Two victims, but well over thirty riders up in the canyon that day.
I misread it–should have said three hundred:
And since the two victims had stopped and rendered assistance to another rider that had fallen and was injured there were at the back of the pack with possibly only one or two riders behind them.
There is no excuse for what that dickhead did.
Where I live, riding on the roads at night, with lights on, just makes you a target. 
I do not think that is an unreasonable expectation.
Everyone I know who commutes by road has to allocate additional commuting time because of all the automobile drivers who have decided to use the road that day.
Indeed. Downtown Philadelphia is literally choked with automobile traffic from 7-9 AM and 4-7 PM. It takes a half hour to go a god-damned block and everyone (people on bikes and cars) would be better off if first there were more people on bikes not double parking every traffic lane with their SUV or blocking the box and second if the city added more cycling infrastructure (lanes and paths) to relieve automobile traffic.
As rising gas prices, rising obesity, and other factors have hopefully made people realize, the car-oriented mega-suburban city with two hour commutes aren’t a viable or fun way to structure our lives. Bicycles are a critical part of our transportation infrastructure now and in the future. Nations like the Netherlands excel at providing infrastructure for bicycles both in large cities and in the country, and I can assure you it’s a nice place to be. In the United States, places like Boulder, CO and other cities have demonstrated that a moderate level of spending on putting in bike lanes, putting bike-lock rings on the parking meters, and telling the police to fairly enforce traffic laws between bikes and cars to help keep everyone safe, and I can also assure you that Boulder, CO is a very nice place to be.
I have to hope that our nation no longer aspires to have their giant ass carted around in an H2 60 miles each way from work and back.
Stupid bicyclists totally damaged that guys car with their faces and skulls.
What assholes.
First of all, I’m not defending Dr. Driver, who sounds like a reckless pinhead.
For clarification purposes regarding the OP, I don’t know of any states that have laws requiring you to take the Hippocratic Oath. Many if not most medical schools have ceremonies at graduation in which that’s done (mine didn’t - I think we pledged allegiance to Chthulu instead), but in any case swearing an oath by Zeus or whatever doesn’t oblige you to drive like a reasonable human being, or take care of someone you mow down. It’s aimed at practicing medicine without unnecessarily killing people or lusting after your patients.
Also, it’s fairly common for state medical boards to suspend or revoke the licenses of MDs (or other health practitioners) who are convicted of felonies. Even a misdemeanor conviction in a case like this wouldn’t look good. And while this alleged turd might not be in active practice, his job might require a valid license.
Fuck yes! It isn’t just one biker, it’s scores and hundreds of them on occasion. You’re pretty much compelled to stay at the speed of the slowest biker in the pack. If that 6.5 minutes means you get to work late, or fail to get somewhere you need to be, because you didn’t expect an obstacle course, then why shouldn’t you resent it? And it’s not as if there aren’t other places in L.A. where people can ride.
How would you like it if you lived on a narrow winding road, and the local building material company decided they were going to run their 20-mph cement mixers through it every weekend? You’d be pissed, and rightly so.
I have a problem with the cyclists that crop up in the canyon I commute through on the weekend. It’s very hilly, one lane each way curvy road. There’s no bicycle lane, so I either have to 1. downshift into second gear where normally I would be in fourth or 2. pass the bicyclist on a blind corner. Seriously, if I were bicycling on the weekend I’d pick my battles a little more wisely.
There is a bicycle lane. It’s called the road. As others have already pointed out, bikes have as much right to the road as you do.
And what do you mean “pick my battles”? This might come as a surprise, but cyclists probably don’t ride down your canyon to “pick battles,” or with the express intention of inconveniencing you in your commute. They do it for pleasure, for exercise, or because they need to get somewhere and the bicycle is their form of transportation.
If you have to change down into 2nd gear (what an inconvenience!) and wait for a safe place to pass, then bad fucking luck for you, dipshit.
There is no safe place to pass, dipshit right back atcha.
