Thank you for passing along the news. In my opinion he got off lightly; attempted murder would have been more appropriate. You would think that an emergency room physician would be bound to some code of ethics that requires them to sustain life. Another example that scum comes in all forms, even with a PhD and in Beverly Hills of all places.
The article on how to drive your car safely with bikes is great. The local bicycle advocacy groups should pass that out in their pamphlets.
----- Original Message ----- From: "PCH Rando" <gs...@pacbell.net>
To: "randon" <randon@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 03, 2009 6:50 AM
Subject: [Randon] Physician accused of deliberately injuring two bicyclists
is convicted
> It looks like the bikes won one in LA of all places.
On Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 10:44 AM, Veronica Tunucci <veronu...@comcast.net> wrote:
> Thank you for passing along the news. In my opinion he got off lightly; > attempted murder would have been more appropriate. You would think that an > emergency room physician would be bound to some code of ethics that requires > them to sustain life.
yes does sound like he got off light but, I would have expected it,
how many of the jurors themselves have traffic violations (including
the judge, prosecutor, lawyers) I don't expect much to change for
cyclists anywhere since there is a culture of acceptance, for lack of
a better term. The prosecutor was quoted saying "There's not a
cyclist in Los Angeles who would feel comfortable with this defendant
out on the road after this verdict," I would argue would anyone feel
safe with this person on the road again...
I am glad the court case turned out the way it did. My sympathies go to the cyclists who were injured. The Dr has other problems, early on there was talk about his history of malpractice issues, the Nurses that talked about his anger and vindictiveness, etc. Much of that has been scrubbed from the web since Aug for libel reasons. By the time of his trial he had already lost his job at the hospital, which is a good thing. The felony conviction will automatically revoke his medical license. All in all, a good thing.
I am a bit sad that it takes such an extreme case to get a felony conviction but progress is often in baby steps.
I'm glad they've finally prosecuted a driver who is a threat to
cyclists. I hope this gets some media coverage and is circulated
widely. I feel threatened (in various ways) by hostile drivers at
least once a week. I only wish I had some recourse. BUT (and that's a
big BUT) I also see idiot, careless cyclists every time I'm out
riding. They are an embarrassment to the sport and do nothing more
than exacerbate our problems with radical drivers. They piss drivers
off. They piss me off. There's a young woman who rides through my own
neighborhood who is going to kill herself or someone else one day with
her dangerous riding techniques. I plan to have a talk with her.
Yesterday I was riding down a busy thoroughfare at about 18 MPH, in a
bike lane, and a guy using aero bars passes me like I'm standing
still. Trouble is he passed on my right, between me and the curb
(about 24 inches of space) without any warning whatsoever. Never heard
him coming, never knew he was there. It could have easily been a bad
crash in a high traffic area. These people need to take a class in
safe riding; the League of American Bicyclist has a good one.
On Nov 3, 9:50 am, PCH Rando <gs...@pacbell.net> wrote:
Yes Lloyd I too have seen idiotic acts on both sides (cyclists and
motorists) but I would expect a cyclist to take alot more caution
while riding in high motor vehicle traffic areas... not to get off
subject but there was a cyclist in England that killed a pedestrian
while saying/shouting? that he was not going to go around the
pedestrian... I guess Iam saying even bicycles as joyous as they are
can be lethal weapons if put in the wrong hands... be careful ride
safe (I started carrying bear spray when I ride, not for the people
but sometimes you catch up to problem vehicles and you can spray the
radiator air intake areas) expect the unexpected
I am glad to see the conviction. I again want to express my sympathy to the injured cyclists.
OTOH, I am tired of the ritualized condemnation of all cyclists as scofflaws, as unsafe riders and by association cycling as a dangerous activity.
We all know that there are law breakers. Cyclist law breakers, pedestrian law breakers and motorist law breakers. None of this is relevant to the actions of a road raging motorist who assaults cyclist(s). It is completely unjustifiable to say that because a given cyclist is riding too far to the left, that an upset motorist can run him off the road. One might normally accuse me of using hyperbole with such an extreme example, except that this is what has happened to people like myself.
Cycling has roughly half the number of deaths/million hours that driving does. 41,059 lives were claimed in the US by motor vehicle crashes in 2007. It is past time that the existing laws are enforced for both motorists and cyclists. And in the parts of the US where motor vehicle crashes have been decriminalized (not felonies) we need to change the laws so that when cyclists are slain or assaulted they can get justice. Hopefully in this way we can migrate our public infrastructure and consciousness toward a more harmonious existence.
I understand and appreciate the desires to avoid confrontation, to learn lessons from incidents and to look for ways to improve personal safety by individual actions. I don't think condemnation of outlaw cyclists is relevant. I don't think it is sane to think that because cyclist A runs a stop sign in sight of motorist B it is ok if motorist B passes cyclist C unsafely and runs him off the road. Life is full of challenges and we are supposed to be adults, not take out our frustrations by threatening the lives and well being of random passersby.
Lloyd -- I, too, got pretty tired of motorists passing me with about
four inches to spare, so I came up with an innovative solution. I
bought a collapsable baton, like the police carry. It's only about
six inches long and fits easily in a jersey pocket. With a flick of
the wrist it expands to 18 inches. I NEVER use it in a threatening
way, but if I find that traffic is passing me too closely, I open it
up and extend my left arm. That effectively gives me a 3-foot "bubble
of protection."
Hostile motorists really don't care if they run you off the road, but
getting their vehicles scratched is a totally different matter. Most
of the time, I just hold it in my left hand, letting it stick out a
bit from the handlebars. Works like a charm. It's especially helpful
on those high-speed, two-lane roads with no shoulder.
-- Greg Greg Conderacci
Good Ground Consulting LLC
8171 Pleasant Plains Road
Baltimore, MD 21286
443-756-8213
g...@goggc.com OR g...@goodgroundconsulting.com
> I'm glad they've finally prosecuted a driver who is a threat to
> cyclists. I hope this gets some media coverage and is circulated
> widely. I feel threatened (in various ways) by hostile drivers at
> least once a week. I only wish I had some recourse. BUT (and that's a
> big BUT) I also see idiot, careless cyclists every time I'm out
> riding. They are an embarrassment to the sport and do nothing more
> than exacerbate our problems with radical drivers. They piss drivers
> off. They piss me off. There's a young woman who rides through my own
> neighborhood who is going to kill herself or someone else one day with
> her dangerous riding techniques. I plan to have a talk with her.
> Yesterday I was riding down a busy thoroughfare at about 18 MPH, in a
> bike lane, and a guy using aero bars passes me like I'm standing
> still. Trouble is he passed on my right, between me and the curb
> (about 24 inches of space) without any warning whatsoever. Never heard
> him coming, never knew he was there. It could have easily been a bad
> crash in a high traffic area. These people need to take a class in
> safe riding; the League of American Bicyclist has a good one.
> On Nov 3, 9:50 am, PCH Rando <gs...@pacbell.net> wrote:
>> It looks like the bikes won one in LA of all places.
|
