California doctor gets five years in prison for assaulting bicyclists
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Comments(32)
Posted By Mike in PDX - Wed, Jan 13 2010 at 7:14 PM ESTWhat does TSRVT contribute to this discussion?
Seriously? We're not bright enough for this board. Go to Fox News. Hard to believe people like us exist...Is this how you respond to people with different views? Typical leftist deflection B.S. as usual. Maybe he/she should go to a different board and allow others free thought and expression.
Posted By LazyBastards - Wed, Jan 13 2010 at 6:01 PM ESTGet on a bike yourself!
Look at all of you fat Americans! Your all soooo lazy. Some guy is out there on his bike, and your all too lazy to back your foot 1 inch off the accelerator, put your blinker on, turn the wheel and go around. Dam, that took soo much effort. Get on a bike and lose some weight America!
Posted By SpinnerDriver - Wed, Jan 13 2010 at 5:03 PM ESTThis guy was wrong - but cyclists often are too
This guy clearly was trying to hurt the cyclists. There's no excuse for that, period. He deserves to be in jail. Having said that, I can also say I've had personal experience with d-bag cyclists. Case in point: I was driving in Pasadena on my way home from work when a cyclist who had been on the far right suddenly veered in front of me and crossed multiple lanes of traffic to get to a left turn lane at an intersection ahead. I slammed on my brakes to avoid hitting him and honked. I was going.... More
Posted By joe - Wed, Jan 13 2010 at 9:28 AM ESTIf they were
If they were following close enough to smash into the car before they could stop to bad for them . . . Its just like being in a car .. back off
Posted By Shea Gunther - Wed, Jan 13 2010 at 10:06 AM ESTDid you read the article?
The doctor pulled directly in front of them and slammed on his brakes.
Posted By SLEZE - Wed, Jan 13 2010 at 10:13 AM ESTBicycles on the road are treated essentially as cars
The reason he is going to jail is because he told the cop that he purposely tried to hurt them. Had he kept his mouth shut, they would have been at fault because you are always supposed to be in control of your vehicle (gas or peddle powered).
Posted By TSRVT - Wed, Jan 13 2010 at 1:50 PM ESTHuh?
You're not too bright, are you? You actually think this was NOT the good doctor's fault? If so, you should surrender your driver's license immediately, if you still have one. You strike me as the type that drives drunk with a suspended license.
Posted By Anonymous - Wed, Jan 13 2010 at 3:54 PM ESTBIKERS SHOULD STAY WITHIN THEIR OWN LANE!
i live in San Diego California and we have a plethera of cyclists that scurry up and down the side of the road. Mind you, there are "bicycle lanes on every main street here in SoCal and yet these riders zip down the road 4 ABREAST. They completely ignore THEIR RULES OF THE ROAD!!! YOU HAVE YOUR OWN LANE, STAY THE HELL OUTTA OURS!!! These people swerve in and out of traffice even though they have their own traffic lane? Why, so they can talk to each other? And then when we honk our horns they.... More
Posted By CyclistsEndangerLives - Wed, Jan 13 2010 at 9:28 AM ESTCalifornia doctor gets five years in prison for assaulting bicyc
I live in a college town with a lot of bicyclists. My friend hit one yesterday. He was stopped at a 4 way intersection, then went forward. A helmetless guy on a bike zoomed through and hit him. Luckily, he was not seriously hurt. The police said it was the cyclists' fault but chose not to ticket him.
Because I'm used to them, and pedestrians at cross walks, I give them a wide berth, and stop when I see a person nearing a crosswalk (which is the law). But you cannot defend.... More
Posted By Car Owner - Wed, Jan 13 2010 at 6:29 AM ESTCyclists
I do believe that cyclists should not be allowed to use the roads unless they possess a "Cycler's Licence" and their bicycle has current and valid registration.
If a driver has to have a licence to use their vehicle on a public road, and a driver has to pay registration on their vehicle, what reason is their to exempt a cyclist from this when they're using the very same road?
I would say over half of the cyclists I see on the road do not obey most of the basic road laws, eg..... More
Posted By Driver - Wed, Jan 13 2010 at 3:40 AM EST5 years for being taunted?
I know the road this happened on: I've driven it several times. It's the only road in and out of that canyon and it's around 3 miles long, not to steep, with very little space in terms of emergency lane, if any at all. There's almost no place to safely pass anyone...Yet every time I've driven there, bikers either rode side-by-side and hogged the lane, (cruising) and several tried to slip-stream my car going downhill...one guy was even on his cell phone, with no hands on the handlebars! Just.... More
Posted By TSRVT - Wed, Jan 13 2010 at 1:53 PM ESTUnbelievable
Hard to believe people like you are allowed to exist in this day and age.
Posted By Driver - Wed, Jan 13 2010 at 9:20 PM ESTTSRVT = The Stupid Republican Voter Team?
Do people "like me" make you so mad you just want to run them over in your car? Pfft, what am I thinking? Your mom won't lend you the car after reading what you've been up to on her pc in the basement. Wait, your mom does read right? How else does she count the money her pimp gives her?
Posted By Stephen from Portland - Wed, Jan 13 2010 at 3:34 AM ESTYou're advocating violence against
A car is a deadly weapon. Would you shoot someone because they annoy you? That would be considered a threat and you could be charged for that.
But that's sadly how things work in this country. Laughing about killing human beings with cars is just fun and games.
Posted By Anonymous - Wed, Jan 13 2010 at 4:00 PM ESTNO ONE DIED!
