Meet the "Atlanta Magnet Man" — a street cleaning hero

[frauenfelder]

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/03/01/meet-the-atlanta-magnet-man-a-street-cleaning-hero.html

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[Mindysan33]

[Shuck]

I suppose, given American car culture, it’s inevitable that some motorist will ironically try to drive him off the road, angry that a bicyclist is in his way… (assuming it hasn’t already happened).

[Mercenary_Garage]

A wonderful thing!

[drinkingcoffee]

kindof curious now - do any street sweepers or other ‘official’ road maintenance vehicles anywhere use magnets too?

[evadrepus]

I still have no issue with rock guy. I had a corner house…people love to drive over your yard, lawn, whatever to make a big sloppy turn.

[RustyBrooks]

I commuted by bike to work, and I “adopted” a couple of miles of road on my route that were close to my house. It’s actually a terrible road to commute on (and I don’t any more) - 50 mph speed limit that is regularly broken, poor visibility, etc. But the worst part is that it gets regularly street sweeped, but all the debris from the road ends up in the bike lane

So every day I’d pick up all the stuff that could puncture a tire and stuff it in my back pocket, and I deposited it in a box in the garage. I don’t know how much stuff I have in there but easily 20-30lbs, just like nails, screws, bolts, wire, stuff like that

I used to fantasize about commuting with a spray can in my back pocket, to paint all the hazards along the way - potholes, cracks, uneven pavement

[timd]

I think the picture is of a glass sweeper he wants to get, as far as I can tell his scrap metal bike uses a front mounted delivery box. (I was wondering how he didn’t get punctures every few yards, although the front wheels do look exposed).