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220 Comments
- Khast, on 01/19/2009, -4/+81I ride motorcycle, I've had vehicles actually swerve at me on the road, to the point where I needed to ditch the bike to avoid a head on collision.
Some people in this world are complete douchebags... - leonidas333, on 01/19/2009, -9/+82That is so ***** up. What a dick.
I work as a bike courier and had a similar thing happen when a driver reached across his passenger seat and opened the passenger side door to hit me on purpose as I was riding by. He actually mistook me for another rider who was behind me. I charged him with assault thought it should have been with a deadly weapon as that what cars can be if misused like this dick in the story has. - kplo, on 04/01/2009, -8/+62"The physician complained that cyclists frequently traveled the residential street in Brentwood"
Um, yeah, so they deserved to be taught a lesson for riding their bikes on his street? What a dick. - dienaked, on 01/19/2009, -4/+50And a few weeks earlier other cyclists reported to law enforcement that someone had brake-checked them on the same steep road.
The car they described to law enforcement matches the doctors car, and the partial license plate they were able to record matches part of the doctors' car's plates.
Law enforcement did no investigating, and basically forgot about it.
When they heard, the riders involved in the earlier altercation contacted the cyclists involved in this accident to let them know that a similar instance had happened to them with a similar vehicle in the same place. - Pinkertinkle, on 01/20/2009, -22/+51The bicyclists should have maintained a distance at which they could stop if the car had to suddenly brake be it for emergency or malicious reasons. Same reason if you rear end a car in an accident, its generally your fault.
- iceman0113, on 01/19/2009, -5/+28Read first 2 comments on that page. Seriously, wtf is up with those people? Bikers have every right to be on the road as cars do.
- SonicPanda, on 01/20/2009, -6/+29I agree that the cyclists should not have been following the car so closely, but that does not justify what that guy did.
- griffinith, on 01/19/2009, -5/+27Be honest. Plead guilty.
- unknownpoltroon, on 01/20/2009, -0/+21Another article points out that he swerved in front of them and slammed on his brakes.
- unknownpoltroon, on 01/20/2009, -4/+23From another article, HE SWERVED IN FRONT OF THEM!!!!
Peterson said Thompson yelled for the pair to "ride single-file." Peterson said he screamed an expletive at Thompson, who then swerved in front of the cyclists and "slammed on the brakes" to a complete stop. - sonicpentatonic, on 01/20/2009, -4/+22To everyone saying the bicyclists were following too closely, consider this. Even when bikers are obeying all speed limits and yielding to cars, when cars pass bikers they NEVER get a proper distance ahead of the bikers before pulling back in front of them. I regularly get passed by cars that pull right back in front of me when their back bumper is 5 feet ahead of me when we are both doing 25 mph. If this doctor had cut some family off and caused them to slam into him and kill their new kitten (or maybe Digg likes goats again), you all would be lynching the doctor for killing the innocent kitty.
But when he cuts off two human beings and almost kills them you are all blaming the cyclists for getting cut off?
You also don't have to be going very fast to go through a rear window. A 150lb rider traveling at even 10mph into the rear window has the same inertia as a 16lb bowling ball going just shy of 95mph through your back window (or more than enough to shatter any car window). If you think a skinny biker traveling at a 10mph (or a brisk run) is excessive speed, you have incredibly unrealistic expectations. - niczar, on 01/20/2009, -4/+22Err 3nder99, puposefully causing a traffic accident is not "being an *****," it's reckless endangerment.
What next, attempted murder becomes "hey I was just fooling around with a loaded gun"? - gttim, on 01/20/2009, -0/+18It is called a swoop and it is unavoidable. A car passes you, swerves quickly in front of you and slams on the brakes. Con artists clean up on insurance companies with it jacking up your insurance rates. When done on purpose by a skillful driver, you can make anybody rear end you. Do it to a cyclist or a motorcyclist and you can kill them. The cyclists were not following anybody. The car swerved right after it passed them. They never had a chance.
- dienaked, on 01/20/2009, -0/+17He passed them going down hill, cut in front of them and brake checked them in a car with anti-lock brakes.
- kinseyincanada, on 01/20/2009, -2/+19I agree but you need to also follow the same rules as cars. There have been many times where i have seen bikers fly right through stop signs and red lights forcing cars to brake quickly.
