to businesses, it's a down right amazing out come. While I've never had knife drawn on me like Doug, I've had more than few negative experiences talking to restaurant managers about their valets.

Darren Knox said:

While it's probably not usual for an auto distributor to make such concessions to the bicycle community maybe we should take a step back and look at this with a little perspective.

The situation: employees of a car dealership at a busy intersection have been reckless and dangerous for a while. Instead of addressing what was probably a pretty obvious problem on their own, this dealership had to be prompted by people who feared for their lives on numerous occasions before doing anything.

So now that leaves us lowly cyclists giving them high fives for doing the sane thing rather than being completely dangerous. If the death or injury of a cyclist was the impetus for this change would we be thanking them so gratuitously? I think not.

The fact is that we live in a city where drivers are dangerous regularly. We don't have to thank them for being safe only after we call them out. We deserve a lot better than that.

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