Guy show remarkable restraint when attacked by mob of arrogant morons.
Posted on 8/26/2009, 2:09:33 PM by dennisw
BOCA RATON — A 69-year-old Delray Beach man discovered the perils of not doing enough for bicyclists to think he was sharing the road with them.
A group of angry cyclists confronted him last week, accusing him of passing them too closely on State Road A1A in Boca Raton.
According to Boca Raton police, one cyclist reached into the car, grabbed Miles Barish and threatened to beat him while other cyclists punched and kicked his 2008 Lexus convertible.
The cyclist, Thomas McDonald, 50, of Lighthouse Point, was arrested and charged with simple assault and battery on a person older than 65. He also was charged with burglary.
McDonald could not be reached to comment, despite attempts by phone.
"I didn't even know it was coming," Barish said of the cyclists' reaction.
He was heading to dinner on A1A with his convertible top down Aug. 13 when he came upon a group of cyclists riding in front of him. They were taking up the entire lane, he said. He tapped his horn a couple of times to let them know he was passing, Barish said.
He said he went into the opposite lane, passed the group and then stopped for the traffic light at Palmetto Park Road. That's when he felt someone grab his neck from behind, he said.
"He said I came too close to him and I could have injured him," Barish said. "I didn't clip anybody. They surrounded my car. They walked on the hood of my car. They kicked in the doors."
Some witnesses, according to a police report, said Barish hit one of the bicycles as he was passing the group of cyclists.
McDonald told police he never touched Barish and was trying to calm everyone down. He said Barish hit him on the jaw.
Bob Sabin, president of the Boca Raton Bicycle Club, said drivers often pass cyclists too closely, sometimes clipping them with their side-view mirrors without the driver realizing it.
"People usually don't do it intentionally," said Sabin, who doesn't know McDonald or the group he rides with. "They come a lot closer a lot of the time."
When that happens or when a car suddenly cuts off a cyclist, "you feel like someone is trying to kill you," he said. "I know I've gotten hot under the collar when that happens."
But attacking drivers isn't the answer, he added.
And the bicyclists might not have been following the rules of the road. Barish told police about 30 cyclists were taking an entire lane. According to state law, it's illegal for cyclists to obstruct traffic by riding more than two abreast.
West Palm Beach cyclist Raphael Clemente said he used to participate in the twice-weekly group ride involved in the Aug. 13 dispute. But he stopped because of the hostility between cyclists and drivers resulting from the cyclists' rude behavior, he said.
"It increases the level of friction when cyclists act like that," he said.
Barish said his car has about $4,000 damage, with dents and scratches on parts of it, including the hood and trunk. Even a speaker was torn out, he said.
He said he isn't angry about the incident and thinks the cyclists were lucky. Barish, who has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, was carrying a gun that day.
"In another minute or so I was going to take out my gun and take a couple of them out," he said. "I don't think the whole road belongs to them."
Shouting match between FR riders and cagers in 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . .
So, exactly how much do bicycles pay in road tax every year?
"Critical Mass"????
They don't say ... but I suspect.
Lexus driver = pr*ck. Someone pulled the speaker out? Yeah right.
Guy show remarkable restraint when attacked by mob of arrogant morons.
So what?
Assault and battery of persons LESS than 65 years of age is not a crime in Florida?
Fer shur ... the jackass quotient on this thread is guaranteed to be high.
i go through this all the time here. i cannot stand the militant bicycle riders who think they own the road. most of the time there is a bicycle lane and yet they take up the whole lane and dont let you pass. i actually had a bicycle rider catch up to me at a red light on a 3 lane road. i was in the middle lane and yet somehow i was too close to him. he banged on my window trying to fight, if my son wasnt in the car with me i dont know how far he would have gone...also i dont know how far i would have gone.
I am a cager.
But I also ride a bike.
CM’ers are jerks.
The spandex nazis strike again. A broom handle in the spokes is good for what ails them.
Cyclists think they own the entire road. He should be fined $500 for not running them all over. /satire
WOW, just because someone drives a Lexus they are a pr!ck? what car makes someone not a pr!ck? i am glad your not the car czar....
I’m thinking that a bicyclist who reaches in my car and grabs me is going to be met with either a .45 or 357sig to the face. Then he can pedal his case all the way to St Peter.
No matter how “feel good” it is to do the “progressive” thing and try to incoroporte bikes into automobile traffic, it is a bad idea.
Bicycles and autombiles don’t mix.
Oh, and if motorcyclists want to be seen amid automobile traffic they need to wear mango orange instead of tough-guy black from head to toe.
I am also of the opinion that bicycles belong on the sidewalk. If they want to use the road, then let them license their bikes, carry insurance along with proof and get a road permit.
This statement I believe to be 100% accurate, based upon what I have observed. I do not believe this was malicious intent on the biker's part, more of a self-involved, self-centered neglect for anyone that was not on a bicycle around him. When you are exercising, you tend to 'zone out' and are only aware of the immediate environment, which consists of other bikers. But, this goes a bit further, this goes into biker arrogance.
Let's see, I paid $86 for tags for my 150cc Scooter, $186 for tags for the Acura and $139 for my Tacoma. I pay some portion of tax on every gallon of gas I buy for roads.
I pay zero for my bike, and while I can bike on any road I chose, there are also trails that are build for bikes ONLY that no motor vehicle can use. For this bounty, I paid NOTHING, I am entitled to it, I deserve it and how dare you even consider causing me to downshift as I pedal in front of you.
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