# I love the smell of Karma in the morning **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 15, 2008, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-smell-of-karma-in-the-morning/477186 "2008-12-15T01:25:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-smell-of-karma-in-the-morning/477186/1 "2008-12-15T01:25:18Z")
Not wanting to bring a Zombie to life, I would like to update you on the dickhead doctor that put two bicyclists in the hospital with his car back in August. Original thread [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=474962). Well he had his [preliminary hearing](http://www.latimes.com/news/local/crime/la-me-bikers12-2008dec12,0,7355026.story) the other day. > [@L.A. Times](#): > > After slamming on his car brakes in front of two cyclists riding down a narrow stretch of Mandeville Canyon Road and injuring them, Christopher Thomas Thompson gave police the impression that the incident this summer was no accident. > > The 59-year-old physician said he stopped his red Infiniti sedan in front of the cyclists to “teach them a lesson,” a police officer testified Thursday at Thompson’s preliminary hearing. But wait there is more… Remember this [post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9987461&postcount=17) from the linked thread? Yup, it appears that this isn’t the first time the good doctor tried to kill a couple of bike riders > [@L.A. Times](#): > > Four months earlier, another cyclist got into a scuffle with Thompson, the prosecutor alleged. > > Patrick Watson testified that he and a friend were cycling down Mandeville Canyon Road in March when they heard a fast-approaching car behind them. Watson said he moved in front of his friend to get out of the way. > > “The car was so close to me I had to jump the curb. I thought it was going to hit me.” > > Watson said he veered back onto the road to avoid a drain, and then the car’s driver “slammed on his brakes . . . directly in front” of him and his friend. Both cyclists avoided running into the car. > > Watson said his friend hit the car with his fist and yelled for the driver to get out. The car instead “came right at me,” Watson said. Watson said he took down the car’s license plate number before the driver, whom he identified in court as Thompson, took off. He sent an e-mail to his cycling group, cautioning members to beware of the driver. Dickhead. His attorney seem to live in some alternate universe, however. The attorney is trying like hell to spin this anyway he can. > [@](#): > > Peter Swarth, Thompson’s attorney, said that the incidents were an “unfortunate accident” and not a case of “road rage,” as some have suggested. > > “There is a whole other side to the story that will be brought out in trial,” he said. “There is much, much more, and it will be developed in court.” I am pretty sure that if I look up road rage in the dictionary, I will find the doctor’s picture. I think I will just pull up a lawn chair, get some popcorn and wait for that to be developed in court. :dubious::rolleyes: As I said before, fuck you doctor. Fuck you up the ass with a 2X4 wrapped in rusty barbed wire. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-smell-of-karma-in-the-morning/477186/2 "2008-12-15T01:52:07Z")
Four wheels good, two wheels bad? ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-smell-of-karma-in-the-morning/477186/3 "2008-12-15T01:55:03Z")
> [@](#): > > Watson said his friend hit the car with his fist and yelled for the driver to get out. And I hope that ass gets a road rage charge as well. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-smell-of-karma-in-the-morning/477186/4 "2008-12-15T02:11:29Z")
Tell you what. Why don’t you climb on a 20 lb. bike go for a ride. Then after the driver of a 4,000 lb car attempts to kill you, report back as to your state of mind, your language and actions. :rolleyes: I am sure you are such a level headed individual that after such an occurrence you would say, Pardon me old chap, could you possibly avoid trying to kill me in the future? :dubious: Me? I’m not that good of a person. You try and kill me, I get upset. It is an obviously a fault in my personality. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-smell-of-karma-in-the-morning/477186/5 "2008-12-15T02:47:05Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > As I said before, fuck you doctor. Fuck you up the ass with a 2X4 wrapped in rusty barbed wire. You forgot the sauce: Ph.D. coating\* will go so well with that. Other than that, I agree wholeheartedly with this Pitting. The guy is an asshat, and for a doctor to forget that an automobile has the potential to be a deadly weapon is completely inexcusable. \*A mix of Kosher salt, capsacin oils, and vinegar. Originally developed as a hypothetical coating for cluebats, when applied as suppositories for those deserving fools who need a little something extra to allow the clue to enter. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-smell-of-karma-in-the-morning/477186/6 "2008-12-15T02:53:16Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > And I hope that ass gets a road rage charge as well. What color is the sky on your planet? The man tried to do them bodily harm with a motor vehicle. Slamming your fist on the car is a rather mild reaction to that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-smell-of-karma-in-the-morning/477186/7 "2008-12-15T03:07:37Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > You forgot the sauce: Ph.D. coating\* will go so well with that. > > Other than that, I agree wholeheartedly with this Pitting. The guy is an asshat, and for a doctor to forget that an automobile has the potential to be a deadly weapon is completely inexcusable. > > \*A mix of Kosher salt, capsacin oils, and vinegar. Originally developed as a hypothetical coating for cluebats, when applied as suppositories for those deserving fools who need a little something extra to allow the clue to enter. I like the way you think. Yes, must have Ph.D sauce. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-smell-of-karma-in-the-morning/477186/8 "2008-12-15T03:12:33Z")