The cyclist didn't die you MORON! He was just to retarded to hit his own brakes! Cyclists have NO RIGHT TO HOG THE LANE! IT'S MEANT FOR CARS! The only person i feel sorry for is the doctor.
Posted By RTFS - Wed, Jan 13 2010 at 12:28 PM ESTRead the f***ing story
Nobody died. You compare this story to shooting someone because they annoy you. How about, instead of constantly making MORE LAWS we stop, as a society, being complete a-hole douchebags? People today feel they are entitled to these rules, laws, and rights...people aren't entitled to anything. Except slamming on their brakes. That's in the Bible.
Posted By TSRVT - Wed, Jan 13 2010 at 1:58 PM ESTGet off this board.
You're not bright enough to contribute here. Why don't you try fox news instead?
Posted By Mike in PDX - Wed, Jan 13 2010 at 2:48 AM ESTThanks for deleting my comments
I like how the web master deletes comments from readers that don't necessarily jive with the views of the website. Way to look it it from both sides.
Posted By lateralus45 - Wed, Jan 13 2010 at 1:48 AM ESTInsane
That is ridiculous. If you are in a car and another car overtakes you it doesn't matter if they are going slower than you it becomes your responsibility to slow down and leave enough room for yourself to stop. Sounds to me like the riders were in the middle of the road and not concentrating if they didn't notice a car stopping in from of them. There is no way a car can stop quicker than a bike can. 5 Years is insane. (Not saying the dude isn't a douche for doing it deliberately)
Posted By Uchideshi - Wed, Jan 13 2010 at 2:04 AM ESTActually...
it's pretty easy for a car to stop so quickly that a rider can't respond. A bike could stop so quickly that a car couldn't respond. If I swerve my Subaru in front of your Trek bike from the left lane and slam on my brakes or if I even do it from in front of you when you're expecting normal traffic behavior, you'll have a hard time avoiding me or stopping in time to avoid hitting me. Same's true if the roles are reversed. If you don't believe it, go try it with a friend who doesn't mind.... More
Posted By RTFS - Wed, Jan 13 2010 at 12:30 PM ESTActually...
If a car is close enough when they swerve in front of you to possibly trip the little "danger! danger!" button in your head, its a good idea to slow down, regardless of what "right of way" you think you have.
Posted By Badguy - Wed, Jan 13 2010 at 12:33 AM ESTMeh
Clearly you people have not driven around many people on bicycles.
they drive like dicks in most cases, I can tell you right now that these two guys were playing a game with this guy, they won.
this is not as straight up as a good doc pulling in front and hitting brakes there is more we don't know about this occurrence.
Posted By Christian - Wed, Jan 13 2010 at 12:01 AM ESTInsurance needed
I think bikes should carry insurance to cover scratches to my car if they gonna be on the same road. U hit my car break my mirror and run off. No way to make you pay for it. Dont make it out to be like bicyclists do no harm. I never want to hit someone yet there you are in the road crowding me. Frankly sharing the same roads is an accident waiting to happen
Posted By Uchideshi - Wed, Jan 13 2010 at 1:53 AM EST@ Christian
The idea that a guy on a bike is crowding a guy in a car is laughable. The rule of big usually applies and there is no way an unarmored rider can bully a steel-clad driver. I ride and I drive in equal measure - when I ride, I keep away from the drivers as best I can because they own the road. When I drive, I give the riders extra room because they're exposed. Sometimes I drive badly, sometimes I ride badly - ain't no one perfect. Just remember the worst a bike can do to you is dent your.... More
Posted By SLEZE - Wed, Jan 13 2010 at 10:19 AM ESTSize only matters if you are willing to use it
Meh. I anti-bully big rigs all the time in my sedan by staying where they can see me and not letting them move over/cut me off. Sure, they could easily knock my car off the road but most of them don't want to lose their livelihood and swerve only to posture.
The same can be said about cyclists. Most people driving a car will err on the side of not killing a person, even if the other person is driving their cycle like a dick.
Posted By Benkjohnson - Tue, Jan 12 2010 at 10:51 PM ESTHappened to me too, kinda...
I am currently paying monthly off an $830 claim to an insurance company to pay for the damage done to the back of person's car who drove around me and stopped right in front of me while I was riding this past summer. It messed up my bike and my body enough to cause quite a commotion. An ambulance came, but I didn't get in. I gave the elderly lady who was crying her eyes out a hug, told her it would be alright, and went on my way.
I thought I was doing her such a huge favor.
I.... More
Posted By paulo_one - Tue, Jan 12 2010 at 10:08 PM ESTJustice
I would force him to bike to work for five years after his release.
Posted By BikeVermont - Tue, Jan 12 2010 at 10:03 PM ESTHappy to see....
....a criminal like this off the street. Its not just bikers, though...there's rage in a lot of drivers right now towards all sorts of people..I walk to work and I swear there are times that people are downright pissed off to see me using the crosswalk.
Posted By Anonymous - Sat, Jan 16 2010 at 5:13 AM ESTWhen you get hit...
in a crosswalk I'll be happy to see you off the street.
Glad he's going to jail
I'm glad they convicted him. I'm a DC commuter, I metro and walk to work rather than driving downtown. With this guy I 100% support the conviction. He was clearly a danger to bicyclists, he caused harm, and he deserves every minute of that sentence.
At the same time, I'm not 100% on the bicyclists' side in the old cars vs. bikes. I've seen so many cyclists do so many stupid and dangerous things that could have easily gotten themselves killed if the drivers hadn't yielded their own right of.... More