"Cali cyclists. I hate California cyclists."
Posted on 04/28/2012 2:17:55 PM PDT by Huntress
(CBS News) BERKELEY, Calif. - Police have arrested an Oakland man who allegedly hit two bicyclists with his car and then fled - an incident caught on video by one of the cyclist's bike-mounted camera.
The hit-and-run occurred around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday on Tunnel Road in Berkeley, where the bicyclists were traveling east and were struck by a car traveling in the same direction, according to police.
One of the cyclists had a camera mounted on his handlebars. The video, posted on YouTube by brunogfmtube, shows a black car veer into both bicyclists at about the 2:40 mark.
The video had more than 100,000 views on YouTube as of Saturday morning.
According to CBS Station KPIX, Police Capt. Andrew Greenwood said the driver of the black vehicle did not stop afterward, as is required by law, so police treated it as a hit-and-run.
The riders, both of whom were wearing helmets, had abrasions from hitting the road but did not require hospitalization, according to Greenwood.
After the incident Wednesday, the suspect, Michael Medaglia, reported to the Oakland Police Department that his car had been stolen. A police alert was placed on the car.
KPIX reports that Oakland police found the vehicle Friday morning and alerted the Berkeley Police Department. After an examination of the vehicle, Berkeley police were led to Jack London Inn in Oakland, where officers contacted Medaglia late Friday afternoon.
He was arrested on suspicion of possession of heroin, felon in possession of ammunition, violation of probation and felony hit-and-run.
Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3LatOGCWVc
Video captures both cyclists running a stop sign, too.
In California they own the Roads. Real Jerks most of them, always blowing stop signs. Sometimes on weekends they come up here to the Rural Roads and play havoc, take the whole lanes and have to follow them for miles until safe to pass.
Just because one is on a bike doesn't give them allowance to speed through a stop sign and expect a 1 ton vehicle not to hurt them.
Another close gene pool cleansing event there.
I rarely ride outside anymore however, because auto v. cyclist is just not a good fight. I'll ride road races and fun rides only because of the cops around and the number of bikes, but for fun I'd rather walk than ride a bike.
Did you notice the second sentence of my comment?
Hmmmmmmmmm. Let me see. He ‘allegedly’ hit them, except video ‘shows’ him hitting them, and the police arrest him, NOT Rodney King. Hmmmmmmm!
In many states, bicycles are allowed to treat a stop signs as a yield sign. Oklahoma is currently working on that law. By law in Oklahoma, cyclists may ride 2 abreat (not more than 2) and allowed to take the entire lane. It is safer for the cyclists to take the entire lane - it forces a car to change lanes around them to pass rather than passing the bikes in one lane and potentially pinching them into the curb or a parked car. I ride a bicycle and a motorcycle on the streets, the amount of abuse and stupidity from people in cars is amazing. People need to learn some manners (cyclists included).....red
That was the very first thing that I noticed. When I ride, I drive to a dedicated bike path because in a battle with a vehicle that weighs 20 times what I weigh, I know I'll lose. I have zero confidence that the driver of an SUV on a cell phone will notice me, right of way or not. The on-bike video is a nice touch, but wouldn't help me if I'm splattered over the highway like a deer. Maybe my heirs, though.
I generally don’t take issue with bicyclists on public roadways, but there are a number who give all of them a bad name. Expecting to be given right of way and blowing off traffic laws doesn’t engender respect, and neither does riding en masse during rush hour, intentionally snarling traffic. At times it seems as if there are just as many or more @holes on bicycles as there are in cars being @holes to bicyclists.
Maybe I’m scarred for life, having been set upon once in northern California by a screeching, whistleblowing pack of fascists on bicycles, but that’s the way it appears to me. Live and let live is great, so long as both sides practice and believe it.
Oh, goody. Now we'll have to chug along at 20mph behind bikes on one-lane roads with double yellow lines for 3 miles, just because they decide they want to take up a whole lane. And there's a reason most people dislike cyclists...
Did they blow through, or roll through?
There’s a difference. When I was riding my bicycle, I’d roll through stop signs, but I made sure of mine and other’s safety before doing so.
It just takes a lot of effort to get a stopped bicycle going again from an absolute stop.
When I rode a bicycle, it didn’t matter how close to the curb I rode, too many drivers still thought I took up too much room and let me know it by passing me just a couple of inches to my left.
Maybe if drivers, such as yourself, gave some way to bicyclists, bicyclists wouldn’t feel the need to take up the whole lane to ensure their safety.
They didn’t slow at all. I was expecting that to be the point when the vehicle hit them, to be honest. It wasn’t.
That is a stupid move, on their part, then. I never blew through stop signs at full speed. If I rolled, it was after I was sure it was positively safe to do it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.