Comments on: Driver Who Assaulted Cyclists Gets Five Years in Prison http://www.theadventurelife.org/2010/01/driver-who-assaulted-cyclists-gets-five-years-in-prison/ the deeper you get, the deeper you get Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:13:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Cyclist Driver http://www.theadventurelife.org/2010/01/driver-who-assaulted-cyclists-gets-five-years-in-prison/comment-page-1/#comment-2271 Cyclist Driver Sun, 17 Jan 2010 17:48:21 +0000 http://www.theadventurelife.org/?p=5075#comment-2271 The reporting of the facts of this case include the following: Not only did the cyclist flip off the driver and curse at him, the cyclists were riding 4 abreast, using the road as a bikepath...and, these same cyclist regularly used that road (which was the only road to the drivers' house), and regularly blocked it by riding 4 or more abreast. What the driver did was wrong, but what the cyclist did was also wrong. Two wrongs equaled major phusical damage for the cyclists and a destroyed life for a doctor. Cyclists should not exult in the outcome of this case. Neither the cyclist nor the driver are very good people in this exchange, but neither deserved the outcome they got. The driver was a guy just trying to get home. The cyclists were just trying to take a ride. They were using a shared resource (the road), and came into conflict due to the hotheadedness of both. Cyclists NEED TO FOLLOW VEHICLE TRAFFIC LAWS. If not, the laws will be changed to disallow cyclists from using roads. Ride single file. Stop at the lights. Don't dart in and out of traffic. And as the article noted, keep a cool head and report aggressive drivers. Remember, being on a bike does not give you the right to be a jerk, just as being in a car does not give you the right to be a jerk. Roads are perfectly shareable with vehicles, provided everyone acts appropriately, both vehicles and bikes. If either acts badly, bad things happen. The reporting of the facts of this case include the following: Not only did the cyclist flip off the driver and curse at him, the cyclists were riding 4 abreast, using the road as a bikepath…and, these same cyclist regularly used that road (which was the only road to the drivers’ house), and regularly blocked it by riding 4 or more abreast.
What the driver did was wrong, but what the cyclist did was also wrong. Two wrongs equaled major phusical damage for the cyclists and a destroyed life for a doctor.
Cyclists should not exult in the outcome of this case. Neither the cyclist nor the driver are very good people in this exchange, but neither deserved the outcome they got. The driver was a guy just trying to get home. The cyclists were just trying to take a ride. They were using a shared resource (the road), and came into conflict due to the hotheadedness of both.

Cyclists NEED TO FOLLOW VEHICLE TRAFFIC LAWS. If not, the laws will be changed to disallow cyclists from using roads. Ride single file. Stop at the lights. Don’t dart in and out of traffic. And as the article noted, keep a cool head and report aggressive drivers.
Remember, being on a bike does not give you the right to be a jerk, just as being in a car does not give you the right to be a jerk.
Roads are perfectly shareable with vehicles, provided everyone acts appropriately, both vehicles and bikes. If either acts badly, bad things happen.

]]>