- draculthemad, on 01/20/2009, -18/+35Granted, it sounds like the driver was being outright malicious, but last I checked hitting someone from behind meant you were at fault.
Just how close do you have to be drafting a car in a bike that you don't have time to stop if he slams on the breaks?
If the guy had said "an animal ran out in front of me!" instead of running his mouth to the cops, would this have been handled differently? - pilot3033, on 01/20/2009, -2/+18streets are not privately owned, and gas taxes are not the only thing that pay for roads. That's almost like saying people from out of town don't deserve to use local ER's because they didn't pay the taxes that help subsidize them. Roads and streets are for all to use, and CA law states that bikes are entitled to them as much as cars are.
whatever happened to sharing you ***** prick? Cyclists are nearly always friendly when I drive by them, and I have yet to see one who was a danger to cars. In fact, I would say that bike riders who share LA streets with us motorists do their utmost to stay out of our way. Hitting a cyclist, slamming on your breaks, swerving to hit or near miss is not only stupid, but it's dangerous, illegal, and makes you an A1, Capital D Douchebag.
***** you, and ***** the doctor who nearly killed these guys. Doc should rot. - cersad, on 01/20/2009, -2/+17"You have to be making some serious speed to make that happen"? Is there a special speed limit I'm not aware of for bicycles that doesn't apply to motor vehicles? Look, I don't know the low-end speed limits for neighborhoods in California, but if they're anything like the rest of the states I've been in, it's probably around 25-30 mph.
I now direct your attention to the following article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_performance Note that the average speed is around 10-20 mph for a bicycle, while those specialized racers with proper equipment can maintain 30 mph for short bursts of time.
For these bikers to be going over the speed limit, they'd probably have needed to be going downhill or be pushing themselves for whatever reason. However, the article admits that they were passed by the driver who was angry that they weren't biking in single file--there is no reason to assume these bikers were randomly choosing to over-exert themselves at this instant.
Finally, consider what would happen if these bikers were replaced with a slow-moving motor vehicle at a comparable speed (lets say going 20 in a 30) that was passed and then wrecked in the same manner. The end result would be remarkably similar, especially if the slower motorist wasn't wearing a safety belt. Furthermore, your reaction would be less of "he deserved it" and more of "how the hell can he do this to people?"
So let's expose these accusations against the bikers for what they are: poorly thought-out statements based on a sentiment and prejudice against bikers who are riding in their legal right-of-way. Don't try to rationalize the doctor's actions, what he did was wrong, and he doesn't warrant sympathy. This was no accident. - vango, on 01/19/2009, -2/+17cars hate bikes in LA
- StripeyMagee, on 01/19/2009, -10/+24Old *****' prick needs his ass kicked.
- incongruity, on 01/20/2009, -2/+14By my reading of it all, everyone involved were dicks. Seriously -- the cyclists were a pair of asshats for blocking the lane of traffic by riding side by side (which others have claimed is against the law there) and they were foolish for not reducing their speed to such a point that they could avoid traffic in front of them. Moreover, they reacted to hostility with hostility when they were in the wrong to begin with.
The Doctor/driver, on the other hand, is a supreme schmuck. He should be ashamed of himself for intentionally causing injury to someone else -- both because he's a doctor and because he's an adult and thus expected to be able to control his anger.
So, yes, I claim they're all asshats and just because one was extremely wrong it doesn't clear the others, and vice-versa. - mofo2136, on 01/20/2009, -3/+15Cyclists have full right of way to possess the entire lane at any time. Cyclists face the same traffic laws as cars do. Passing on the left is dangerous and resulted in this accident, intentionally. Most drivers are uneducated and rude about bicycling laws. In fact, most drivers are uneducated about simple hand signals. I'm a cyclist in an area where bicycling is very popular and most drivers are ignorant of the laws. I ride safe and have been hit several times (including a lady on her cell phone). Don't be *****, give cyclists the right of way, and breath while driving.
- pilot3033, on 01/20/2009, -2/+14depends on your breaking action, downhill speed,etc. and of course, in this case, intent. The driver admitted to wanting to harm the cyclists.
- inactive, on 01/20/2009, -2/+14I'm assuming that the biker must be traveling parallel to the car, either that or the car must have came up on an intersection, or made a sudden turn and stop purposely in front of the bikers, which is a straight out ***** move, and should be sued out of his ass and stripped of his license.
