Drunk mows down 11 cyclist...at 2 a.m.

[Damiano Machiavelli]

Drunk mows down 11 cyclists...at 2 a.m.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_bicyclists_struck

While I hope the drunk driver get the book thrown at her, I do not have much sympathy for people stupid enough to not only ride at two in the morning but to stop in a traffic lane after a blind corner to wait for others to catch up. ATMO it is Darwin in action.

 

[forty four]

so a drunk in a car crashed into drunks on bikes thats what happens idiot moron driver drunk on a cell phone deserves much punishment. but also screw those fixie *** hipsters there not cyclists there just irritating trend followers.

 

[VeloGirl]

My issue this is that a drunk on a cell phone crashes into a group of cyclists and the police are trying to determine if the cyclists were partially to blame. Seriously? That is a crime right there.

 

[Granville57]

I do not have much sympathy for people stupid enough to not only ride at two in the morning...

screw those fixie *** hipsters there not cyclists...

Excellent work.

What is the point of this thread then?

Mock the injured and suffering?

Your world of awesomeness and perfection must be quite the place.

I can only hope that I'm worthy enough to post alongside such elevated beings.

 

[Oldman]

Excellent work.

What is the point of this thread then?

Mock the injured and suffering?

Your world of awesomeness and perfection must be quite the place.

I can only hope that I'm worthy enough to post alongside such elevated beings.

I agree but there is something to the "stupid is as stupid does" line of legal reasoning. Technically the riders are "vehicles" and, if they're in the darkened road without lights and in an inebriated state they will share some responsibility. As for the fixie attitude that sounds douchily elitist, doesn't it?

 

[Damiano Machiavelli]

I can only hope that I'm worthy enough to post alongside such elevated beings.

If you stop in the middle of a road in the middle of the night after a blind corner and get run over then I will not feel much sympathy for you either. My opinion will not be affected much by whether the car that hits you is driven by a person who is at the end of a weekend long bender or a Mormon who never touched a beer in his life.

 

[ergmonkey]

What is the point of this thread then?

I think the point of this thread may have been for Damiano Machiavelli to try to continue his record-setting pace of self-started threads.

As for those who don't have "sympathy" for the cyclists who were run over: thankfully, California is a comparative fault jurisdiction and your antiquated notions of contributory negligence being a complete bar to recovery will count for absolutely nothing in this case.

I don't generally like hipsters (and I especially dislike seeing people ride brakeless in traffic), but I dislike someone who's completely desensitized to the misfortune of others even more.

Anyone who thinks being dragged under a speeding car is righteous punishment for something akin to jaywalking is missing some essential human qualities.

 

[VeloGirl]

I think the point of this thread may have been for Damiano Machiavelli to try to continue his record-setting pace of self-started threads.

As for those who don't have "sympathy" for the cyclists who were run over: thankfully, California is a comparative fault jurisdiction and your antiquated notions of contributory negligence being a complete bar to recovery will count for absolutely nothing in this case.

I don't generally like hipsters (and I especially dislike seeing people ride brakeless in traffic), but I dislike someone who's completely desensitized to the misfortune of others even less.

Anyone who thinks being dragged under a speeding car is righteous punishment for something akin to jaywalking is missing some essential human qualities.

Sometimes I wish there was a "like" button on this forum.

 

[Damiano Machiavelli]

As for those who don't have "sympathy" for the cyclists who were run over: thankfully, California is a comparative fault jurisdiction and your antiquated notions of contributory negligence being a complete bar to recovery will count for absolutely nothing in this case.

I don't generally like hipsters (and I especially dislike seeing people ride brakeless in traffic), but I dislike someone who's completely desensitized to the misfortune of others even less.

Anyone who thinks being dragged under a speeding car is righteous punishment for something akin to jaywalking is missing some essential human qualities.

The country is in the situation it is in today because of pantywaists like this. Everyone cries about the injured without pulling back to think, "Hey, wait a minute. This guy is an idiot. His injuries are at least in part due to his own stupidity. Maybe this will act as a good example for others."

Irresponsible riders enrage drivers and put the rest of us in danger.

 

[ergmonkey]

The country is in the situation it is in today because of pantywaists like this.

Exactly what "situation" is your beloved country in, and what does it have to do with this unfortunate incident?

 

[Granville57]

I have certainly witnessed plenty of acts of stupidity while on the road, both on my bike and in my car. I believe that the reckless antics of hipsters does a disservice to all of us who ride. But it is not much different than the all-too-common occurrence of young parents, with their children in tow, heading straight towards me on the wrong side of the road.

Drivers acting irresponsibly is hardly a topic that needs embellishing--I witness that every single time I drive.

But here's what concerns me most:
If we easily dismiss the victims of any tragic event simply because we don't respect them, then we are no different than the countless motorists who dismiss all of us simply because we ride a bicycle.

To drivers, who have no respect for cyclists, we are simply unnecessary obstacles on what they consider "their" roads. We're different from them; we use a different type of "vehicle;" we wear clothes they would never be caught wearing; we behave in ways that are completely foreign to them.

Sound familiar?

I know plenty of well-educated and otherwise generally intelligent, and even compassionate, individuals who, with shocking ease, dismiss the rights of cyclists to even be on the roads in the first place. The are not in the slightest bit moved by the injury or death of someone on a bike.

Shouldn't we be a bit above that?

Or do we reserve our empathy only for the middle-aged individual, on the custom-made titanium frame and $250.00 bib shorts, who rides "correctly"?

If the injury or death of another leaves you unmoved, then don't be surprised the next time a driver treats your own life as nothing more than a distraction on their way to moral superiority.

 

[Boeing]

so a drunk in a car crashed into drunks on bikes thats what happens idiot moron driver drunk on a cell phone deserves much punishment. but also screw those fixie *** hipsters there not cyclists there just irritating trend followers.

you are better than a hipster and a car is 4,000 lbs better than you

fixies rule

 

[Damiano Machiavelli]

you are better than a hipster and a car is 4,000 lbs better than you

A car is only 3840 lbs better than me. This is why, no matter what a pedantic reading of the law might say, I make sure I do not put myself at unnecessary risk...like riding in the middle of the night with a group of bozos calling themselves Midnight Ridazz. Even in daylight I do not stand in the middle of traffic, bike or no bike.

 

[danjo007]

I think the point of this thread may have been for Damiano Machiavelli to try to continue his record-setting pace of self-started threads.

yeah. i noticed that too.

 

[Velo Dude]

Sometimes I wish there was a "like" button on this forum.

Nice user name.

 

[M Sport]

There are some things you can do as a cyclist you can do to minimise the risk of accidents with cars, riding at 2am in the morning isn't one of them. Sorry for their injuries but jeez you have to wonder of the mentality of some cyclists. Just like the ignorant f@@k I nearly hit on the way home from work the other night at 8pm in the middle of winter rainy night, riding down the middle of two opposing lanes of traffic on a four lane road in black gear and no lights. F33k me, you just can't help some people.

 

[Bielers]

While it is certainly appropriate to call into question the actions of the cyclists which seemed to contribute to the accident. However, I feel that this should be done from a dispassionate viewpoint and I certainly feel uneasy when people view serious injury or death as being some sort of appropriate consequence for their stupidity.

I personally feel that no matter how stupid a cyclist's actions are, no bike rider 'deserves' to be mowed-down...

 

[richwagmn]

I personally feel that no matter how stupid a cyclist's actions are, no bike rider 'deserves' to be mowed-down...

Exactly. It's someone's life.

 

[krebs303]

Cycling advocates air concerns after Culver City crash that injured 11 riders
By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times

June 20, 2011
Bicycling activists have responded forcefully in support of cyclists involved in a collision last week with a drunk-driving suspect accused of plowing into them near a hilltop park in Culver City, sending 11 to hospitals.

Cycling advocates at Bikeside LA have posted a video reconstructing the early-morning incident from their perspective and organized fundraisers and legal representation for the victims. And they have complained to police and media outlets about suggestions that cyclists bear some responsibility in the collision, which is under investigation.

 

[rhubroma]

I'm just wondering about the "hipsters" polemic.

So if these guys, say, weren't into sex, drugs and rock-n-roll, but clean cut dudes after an office party, that would make a difference?

That the woes of the country could possibly be blamed on such types, when there's a class of (clean shaven) Wall Street shark and financial banker/corporate mogul that has set each American in debt for the next several generations makes me wonder about the paranoia and discernment of some posters.

Then there's the total lack of empathy just for being stupid. Thankfully none of them were acquaintances.

 

[JA.Tri]

Likes

I was tempted to post likes...

Once we forget/neglect compassion for others, we automatically lose what ever higher "ground" we might have been claiming.

There may be some contributory negligence on the part of the riders. And yes the cyclists concerned may/should have exercised more caution/consideration...however in no way does any of that excuse the driver's apparent negligence, stupidity, lack of consideration.

 

[FabulousCandelabra]

OP you are a huge elitist dbag.

 

[Maxiton]

OP you are a huge elitist dbag.

Agreed. When I first arrived in LA I wondered why there were group rides at midnight. Didn't take long to realize that in this city, where the car is king, streets are packed, and driving while distracted is treated like an Olympic sport, a daytime group ride probably isn't practical.

Having said that, though, I'd never ride in the city during the wee hours because of all the drunks. But that doesn't mean I think you should be run over, if you do.

 

[Damiano Machiavelli]

Having said that, though, I'd never ride in the city during the wee hours because of all the drunks. But that doesn't mean I think you should be run over, if you do.

So you fully admit that you would not ride in the middle of the night because of all the drunks, but when a group of joyriding morons does and suffers the consequences that you yourself fear then we should all cry about it? Give me a break. It is not about whether they deserve to be run over. It is about taking responsibility to minimize the risks of riding instead of seeking out ways to stupidly increase those risks.

I will feel not sorry for someone who takes a vacation to a war zone and gets shot. I will not feel sorry for someone who contracts AIDS after a week long hookerathon in the slums of Uganda. I will not feel sorry for someone who blows through a red light and gets juiced. And I will not feel sorry for Midnight Ridazz getting hit by drunks at 2 a.m. when they stop in the middle of the road after a blind corner.

 

[krebs303]

KTown_Collision "line of sight" visibility test
Cycling advocates at Bikeside LA have posted a video reconstructing the early-morning incident from their perspective