brake checking motorist on trial.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...2.story?page=1

"The two were traveling about 30 mph -- the speed limit on the road --
when they heard a car honking behind them. Behind the wheel of a red
Infiniti was Thompson, a pudgy, veteran emergency room physician who had
lived on the road since 1987. Wearing blue scrubs, Thompson was heading
to work at Beverly Hospital in Montebello.

The cyclists testified that they began maneuvering to ride single file.
The Infiniti sped past within a foot of Peterson's handlebars and the
driver shouted to them to ride single file. Peterson swore at him. "He
was acting like a bully," Peterson told jurors.

What happened next remains in dispute.

Peterson and Stoehr say the Infiniti pulled in front of them and braked
hard. Thompson, who contends that the cyclists never moved into single
file, said he felt uncomfortable behind them so he drove wide around the
riders and pulled to the curb at what he thought was a safe distance. He
denied slamming on his brakes."

Brent > wrote in
:

>
>
> http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...009nov01,0,159
> 992.story?page=1
>
> "The two were traveling about 30 mph -- the speed limit on the road --
> when they heard a car honking behind them. Behind the wheel of a red
> Infiniti was Thompson, a pudgy, veteran emergency room physician who
> had lived on the road since 1987. Wearing blue scrubs, Thompson was
> heading to work at Beverly Hospital in Montebello.
>
> The cyclists testified that they began maneuvering to ride single
> file. The Infiniti sped past within a foot of Peterson's handlebars
> and the driver shouted to them to ride single file. Peterson swore at
> him. "He was acting like a bully," Peterson told jurors.
>
> What happened next remains in dispute.
>
> Peterson and Stoehr say the Infiniti pulled in front of them and
> braked hard. Thompson, who contends that the cyclists never moved into
> single file, said he felt uncomfortable behind them so he drove wide
> around the riders and pulled to the curb at what he thought was a safe
> distance. He denied slamming on his brakes."

I'm sure this happens a lot. No matter how ****ty a driver is,
motorcyclists should not antagonize them.

On Nov 2, 12:20*pm, "Speeders & Drunk Drivers are MURDERERS"
> wrote:
> Brent > wrote :
>
>
>
>
>
> >http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...009nov01,0,159
> > 992.story?page=1
>
> > "The two were traveling about 30 mph -- the speed limit on the road --
> > when they heard a car honking behind them. Behind the wheel of a red
> > Infiniti was Thompson, a pudgy, veteran emergency room physician who
> > had lived on the road since 1987. Wearing blue scrubs, Thompson was
> > heading to work at Beverly Hospital in Montebello.
>
> > The cyclists testified that they began maneuvering to ride single
> > file. The Infiniti sped past within a foot of Peterson's handlebars
> > and the driver shouted to them to ride single file. Peterson swore at
> > him. "He was acting like a bully," Peterson told jurors.
>
> > What happened next remains in dispute.
>
> > Peterson and Stoehr say the Infiniti pulled in front of them and
> > braked hard. Thompson, who contends that the cyclists never moved into
> > single file, said he felt uncomfortable behind them so he drove wide
> > around the riders and pulled to the curb at what he thought was a safe
> > distance. He denied slamming on his brakes."
>
> I'm sure this happens a lot. *No matter how ****ty a driver is,
> motorcyclists should not antagonize them.

Huh?

On Nov 2, 2:00*pm, cavedweller > wrote:
> On Nov 2, 12:20*pm, "Speeders & Drunk Drivers are MURDERERS"
>
>
>
>
>
> > wrote:
> > Brent > wrote :
>
> > >http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...009nov01,0,159
> > > 992.story?page=1
>
> > > "The two were traveling about 30 mph -- the speed limit on the road --
> > > when they heard a car honking behind them. Behind the wheel of a red
> > > Infiniti was Thompson, a pudgy, veteran emergency room physician who
> > > had lived on the road since 1987. Wearing blue scrubs, Thompson was
> > > heading to work at Beverly Hospital in Montebello.
>
> > > The cyclists testified that they began maneuvering to ride single
> > > file. The Infiniti sped past within a foot of Peterson's handlebars
> > > and the driver shouted to them to ride single file. Peterson swore at
> > > him. "He was acting like a bully," Peterson told jurors.
>
> > > What happened next remains in dispute.
>
> > > Peterson and Stoehr say the Infiniti pulled in front of them and
> > > braked hard. Thompson, who contends that the cyclists never moved into
> > > single file, said he felt uncomfortable behind them so he drove wide
> > > around the riders and pulled to the curb at what he thought was a safe
> > > distance. He denied slamming on his brakes."
>
> > I'm sure this happens a lot. *No matter how ****ty a driver is,
> > motorcyclists should not antagonize them.
>
> Huh?- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Well she _did_ come close. At least she had it down to two wheels.

Harry K

> I'm sure this happens a lot. *No matter how ****ty a driver is,
> motorcyclists should not antagonize them.

Bicyclists.

When I ride, I try to avoid antagonizing drivers (car accidents don't
have winners, only greater and lesser losers -- and any participants
not using a car usually end up in the former category). However,
this event occurred after the car driver wasted opportunities to
unilaterally de-escalate at no cost except to his ego, and then
performed a volitional bad act.