As a silver lining, at least the driver here was a 59 year old doctor. I can only assume the cyclists will get a decent civil settlement out of this–that is, if the doc doesn’t spend all his money on criminal lawyers first. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-smell-of-karma-in-the-morning/477186/9 "2008-12-15T04:10:09Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > I would like to update you on the dickhead doctor that put two bicyclists in the hospital with his car back in August…Yup, it appears that this isn’t the first time the good doctor tried to kill a couple of bike riders Dickhead…I am pretty sure that if I look up road rage in the dictionary, I will find the doctor’s picture…As I said before, fuck you doctor. And let’s not forget - he’s a doctor. They should double his jail sentence and fines for, you know, being a _doctor_. That’ll teach 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-smell-of-karma-in-the-morning/477186/10 "2008-12-15T04:34:32Z")
Paging Dr. Bendover, the North Block shower time proctologist. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-smell-of-karma-in-the-morning/477186/11 "2008-12-15T04:46:31Z")
Back in the good old bad days, I’m retired now by the way, we had a clueless cage force it’s way into our tight pack from an expressway entrance. Real bad move. By the time that car got off the road, it looked like it was in a demolition derby just from fists and boots. The drive had wised up fast and made no move to get out of the car. Then there was the time a driver waited until I was in front of him on my mountain bike and then gunned into me. I had full eye contact with him at the time too. I bounced away but the bike was toast. There was a rent-a-cop 2 cars back who saw it all and had a blast being all 'Rambo" on the driver. Also had many a red neck pickum up truck sneak up behind me while I was bike riding and ‘air horn’ me. Had some nasty crashes over that. So yeah, I kind of road rage back at them a bit… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-smell-of-karma-in-the-morning/477186/12 "2008-12-15T07:16:49Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > And let’s not forget - he’s a doctor. They should double his jail sentence and fines for, you know, being a _doctor_. Increasing his civil damages, if not his fines, because he knew all the better what his actions could result in sounds completely reasonable to me. It goes to show an increased level of malice. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-smell-of-karma-in-the-morning/477186/13 "2008-12-15T09:10:01Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > Also had many a red neck pickum up truck sneak up behind me while I was bike riding and ‘air horn’ me. Had some nasty crashes over that. Not quite as bad, but it’s also hairy when some arsehole screams out of a vehicle window as they are going past you. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-smell-of-karma-in-the-morning/477186/14 "2008-12-15T10:11:28Z")
What causes this, anyway? I’ve been cycling for several years in Japan on a near-daily basis, and I have never, I mean not one single time, encountered any gratuitous hostility from drivers, let alone with the frequency described in many of these threads. In fact, the number of times I’ve been honked at is lower than the number of times drivers at red lights have struck up conversations with me. Just what the hell is wrong with drivers in your countries? ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-smell-of-karma-in-the-morning/477186/15 "2008-12-15T13:14:06Z")
It’s a cultural thing. We’re a car commuting nation. Few cities outside southern California seem to embrace cycling. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-smell-of-karma-in-the-morning/477186/16 "2008-12-15T13:21:47Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Increasing his civil damages, if not his fines, because he knew all the better what his actions could result in sounds completely reasonable to me. It goes to show an increased level of malice. Really? It takes medical knowledge to know that you can cause great harm to bicyclists by getting them to suddenly slam into your car? What specialty does that come under? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-smell-of-karma-in-the-morning/477186/17 "2008-12-15T13:38:27Z")
No. But being a doctor, presumably one who had to do a rotation in the ER as part of his residency, he cannot convincingly argue, as Joe Six-Pack might, that he had no idea what he was doing was dangerous and potentially lethal. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-smell-of-karma-in-the-morning/477186/18 "2008-12-15T13:40:11Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Really? > > It takes medical knowledge to know that you can cause great harm to bicyclists by getting them to suddenly slam into your car? What specialty does that come under? :dubious: I would note that Dr. Dickhead was in emergency medicine. So if anyone should know of the injuries that could be caused by such an accident, he would be the guy. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-smell-of-karma-in-the-morning/477186/19 "2008-12-15T14:22:59Z")
Maybe he was just trying to drum up a little business. ---
**Author:** ![seodoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@seodoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seodoa)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-smell-of-karma-in-the-morning/477186/20 "2008-12-15T14:23:57Z")
I never had trouble bicycling in Ohio, except for one car honking jackass, who turned out to be a friend of mine (who was just trying to say “Hello!”) :rolleyes: Here in Japan people aren’t hostile to bicyclers at all, as Sublight mentioned. But they are also much, much, much more accustomed to them. I mean, even out in Sticksburg, Japan you can often find bicycle parking areas and, if you are lucky, even a bicycle parking garage. In the US, particularly outside of large cities, most people aren’t accustomed to bicyclers on the road and, presumably, get annoyed at being mildly “inconvenienced” (Oh, damn, you might have to scoot a couple feet to one side!). Why this annoyance turns to asshattery, I don’t know, I’ve never studied road rage in any more depth than watching my grandma slam her wheel and shout, “Shit-ass!” 😛 This guy should be drawn and quartered. Seriously. Let’s make an example. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-smell-of-karma-in-the-morning/477186.md?page=2)