And then you have this.

Status
Not open for further replies.
They need to have a place where people can ride bikes together and be kept far away from 2 ton machines going 45 mph. I feel like youre taking a chance if youre gonna ride a bike along a busy road or cross major intersections. Just because you like to exercise doesnt mean you own the road and wont get hit by a car. Just my 2 cents...
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Volv04Life
They need to have a place where people can ride bikes together and be kept far away from 2 ton machines going 45 mph. I feel like youre taking a chance if youre gonna ride a bike along a busy road or cross major intersections. Just because you like to exercise doesnt mean you own the road and wont get hit by a car. Just my 2 cents...


And cars/trucks own the road??? Wrong!

Evidently, you don't realize that the first hard surfaced roads were created for bicycles, not horseless carriages. Just because we've drifted away from cycles as mainstream transport, doesn't mean that they should be relegated to sidewalks and trails.

Bicycles belong on the roads, not the sidewalks. It's up to both bike riders and car/truck drivers move together safely, but it's darned hard to do when arrogant drivers try to force their hand from inside the safety of their 2 ton cocoon.

If the driver did hit the cyclist, either from negligence or from inattentiveness, then he got what he deserved. Maybe he will think twice about crowding another cyclist. Drivers just don't realize that a little "bump" can be fatal to a rider. We had an avid rider killed last fall because some %$#@$ wouldn't move over.
 
[ quote] If the driver did hit the cyclist, either from negligence or from inattentiveness, then he got what he deserved. Maybe he will think twice about crowding another cyclist. Drivers just don't realize that a little "bump" can be fatal to a rider. We had an avid rider killed last fall because some %$#@$ wouldn't move over. [/quote]

Well, that's a little strong. Usually its the other way around--road rage against the bicyclist, but I guess there's nothing saying it can't go the other way.

I bet the guy walks. The bicyclist will claim that the truck driver deliberately dusted him off and offer circumstantial evidence like the guy honked at him first. There's about an 80% chance the story will be true, too. That kind of thing is awfully common.
 
We have lots of aggressive bicyclists in and around the city where I work. It's almost expected that most will not obey traffic laws, particularly at controlled intersections, running red lights and blowing through stop signs whenever they can. They seem to have a bizarre sense of entitlement as to how they think they should be allowed to operate in traffic.

The post above that said the driver of the car may have deserved the beating is an example of this sense of aggressive entitlement. No one deserves a beating as a form of street justice, and no one has a right to administer a beating for whatever reason, except in extreme self defense.
 
Aggressive cyclists have no place on the roads either. Since they belong on the roads, they are subject to the rules of the road- I firmly believe that and abide by them when I ride.

As for my comment- it was as jimbrewer said; a bit strong. I just get tired of reading about cyclists being ran down because some [censored] driver had his/her head shoved so far up their rectum, that they didn't know there was a cyclist in front of/next to them or was too taken with their own sense of entitlement- "IT'S MY ROAD!!!!!". Drivers need to wake up and realize that bicycles need to be on the road. Too many just don't understand what consequences their actions can have. The driver of the vehicle in question learned the hard way what a "bump" can do. If he would have simple given the rider a minimum of 3 measly feet (courtesy in some places, law in others), then he wouldn't have been dragged from his coccon and beaten.

All that being said, aggressive riders who run stop signs or lights, weave through traffic and all sorts of other stuff are asking to be plowed.

Unfortunately, there are [censored] and idiots EVERYWHERE and it doesn't matter how many wheels or horsepower they have.
 
I don't ride bike on busy streets because it's so dangerous. Knowing that whenever I saw bicyclists around I always give them as much room as possible without crossing the double solid yellow line.

I don't condone the action of this bicyclist, he was totally wrong in assaulting the truck driver after the accident.
 
Originally Posted By: The_Eric
Originally Posted By: Volv04Life
They need to have a place where people can ride bikes together and be kept far away from 2 ton machines going 45 mph. I feel like youre taking a chance if youre gonna ride a bike along a busy road or cross major intersections. Just because you like to exercise doesnt mean you own the road and wont get hit by a car. Just my 2 cents...


