# Hit a cyclist. Brag about it in your tweet. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 22, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-a-cyclist-brag-about-it-in-your-tweet/659037 "2013-05-22T16:51:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-a-cyclist-brag-about-it-in-your-tweet/659037/101 "2013-05-23T21:21:46Z")
You know, I get the gist of the OP. But this goes both ways. We were talking to some cyclists doing the SJ equiv of Critical Mass. They were riding fixies, wearing all black, no lights, no reflectors. When asked why no lights, etc, they said “You can’t hit what you can’t see.” This from some dudes known for pissing on the rules of the road like it was the only fire hydrant at the dog show. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-a-cyclist-brag-about-it-in-your-tweet/659037/102 "2013-05-24T16:04:09Z")
> [@Catfood\_Purrito](#): > > He was acquitted of the hit and run part, but convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and something else. They couldn’t prove he actually hit her versus just driving really close to her. There was a witness to the yelling and whatnot, but no one could actually say they saw him hit her. He was 100% sober, just kind of a nut with a volatile temper, and he was convicted in 1999 of punching an elderly guy in the face in another road rage incident. > > I just think it was a bit much to put a very sickly 64-year-old who has to use a walker in actual prison when the victim wasn’t even seriously injured. House arrest and taking away his driver’s license (permanently, I really don’t think he ought to drive anymore) would have been sufficient, IMHO. > > He’s super cool once you get to know him…reeeeeeally odd, though. Well there you go. A baseball bat or a kitchen knife is not Intended to be a weapon, but if I use one to try and scare you, I am damned sure threatening you with a deadly weapon. Same with a car, and a lot more chance of doing worse than intended, as your friend found out. If you use your car to scare people, jail is the least you deserve. ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-a-cyclist-brag-about-it-in-your-tweet/659037/103 "2013-05-24T18:00:36Z")
> [@Tequila\_Party](#): > > And on that note, I’m glad that a lot of criminals these days feel the need to unburden themselves on social media. Makes life so much easier for the rest of us when we need to know who to shun. Not to mention making life easier for the police and the prosecutor’s office. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ispolkom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47774/32.png) [@Ispolkom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ispolkom)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-a-cyclist-brag-about-it-in-your-tweet/659037/104 "2013-05-25T04:29:31Z")
> [@Catfood\_Purrito](#): > > I just think it was a bit much to put a very sickly 64-year-old who has to use a walker Was he using the walker when he was convicted in the previous case “punching a 72-year-old man in the face following a traffic incident”? ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-a-cyclist-brag-about-it-in-your-tweet/659037/105 "2013-05-25T17:43:16Z")
Everybody just love idiot criminals 😃 What does “RTC” and “dm us” mean? ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-a-cyclist-brag-about-it-in-your-tweet/659037/106 "2013-05-25T18:08:51Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Anyway, hopefully she gets the book thrown at her. Well, I don’t really care about that. Becoming world-famous for your carelessness, arrogance and idiocy, having it recorded for posterity when people Google your name, and losing your job is probably much worse that any legal punishment she might receive. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-a-cyclist-brag-about-it-in-your-tweet/659037/107 "2013-05-25T18:17:46Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Everybody just love idiot criminals 😃 > > What does “RTC” and “dm us” mean? RTC is Brit-cop speak for a Road Traffic Collision. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-a-cyclist-brag-about-it-in-your-tweet/659037/108 "2013-05-25T18:21:54Z")
> [@Catfood\_Purrito](#): > > [Breaking News: Louis Mraz Found Guilty in Cyclist Road Rage Incident | Highland Park, CA Patch](http://highlandpark-ca.patch.com/groups/police-and-fire/p/breaking-news-louis-mraz-found-guilty-of-assault-with817fb0c04e) > > I swear, he’s actually a really sweet guy, he just has a bit of a temper. This is a somewhat different situation since there was road rage involved. OK. So, he deliberatly hit the cyclist and then fleed the scene. IMO, he deserves every single day of his sentence. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-a-cyclist-brag-about-it-in-your-tweet/659037/109 "2013-05-26T03:02:08Z")