If the bike is tailgating the car, than yeah, I have nothing to say in the biker's defense. They're just idiots. - ThreeE, on 01/20/2009, -6/+16Claim the lane. Cars should have to pass bikes the same way they pass other cars.
- laughtears, on 01/19/2009, -2/+12I'm thinking this story would have a different ending in San Francisco, or Portland.
- flegmato, on 01/20/2009, -0/+10I don't think you understand how this works. A car has no problem going faster than a bike, plus it has bigger brakes. Thus, some asshat in a car can whip up in front of a bike and then slam on the brakes. No way that you slice that gives the cyclist time to stop.
And in this case, it was clearly intentional... - petenutz, on 01/20/2009, -3/+13Talk about betraying your Hippocratic Oath. He should lose his license to practice.
- inactive, on 01/20/2009, -1/+10We need more bike lanes and light rail systems. Like Portland.
- unknownpoltroon, on 01/20/2009, -2/+11
Peterson said Thompson yelled for the pair to "ride single-file." Peterson said he screamed an expletive at Thompson, who then swerved in front of the cyclists and "slammed on the brakes" to a complete stop. - pe5t1lence, on 01/20/2009, -3/+12What? The President doesn't make laws. And I think there are more important things going on right now anyway.
- inactive, on 01/20/2009, -5/+14Cyclists are entitled to full use of the right lane IF they are riding single file. These guys were being asshats. I'm not saying they deserved what they got, but both parties were in the wrong. The case will be thrown out if the Dr. can prove that they were not obeying the traffic laws; i.e. speeding, riding single file... etc.
- buckeye45, on 01/20/2009, -8/+17as an avid cyclist myself, these kinds of stories really get to me. i hope this guy does time.
- trakie, on 01/20/2009, -6/+15as a bicycle commuter i love cars, they speed around you just to get in line at a red light, they will make left turns when you are opposite them even though you have the right of way, they will make sudden turns without using blinkers sometimes causing you to jump onto the sidewalk, and most of all they will hate you for just being on the road. its like when people get into their cars they forget that bicyclists aren't surrounded by a ton of metal to protect them in the event of a crash and its a personal insult to be even near a bicycle. im not thinking 'what will happen if im hit by a car?' im thinking 'i hope when i get hit by a car it isnt bad' because im sure it will happen eventually.
- shark72, on 01/20/2009, -1/+10Everybody understands that the doctor passed the cyclists, pulled into their lane, and then stomped on the brakes, right?
If they were following too closely, it was for that brief moment after he cut into their lane and before he came to a stop to "teach them a lesson."
If you're driving a car at the speed limit and I cut you off then stomp on the brakes in a deliberate effort to make you crash, you're not at fault. Same thing if you're riding a motorcycle, and same thing if you're riding a bicycle. - organic, on 01/20/2009, -2/+10What a ***** douchebag. Throw the book at him.
- turne10, on 01/20/2009, -1/+8You either didn't read or didn't comprehend what happened here - the driver swerved in front of the cyclists and slammed on his brakes. They had no chance to swerve or stop in time. If you did that to another car, you'd be at fault, not the car that rear-ended you.
- Indiscipline, on 01/20/2009, -2/+9The doctor had to pull in front of the cyclists. They weren't following *anything* "so damn close and so damn fast" until the driver made a stupid choice in anger.
- celotil, on 01/20/2009, -0/+7"Cyclists have full right of way to possess the entire lane at any time."
Maybe where you live, but around here - Ipswich, SE Queensland - cyclists have to follow a mixed bag of laws.
If a bicycle is going slower than traffic they must keep over as far to the left as is safe, so me cruising along at 40 km/hr in a 60 zone means I have to stay on the shoulder, or in the space between parked cars and traffic. However, if I'm cruising along at 45 km/hr down Brisbane Street, and risking a speeding ticket, then I can sit in the middle of the lane as I am not causing an obstruction.
@Uh, Cersad,
"Note that the average speed is around 10-20 mph for a bicycle, while those specialized racers with proper equipment can maintain 30 mph for short bursts of time."