Note the absence of "alleged" and other such qualifiers. This
morning's news says that the driver (an emergency room doctor, of all
things) has been convicted of assault with a deadly weapon, battery
causing serious injury, reckless driving and mayhem. Sentencing is
scheduled for early December, and he could face 10 years.

Whatever bicyclists' attitude and behavior, one thing they have in
common is that they're a lot more fragile than a car (note well that
one of the charges was "assault with a deadly weapon"). If you lay
some road rage on them, you might find yourself in handcuffs with a
lot of explaining to do.

Then it might go especially badly for you if prosecutors convince a
jury that you've shown a pattern of getting into these penis derbies
with cyclists.

Really, what did they do to him? Delay him a bit? Exhibit arguable
discourtesy? Maybe even challenge his ego? Sorry. You're not
supposed to use a car or any other form of deadly force in response to
any of those things, even if it you have decided it's your road and
deputized yourself as its manners cop.

So they're going to be hurting for a long time, and the driver might
have some years in which to ponder his Hippocratic hypocrisy vis-a-vis
the compartmentalized mind, in the company of people who need a
little anger management and impulse control help even more than he
does. Again, no winners, only greater and lesser losers -- all
because one driver needed to switch to decaf, take a deep breath, and
acknowledge his responsibilities and boundaries on a *public* road.

--Joe

Ad absurdum per aspera wrote:
>> I'm sure this happens a lot. No matter how ****ty a driver is,
>> motorcyclists should not antagonize them.
>
> Bicyclists.
>
> When I ride, I try to avoid antagonizing drivers (car accidents don't
> have winners, only greater and lesser losers -- and any participants
> not using a car usually end up in the former category). However,
> this event occurred after the car driver wasted opportunities to
> unilaterally de-escalate at no cost except to his ego, and then
> performed a volitional bad act.
>
> Note the absence of "alleged" and other such qualifiers. This
> morning's news says that the driver (an emergency room doctor, of all
> things) has been convicted of assault with a deadly weapon, battery
> causing serious injury, reckless driving and mayhem. Sentencing is
> scheduled for early December, and he could face 10 years.
>
> Whatever bicyclists' attitude and behavior, one thing they have in
> common is that they're a lot more fragile than a car (note well that
> one of the charges was "assault with a deadly weapon"). If you lay
> some road rage on them, you might find yourself in handcuffs with a
> lot of explaining to do.
>
> Then it might go especially badly for you if prosecutors convince a
> jury that you've shown a pattern of getting into these penis derbies
> with cyclists.
>
> Really, what did they do to him? Delay him a bit? Exhibit arguable
> discourtesy? Maybe even challenge his ego? Sorry. You're not
> supposed to use a car or any other form of deadly force in response to
> any of those things, even if it you have decided it's your road and
> deputized yourself as its manners cop.
>
> So they're going to be hurting for a long time, and the driver might
> have some years in which to ponder his Hippocratic hypocrisy vis-a-vis
> the compartmentalized mind, in the company of people who need a
> little anger management and impulse control help even more than he
> does. Again, no winners, only greater and lesser losers -- all
> because one driver needed to switch to decaf, take a deep breath, and
> acknowledge his responsibilities and boundaries on a *public* road.
>
> --Joe
>

yup, if he really needed to express his displeasure, was his middle
finger broken?

You got to wonder exactly how entitled he felt to act like that.
Especially considering that per the articles I've read, the cyclists
were actually going *at the speed limit* - there seems to be some weird
effect where sometimes drivers ASSume that cyclists are going slower
than they actually are, so they just have to get around them...

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

On 2009-11-03, Nate Nagel > wrote:

> You got to wonder exactly how entitled he felt to act like that.
> Especially considering that per the articles I've read, the cyclists
> were actually going *at the speed limit* - there seems to be some weird
> effect where sometimes drivers ASSume that cyclists are going slower
> than they actually are, so they just have to get around them...

He had a motor vehicle and they didn't, that's the entitlement. After
encountering many drivers like that the common thread is they don't
believe bicyclists shouldn't be on the road (or if they are, in the
gutter) and it's time to teach them a lesson or make things hazardous
enough to scare them out of riding. I've encountered COPS like that too.
The last one was a couple years ago. He made it very clear that he
expected me to be riding in the gutter because I was on a bicycle. My
speed (25 in a 25) was irrelevant.

And yes, many do think that anyone on a bicycle must be moving very
slowly. I've never had anyone accelerate to 40mph to pass me on a
residential street while I was driving.

Ad absurdum per aspera > wrote in news:f22bfe2d-2fc1-
:


>
> Note the absence of "alleged" and other such qualifiers. This
> morning's news says that the driver (an emergency room doctor, of all
> things) has been convicted of assault with a deadly weapon, battery
> causing serious injury, reckless driving and mayhem. Sentencing is
> scheduled for early December, and he could face 10 years.
>

But he won't do a day. He'll say the magic words "hey dood - it was an
accident" and that will be that.