> [@Catfood\_Purrito](#): > > I swear, he’s actually a really sweet guy, he just has a bit of a temper. Riiiiiiiiiiight. A sweet guy starts screaming at a cyclist to get out of his way and then clips her handlebars (aka HER GODDAMNED STEERING WHEEL). If he didn’t meeean to actually hit her : snort : but just scare her, he’s still a sweet guy; what sweet guy _wouldn’t_ try to scare a cyclist with a moving ~2 ton hunk of steel? Oh, and of course he needs to just drive off on his merry way and not give a shit about the person he (“accidentally” :: coughbullshitcough :: ) knocked the fuck over. Also, a sweet guy _absolutely_ will be driving on a very narrow (1 lane, apparently) road and when someone driving towards him attempts to move to the side to let sweet guy pass but has his truck stall out? A sweet guy is all but forced to stop, get out of his own car, go over to the truck, reach in and yank the guy’s glasses off and PUNCH HIM IN THE FACE, then throw the glasses into the cab. What a sweet guy! He better be nominated for Humanitarian of the Goddamn Year! Oooooor … you’re either a shitty judge of character or just as much of a sweet guy as he is. ---
**Author:** ![Catfood\_Purrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Catfood\_Purrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catfood_Purrito)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-a-cyclist-brag-about-it-in-your-tweet/659037/110 "2013-05-26T09:01:11Z")
My only intention in posting was to lend support to the notion that not every motorist who wrongs a cyclist gets off scot free, not to get berated for daring to continue to like a relative who did some shitty things, but has always been nice to me, and who’s serving his time. I never said anything he did was right. I never said he didn’t deserve punishment. I’m not arguing with you. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-a-cyclist-brag-about-it-in-your-tweet/659037/111 "2013-05-26T18:53:13Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Didn’t we have a Pit thread not so long ago about the L.A.-area emergency room doc who decided to “teach a lesson” to rude bicyclists? [More than his day got ruined.](http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/01/cyclist-sentenced.html) > > I also suspect that if you ran into a bicyclist in the U.S. and tweeted about it, the cops would do more initially than respond in social media suggesting you report the incident to the police (as happened in Norwich). :dubious: Just to clarify, the Norwich police were not suggesting the cyclist report the accident, it appears that they were tweeting to the motorist’s account suggesting that she report to the police voluntarily, before they sent a car around to arrest her and haul her in by force. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-a-cyclist-brag-about-it-in-your-tweet/659037/112 "2013-05-26T19:22:12Z")
> [@Catfood\_Purrito](#): > > My only intention in posting was to lend support to the notion that not every motorist who wrongs a cyclist gets off scot free, not to get berated for daring to continue to like a relative who did some shitty things, but has always been nice to me, and who’s serving his time. I never said anything he did was right. I never said he didn’t deserve punishment. I’m not arguing with you. You were doing fine till the sweet guy comment. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-a-cyclist-brag-about-it-in-your-tweet/659037/113 "2013-05-26T20:23:59Z")
Rick, why? Are people either sweet or evil? Is it too much to understand that even at extreme behaviors the two can coexist? To Godwinize, concentration camp guards went home and played with their kids and maybe got up to give their seats on the bus to older ladies. Catfood appreciates that this relative is guilty of a crime and deserves punishment; brought him up as an example, a competing anecdote, of how many who do these crimes do indeed get punished. Yes, knowing him as a relative, knowing what he does that is not criminal, (s)he is biased towards leniency. (S)he may be a bit off the mark to be commenting that it was not so bad as there was no serious injury - as if taking a shot at someone with a gun and merely grazing them does not count as a serious assault. His/her relative is a danger to others and could, very easily, had killed that women. It was dumb luck for all involved that she was not very harmed. He deserves a long sentence both to protect others from him and to send a message to others who think that cyclists deserve to get attacked with cars sometimes. And he may be otherwise a sweet guy. As to the op. The woman is deserving of punishment as well and is really dumb. Fine. All point and laugh at her stupidity. Done. Are