Posted on 01/10/2010 9:51:23 PM PST by Chet 99
I don't think he showed remorse immediately. His first comment to the cops was that his did it to teach them a lesson. When he called 911, the driver, an emergency room doctor, told the dispatcher that the cyclist's injuries weren't serious, even though the man's nose was nearly sliced off and the trunk of the doctor's car was covered in blood. It was probably when they were picking the cyclists teeth out of his backseat and he realized that he was in serious trouble that he began his show of remorse.
For this show of honesty and remorse he gets five years in the slammer?>
No, he's getting five years in the slammer for being convicted of six felony counts including assault with a deadly weapon, battery with serious bodily injury, reckless driving causing specified bodily injury, and mayhem.
He'd also had two earlier incidents, with less drastic consequences, but the DA's office had declined to press charges those times.
Not arrogance, it is the law. You migth want to look into your won laws because unless they specifically prohibit it then it is you who are in the wrong.
Yep it’s true. We used to belong to a cyclist group here locally and out of 50 people only 2 were liberalsand they eventually dropped out because we ruined their ride. *eyeroll*
Which is why serious cyclist avoid the bike paths. The one time my wife was injured riding her bike was on a bike path. She was going dead slow, but a little kid on his bike erratically shot across her path and so avoid him she crashed her bike, cracking her elbow. The kid's father didn't even acknowledge her. On the street, at least everyone's going the same direction.
Well, I despise spandex, but it’s because of the way mu butt looks when I wear it.
I have been on both sides of this equation, and have seen plenty of wrong from both directions. People, plainly stated, can be idiots.
I come into contact with physicians fairly frequently. There are some whose egos are inflated to the point where they think they can do no wrong. Many times we have been taught “lessons” by a doctor with poor listening skills who is not on-scene. I have been to multiple incidents where a physician has insinsted that we restrain a person who is alert and oriented so we can transport them against their will. If we refuse, we are often instructed to exaggerate or lie to the patient to get them to agree to be transported. Often this is for someone who had some sort of indigestion which was relived by burping or farting before we arrived. Some doctors feel that their decision is absolute despite what we or the patient might think or say.
Report the cyclists’ plate numbers and confiscate their license and bill their insurance. oh wait. But other than that, they are “the same as cars”.
Interesting attitude to have about children under the age of 15, who make up the vast majority of bicyclists.
Easily. Many doctors are arrogant little weasels.
I don’t mind ALL bike riders, but several encounters with critical mass anarchists (including some who hit my car while they were driving drunkardly) and dope dealers on bikes busy texting into oncoming traffic and those who run stop signs in neighborhoods all add up.
Give me a break. You know very well this is a discussion about adult bike riders who knowingly disobey the laws meant to keep them safe.
When a driver cuts in front of you and immediately slams on his brakes causing you to run into him, the driver is at fault, whether you are on a bike or in another car.
As a driver, I make sure cyclists have a LOT of room. You can never tell what they’re going to do. Most of ‘em don’t use hand signals or anything else.
In a country of 300 million, almost anything that you can possibly imagine will happen *thousands* of times a day in this country.
Sure. Drive through downtown Boston on any weekday and see the happy, smiling cyclists and drivers waving cheerfully to one another and saying, "No. Please. You go first..."
Doctors get angry too, ya know. Hopefully not while their mitts are in my peritoneal cavity.
There are certainly people who get frustrated and angry being stuck behind other drivers. I've seen a greater percentage of drivers who cut people off, drive through crosswalks while pedestrians are in them, illegally pass on the right or drive in the shoulder (let's not even talk about speeding) - because laws be damned, they're in a hurry!
The main reason drivers get more irritated at bicyclists than at other drivers is because 1.) bicyclists are more notable, due to their infrequency, so they are more noticed; 2.) roads are supposed to belong to cars, not humans trying to use them for other purposes.
Remember "The Straight Story," about Alvin Straight, who rode his lawnmower 240 miles to visit his ill brother? He was subject to a lot of abuse - and he was driving in the shoulder. (Somebody torched his house in 2007, because they didn't like what he'd done, according to this news story. http://www.roadsideamerica.com/news/16181)
All I can figure is that their high blood pressure will get these guys if they aren't killed in an accident first. Let's hope they just don't take anyone else with them.
I'm out there to ride, not to get in the way of drivers. If I see that a car at a cross street waiting on me I will get out of the saddle and sprint. It may only gain them couple of seconds, but good will is involved. When a driver shows me courtesy I wave to thank them.
Perhaps I am fortunate. I drive and ride in an area where both the drivers and riders almost all behave very well. I have never seen any of the bad rider and bad driver behavior described here. I am sure it happens, but I have not experienced it. And that included a commute to work on a road w/ about 6" of shoulder to the right of the white. Heck, I had people who would honk hello because they were used to seeing me.
Sounds to me like too many liberals ride bikes...
OK, here’s a fact:
I came within inches of being run down by a cyclist not long ago as a pedestrian. The a*****e came flying up between two rows of cars waiting at a light and blew through the red light doing about 25-30 mph. I jumped back just in time to avoid being clobbered. I was crossing legally at an intersection, with the “walk” light lit. The cyclist disappeared into the distance.
If that bastard had hit me, I would have been injured to some degree, though it’s hard to say how badly.
My medical expenses would have been covered by my insurance. It should have been his insurance, as I did nothing wrong, and he broke several laws.
Suppose I had been carrying a laptop, and it was smashed when it hit the pavement. He should be the one to pay, not me.
So, your claim that the cyclist is never to blame is simply wrong.
As a motorist, I’ve had cyclists fly out of side streets right in front of me causing me to swerve or brake to avoid them. Fortunately, I’ve never hit one of them, and I’ve never been in an accident because of this problem. But the possibility exists.
Since cops almost never ticket these people for their infractions, there needs to be some other way to get their attention.
Requiring cyclists to have mandatory liability insurance (it doesn’t have to cost anything close to what a motorist has to pay) at least makes them think that there are consequences for their actions.
Technically, the bikers hit the motorist who came to a stop.
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