Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/07/11/cyclist-enrages-driver-by-bloc.html
…
8 Likes
How serious is bumping the cyclist like that in the UK? In Murica that’s attempted manslaughter, and you’ll server 5 years.
16 Likes
Unless you drive a Mercedes, in which case those 5 years in county jail with work-release.
20 Likes
Really? Where I live in Canada, the cyclist would be arrested without even being given a chance to give his side of the story, while the driver would be sent on his way.
Later, when the footage was released, the cyclist would probably be quietly released without charge, but the driver would certainly never face a consequence.
21 Likes
Sadly in the US when I asked a cyclist not to ride on the park’s pedestrian path and he blocked my path and pushed me because I had the temerity to point that out, the police were nowhere to be found. I heartily endorse this person’s actions.
It is always amazing to me how quick to anger people who don’t believe the rules should apply to them can be.
16 Likes
I was going to say something similar- except for some particularly egregious cases, there has been a concerning past trend in the US where at-fault drivers are let off the hook for injuring or killing cyclists. Not to mention the generally hostile attitude many motorists have against cyclists on the road.
I gave my road bike to a relative last fall and stick to riding MTB now, because at least when I crash into trees or rocks it’s not due to the malice or inattention of someone else.
15 Likes
Yup, riding on the road is a complete no go for me these days.
That said, I did just smash my hip socket to pieces at a bike park… so maybe I should avoid cycling all together!
1 Like
I’d have expected it to be a BMW…guy assaulted someone with his damn car…jail time please.
11 Likes
The notion of “Christ what an asshole” would seem to fit the situation. The Mercedes driver that is.
8 Likes
In Vancouver, VPD would happily ticket the crap out of the driver just to wind him up. The bumping of the cyclist/pedestrian would get the driver a reckless driving ticket/points. The cyclist would be given shit for endangering himself.
8 Likes
Apparently, this intersection attracts the entitled to pull this stunt often enough for the bicyclist to post another video.
A sample from the click-through…
9 Likes
I’m as pro-cyclist as anybody else (check my comment history if you don’t believe me), but this is honestly the first time the video of the initial incident has rubbed me the wrong way even slightly. There was an open lane, and he was going around otherwise stalled traffic, going against traffic for all of 15 feet. If our videographer hadn’t blocked him, he’d have gone through it in about 5 or 6 seconds, and nobody would have been harmed (since traffic was oncoming, he would have been EXTREMELY visible). Yes, he violated the letter of the law, but at the point where he was stopped, backing up is certainly more hazardous than just continuing on through. Add to the fact that this cyclist was lying out of sight, wait until the car had already broken file to stop them, it really makes this look like a baited conflict.
So, nobody would be doing this guerilla filming if it weren’t a somewhat common occurrence, right? Then why not cut the problem off at the source; stop cars from cutting over, rather that stopping them at the intersection when they’re already in the lane of opposite traffic? Just seems poorly thought out (or purposefully putting a diver in an even worse situation than they thought they were getting into).
That said, driving into somebody is an unforgivable no-no, and everything after that is only his fault for exacerbating.
8 Likes
Naw, dogg. How is making a turn from the oncoming lane ever safe? Did you see the markings on the pavement encouraging pedestrians to look right? That’s because it’s a somewhat blind corner. Just wait your turn.
21 Likes
Not to people making a left around the corner.
30 Likes
As someone who has sat at the side of the road getting a 15 minute lecture from a VPD officer on helmet safety, this sounds about right.
How in the world is this ‘baited’? Yes, arseholes are known for doing this - waiting for an arsehole to do it is hardly baiting.
17 Likes
I gather that at least one cyclist has already been hit by a car pulling the same stunt at this intersection - which I’m guessing is why our activist videographer friend is there. Safe it is not.
8 Likes
The traffic wasn’t stalled. It was waiting at the light. The Mercedes driver should have followed the rules like everyone else, and waited his turn at the light instead of putting cyclists and other drivers in danger by driving down the wrong lane to skip a stoplight.
How utterly selfish and stupid.
28 Likes
Couldn’t have been a BMW, the driver in the video at least had the courtesy to use his turn signal.
3 Likes
It’s because the bicyclist secretly removed the curb and pavement that would have fully blocked the car from breaking the law. Can’t you see what’s in front of your EYES!!! /s
I think i saw, probably in the comments of one of the two videos here, that this bicyclist was hit at this intersection before.
8 Likes