And cars/trucks own the road??? Wrong!

Evidently, you don't realize that the first hard surfaced roads were created for bicycles, not horseless carriages. Just because we've drifted away from cycles as mainstream transport, doesn't mean that they should be relegated to sidewalks and trails.

Bicycles belong on the roads, not the sidewalks. It's up to both bike riders and car/truck drivers move together safely, but it's darned hard to do when arrogant drivers try to force their hand from inside the safety of their 2 ton cocoon.

If the driver did hit the cyclist, either from negligence or from inattentiveness, then he got what he deserved. Maybe he will think twice about crowding another cyclist. Drivers just don't realize that a little "bump" can be fatal to a rider. We had an avid rider killed last fall because some %$#@$ wouldn't move over.


Agreed, but cyclists are also responsible for using good judgment. For example riding 2-3 abreast along curvy two lane roads is NOT acceptable. Riding in packs of 5 or more is dangerous.
 
"Smock, an avid cyclist, is the founder and former chief executive of Iron Data, an Atlanta software company now headquartered in Arlington, Va. Before that, Smock ran LightNetworks, an Atlanta telecommunications firm. Efforts to reach him were unsuccessful."

I do not understand why they had to point out the fact that he is a successful entrepreneur. Had he been a housekeeper who works in a small motel chain, or a janitor for a large superstore, would it have mattered? Why not put out a description of what the motorist does for a living? I am certain the news coverage would have been less "anti cyclist" if Smock died fro the accident.
Many motorists like to see how close they can get to a cyclist without clipping them.
 
Originally Posted By: whizbyu
"Smock, an avid cyclist, is the founder and former chief executive of Iron Data, an Atlanta software company now headquartered in Arlington, Va. Before that, Smock ran LightNetworks, an Atlanta telecommunications firm. Efforts to reach him were unsuccessful."

I do not understand why they had to point out the fact that he is a successful entrepreneur. Had he been a housekeeper who works in a small motel chain, or a janitor for a large superstore, would it have mattered? Why not put out a description of what the motorist does for a living? I am certain the news coverage would have been less "anti cyclist" if Smock died fro the accident.
Many motorists like to see how close they can get to a cyclist without clipping them.


I agree.
 
There seems to be a lot more tolerance of misbehavior of the driver in these incidents for some reason. Look at this story out of Colorado, which should be a bicycle friendly place. The guy lays on the horn and THEN clobbers the bicyclist.

http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2012/11/bike_rage_byron_nix_herbert_hoover_grandson.php

How can that be anything other than an assault with a deadly weapon? The guy pleads to some rinky-dinky careless driver type charge. Of course the guy was Herbert Hoover's great grandson, but still: http://303cycling.com/andrew-hoover-goes-to-court

If the guy in California deliberately dusted off the bicyclist and miscalculated a little which is probable, although not a beyond a reasonable doubt type thing, (I come from a perspective as both a pickup truck driver and a bicyclist) I don't really have a problem with the bicyclist beating him to a pulp. It would be no different than being assaulted with say, a knife, disarming the guy and beating him within an inch of his life. Not many would object to that.

The thing about the bicyclist being a big-noise telecom executive is newsworthy. Just like the guy in the pickup in Colorado being Herbert Hoover's great grandchild is newsworthy.
 
Last edited:
jimbrewer, thanks for posting the links. But I have to say- That is messed up!

Most all outsiders simply do not realize the potential ramifications of a motorist bumping a bicyclist. There is just SO much energy in a moving car! It seems the legal system doesn't either. Aggressive driving HAS to be curtailed and poor riding practices need to stop.

There needs to be an attitude change and middle ground struck.
 
Now that everyones jumped to conclusions, another side of the story. According to a post on bikeforums.net, the guys in the truck were drunk. They got out of their truck and started to swing at the cyclist, who then dispatched them both. If thats the case, then the cyclist was completely justified.
 
Post on bikeforums.net..? According to the story I read there was only one motorist, who was beaten nearly to death even after he was rendered unconscious and lying on the ground. Hardly self defense at that point.

The story says the bicyclist might have been bumped by the truck's mirror.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top