30 mph is about 48 kilometres per hour. I peak out on my mountain bike at about 45, and that's because it's geared really low. On my old road bike I averaged about 50 km/hr just cruising, and would have bursts of 60 for short distances - racing school mates - and frequently reached 67 downhill - trying to get a speeding ticket to frame. :)
@And to everyone going on about braking distance,
If your brakes are in good condition, your tyres are true, and the gap between your wheels and brakes is fully open to 5 to 7 millimetres on each side of the tyres, you should have no problem braking, with plenty of room to really squeeze those brakes tight.
You should be able to come to a full stop from a speed of about 60 km/hr in a distance of ten metres, depending on your own weight and angle of attack - my longest distance to stop is about twenty, twenty-five metres, when one of my attempts to get a speeding ticket encountered a surprise stop sign at the bottom of a steep hill.
The trick is, your own arse. The harder you have to stop, the further back you reach with your bum, throwing your centre of gravity in the opposite direction to which you have to stop. If you can't remember that, just remember that you're trying to throw the bicycle forwards in front of you when you slam on the brakes, using the bicycle as a "crumple zone" barrier between you and the sudden obstacle.
You don't just sit on the seat and hit the brakes, that's just asking for trouble. The only time I've flown over my handlebars was when I hit a dirt clod at dusk, rocketing down a steep hill on dirt and brown grass. Over I went, curled into a ball mid-air, and landed like a tumbleweed.
The handlebars were twisted, the top bar of the frame punched upwards, but I was okay. Walked my bike home, grabbed my other one, and restarted my trip. - SideburnsBrent, on 01/20/2009, -3/+10Hey Pinkertinkle, I don't like it when people cross the street where there's no crosswalk, should I be able to bludgeon them with a baseball bat? I mean, they're so pretentious and awful and when I yell at them to use the crosswalk they get upset. I mean, should I hit them with my car?
- cersad, on 01/20/2009, -1/+7You have no reason to assume the bikers were tailgating, especially if the "good doctor" had just passed them.
- Beej, on 01/20/2009, -1/+7The last person who is able to avoid the accident is usually considered to be at fault. If this means it was you because you pulled out in traffic and there wasn't enough time for the guy to stop before hitting you, then it was your fault. If you pulled out in traffic and there was enough time for the guy to stop before hitting you, and he didn't, then it is his fault.
In this case, the doctor was the last person able to avoid the accident. Besides, he admitted to causing it. - cersad, on 01/20/2009, -1/+7Are you implying that bicycles are heavy enough to cause significant wear and tear on the roads that warrants additional tax dollars for maintenance? Because last I checked, a half-ton car does a lot more damage to the road than a 200 pound man on a 40 pound bicycle.
- andarnold, on 01/20/2009, -1/+7Bitch slapped by an infinity, well thats new.
- jmhyer51, on 01/20/2009, -2/+8"*****" doesn't BEGIN to cover this guy.
- dlane4, on 01/20/2009, -2/+8I personally hate it when people point out laws that one party was supposed to follow when the other party doesn't follow laws. I don't know about how it is in LA but in Chicago cyclist are supposed to get three feet passing distance. So whenever a driver complains about laws and how cyclist don't obey them I wonder if he never drove in a bike lane when going into the right turn lane or if s/he gave every cyclist three feet. People break the law (esp with driving) all the time. Did he obey all speed limit laws, passing laws, and any other various laws? I doubt it.
- JustinNoland, on 01/20/2009, -4/+10What an ass clown.
- malanic, on 01/20/2009, -1/+7 If that were true, and I had a damaged rear end, then I could easily get it repaired for free. Just pick any fast moving multi-laned roadway, swerve in front of someone and slam on the anchors.
I'm glad that here in Australia, there are consequenses for idiots who think they have the right to slam on the brakes in the middle of the road, for no more reason than to cause havoc behind them. - unknownpoltroon, on 01/20/2009, -3/+9
Peterson said Thompson yelled for the pair to "ride single-file." Peterson said he screamed an expletive at Thompson, who then swerved in front of the cyclists and "slammed on the brakes" to a complete stop. - jmnormand, on 01/20/2009, -4/+9yes they have every right but they also must abide by the same laws. being able to safely stop short being one of them. it sounds like in this case the doctor was at fault because he intentionally took action to cause the collision. however i find it hard to believe the cyclists were riding in a safe manner given the details of the impact.
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