police sometimes biased against cyclists? Maybe. Probably. But overstating the case does not help it. Most cops drive cars and only a few ride bikes; they may be a bit more likely to see things from a driver’s POV. Some of my fellow cyclists are idiots and rude. Getting angry at them is understandable; acting on that anger is still not okay. The police need to protect even the idiot cyclist. Some drivers are angry in general and do not understand that their actions can kill us. Some are upset that we cyclists are even on the road and I have had cars come up behind me and then blast their horn right before squealing within a hair’s breadth of me. No problem hitting target heart rate that day! Catfood sorry that your relative has such a problem with anger and glad that the cyclist was lucklily not seriously hurt. Yes, sweet people can be guilty of horrible crimes. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-a-cyclist-brag-about-it-in-your-tweet/659037/114 "2013-05-27T01:37:00Z")
I can think of three ways to answer you. **First way:** > [@](#): > > began honking his horn and yelling for Wacker to move out of his way." > > According to the report, Mraz then “drove violently into the left side of Wacker’s bike causing her to fall and tumble to the pavement. Mraz then left the area, leaving Wacker with numerous cuts and abrasions.” > [@](#): > > He reached through the driver’s side window, removed the victim’s glasses and punched him in the nose, then threw the glasses back into the cab and drove off, Schwartz said. > [@](#): > > he’s actually a really sweet guy One of these is not like the others. I’m sorry but this is some definition of the word sweet that I am previously unaware of. I can’t find assault with a deadly weapon listed under sweet in the dictionary. Or to borrow a line from the Princess Bride I don’t think that word means what you think it means. **Second way:** There is a dating meme that says if your date is nice to you, but not nice to the waiter, they are not a nice person. Following that meme if your relative is sweet to you, but tries to kill people with his car, he is not a sweet person. **Third way:** Gary Fisher, one of the founders of modern mountain biking and founder of his own bike company, once said “Anyone who rides is a friend of mine.” Most serious riders I have met agree and subscribe to this. I know I do. I don’t like people that try to kill my friends\* (or me for that matter). I take assaults on cyclists seriously. I don’t consider people that attempt to kill bicyclists “sweet” You may consider this a personality defect in my makeup if you wish. \*No I have never met Ms. Wacker, but since anyone who rides is a friend of mine, she is part of the extended family of riders. (yes there are asshole bikers, I am not wild about them, but if they are broken down, I will still stop and help as will most other serious riders) Finally both of these assaults took place in the neighborhood were I grew up. I am very familiar with the area. Hell my first job was at a gas station on Ave 50. Ave 50 is not a tiny narrow street here take a [look](https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=34.119727,-118.207368&spn=0.0062,0.016512&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=34.119727,-118.207368&panoid=l-CD8s3wgYR2h941rkqV-Q&cbp=13,192.95,,0,0). No it is not a 4 lane superhighway, but for this neighborhood, this is a fairly wide street. Also that building you see on the left is an elementary school. If he had run over a kid or two, would he still be “sweet”? Crane Blvd, where the first assault took place is fairly narrow, and for most of it fairly straight. There are plenty of streets I can name in that exact neighborhood that are way narrower, and twisty to boot. Anyone who lives on Mt. Washington is used to narrow streets and having to wait for someone to clear the way so you can drive through, unless of course you are an asshole. I stand by my comments. ---
**Author:** ![GomiBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@GomiBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GomiBoy)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-a-cyclist-brag-about-it-in-your-tweet/659037/115 "2013-05-28T14:21:28Z")
Stealing this: No I have never met Ms. Wacker, but since anyone who rides is a friend of mine, she is part of the extended family of riders. (yes there are asshole bikers, I am not wild about them, but if they are broken down, I will still stop and help as will most other serious riders) ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-a-cyclist-brag-about-it-in-your-tweet/659037/116 "2013-05-28T18:46:37Z")
Be my guest. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-a-cyclist-brag-about-it-in-your-tweet/659037.md?page=5)