They’ll all be gone after Le Tour fever passes anyways.
Well then, the same rule applies as when any slower vehicle is in front of you—you stay behind and wait.
And I do. But I can still be annoyed by all the yuppies in the canyon during Le Tour season. (These people aren’t commuting, that I can promise you.)
I would note that group rides of scores or hundreds of riders only happen on weekends. Expressed as a percentage to the closest .1% what percentage of Mandeville Canyon residents do you think have to work on Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays?
For those of you not familiar with Mandeville Canyon let’s look at some houses in the area. here is a nice house for only $2,800,000 Here is a set of listing that range from 1.2 million dollars to 22.5 million dollars. Yep that is right, $22,500,000.
So are you really trying to convince us that the guy in the 22.5 million dollar house is going to be late for work on a holiday? What does he have to work first shift at the Burger King to pay for that house? :rolleyes:
Give me a fucking break. Riders on the weekend are not holding up any MC residents on their way to work.
Need some more straw for that man you are building?
No actually, some cyclists do pick their battles specifically to piss drivers off. You’ve heard of Critical Mass? The bikers who pick a random Friday night, during the rush hour, and close intersections and block lanes? Having the right to Mandeville Canyon Drive, or any other road, doesn’t mean it’s always ethical for everyone to use it, all the time. Shouldn’t the people who actually live there have some consideration over those who come from miles around to ride their bikes in it? It isn’t a cars-versus-bikes issue to begin with. It’s about people converging on a residential street, where they don’t need to be, and creating a major headache for the locals.
And you wonder why drivers get angry.
Don’t roll your fucking eyes at me.
Doctors, whether working shifts or on call are a prime example of MC residents who might have to work on a weekend. And apart from well-off individuals and couples that actually own the houses, do you imagine that there are no family members that have less glamorous and prestigious jobs, who have to get to work weekends? What about people who work in the houses, like domestics and home health care aides? How about post operative visiting nurses? There are all sorts of reasons people need to get in and out, seven days a week.
So…let me see…if I’m rich enough to live in MC, then my personal time is less valuable than yours? Or anybody’s?
So I am allowed to object only if I’m on my way to work?
So please share with us the activity critical to national security which you are participating in on either side of your commute necessitating such annoyance for taking an extra two minutes of you day to pass safely? Or are you also using the road to do something enjoyable on your weekend?
As has been established many times over, bikes and cars have an equal right to access the roads. When the traffic at baseball games jams up traffic for an hour, I get annoyed, so I won’t begrudge your annoyance, but I wouldn’t refer to attending a baseball game as a jerkish activity. Both are “recreational” uses for roads that aren’t strictly necessary but contribute to the lifestyle and economic activity of a city. Of course the people on bikes have the added benefit of costing you less in taxes when they go onto Medicare compared to the people at the ball-park. 
:rolleyes: Actually I’m going to class at that time. And the time isn’t my issue; it’s the lack of safety that really bothers me. I either have to burn up my engine or face head-on traffic to get around a guy on a two mile long 9% grade. I am not the only person commuting on that road on the weekend either; many kids out here shoot through there to go to their crappy jobs at Magic Mountain.
Look, I’m not all in a huff about OMG the bicyclists!11!1; and the guy in the OP’s article is clearly an asshole and a menace to society. I myself ride a motorcycle, so I understand what it is like to be antagonized by cagers. However, I feel that some bicyclists need to wise up though and pick recreational routes that aren’t coincidental with the shortest route between two metro areas and dangerous to boot.
As to following the law, I see many of them disregarding it :
Yes, just like I allocate time on my commute for all the slower drivers who’ve decided to use the road.
No. Aside from noise, what on earth would the bother be?
Hey shit for brains read what you wrote: (bolding and size mine for the reading comprehension impaired)
You brought up the late to work strawman.
BTW I missed this part on the first read through
ah the classic Not In My Back Yard. Typical rich asshole attitude. How dare those people on bicycles ride on my road. :rolleyes: