easy sentence for road rage?
 

Bus Driver Who Deliberately Hit Cyclist Sent to Prison | ABC News Blogs - Yahoo!

17 months??? How about 17 years?

Do they have civil suits in the UK like they have in the US? That bus driver could be the next OJ Simpson.

Sixto
87 300D

seemed like the douche on the bike was deliberately blocking the bus....

I have been around WAY to many a55holes on bicycles to immediately kneejerk in favor of them.

Bus driver definitely deserves to be punished, and 17 months does seem a little light, but what about the culpability of the rider?

Some of these bike riders mouth off and provoke drivers and then wonder why things like this happen. I successfully defended myself, both in the road and in court, against a group of 6 bike riders. Of course, I did not hit any of them with my vehicle (thanks in large part to good brakes). So, no sympathy for the bike rider from me. Get your bike off the road, or be required to get and display registration.


btw... I will be forwarding this video to many of my friends who still have to endure the canyon bike riding dip****s. maybe seeing a bus do it will be enough, and it could save a life.
Thanks!

what I don't get is this: in good driving conditions, it can be difficult to see other 4+ wheel vehicles. Even when checking all views from your car, (front, back, both side rear view mirrors plus left rear, right rear, right front and left front), two wheel motorcycles and bicycles all but disappear.

Talk about "driving in a blind spot", plus the roads were not designed for bicycles. It's a safety issue, and bicycles and motorcyles are at a decided disadvantage when up against two ton cars, four ton trucks, ten ton buses, and 80,000 pound semi tractor trucks.

blind spot argument would be pretty tough in this case... bike rider was directly in front of the bus driver....;)

Bicycles and motorcycles are quite easy to see, provided you are looking for them. However, as two wheeled conveyances often fail to register in the four wheeled mind (as the total loss of my first motorcycle would tend to indicate), it's highly advisable to ride defensively and assume you aren't being seen.

That said, I have seen a lot of wrong cycling, enough that I'm starting to think maybe licensing would be in order.

Once upon a time in another life, I was on a Honda 450 coming down the narrow road on Big Bear Mountain in California when out of the clear blue, a guy on a highly modified bicycle passed me at 100+ MPH. He had chopped the frame down where he essentially was laying down on the bike. Think "luge" and you'll get the idea. The front axle was extended out about eight inches on either side and acted as the handle bars he used for steering. The rear axle was extended out like the front axle approx eight inches and was where he placed his feet. The tire diameter looked to be approx 20 inches. HE WAS FLYING!! If his tires had developed a blow out or a slow moving vehicle had gotten in his way he would have gone straight off the side of Big Bear Mountain and plunged one thousand feet straight down. Only in California.

I recently met a man wearing a Harley Davidson sweat shirt who happened to be limping and on a crutch. I struck up a conversation. He said he had always loved to ride but when he went to biker rallies he began to notice more and more of his friends on crutches and in wheel chairs. The light bulb went on and he decided that if he wanted to continue to have use of his arms and legs he best stop riding. He told me he misses it but prefers having use of what is left of his motor functions.

I got in my own little pedestrian road rage lick today. Had to go to town and went to Wallyworld to buy some ammo and other stuff. Coming out pushing my cart across the marked crossing that has giant YIELD warnings painted on each lane on both sides as well as upright signs. A woman on a cell phone going too fast doesn't even notice me, I'm headed directly into her path. I had to stop but noticed as she was coming at me that her driver's side was barely going to clear the front end of my cart. All it took was a half inch nudge towards her car and her brand new Chevy has a nice big scrape running from the middle of her driver's door clear across the rear door. She put on the brakes and having a little spare time I was praying that she'd stop and make an issue of it so we could get the cops involved and Wally's ever present security camera tapes. No way it looked like I'd intentionally done it. A guy walking behind me said "she hit your cart". Sadly, she paused for a few seconds and then gunned it out of the lot. Gonna be some 'splainin' to do about that one.

Let's assume that the bicyclist was being a huge jerk.

Still, two wrongs don't make a right.

Or a swerve to the left.

Licensing isn't going to change that, but requiring identifiable tags so awful violators could be reported might.


On the other topic, which seems inapposite to the scant facts before us, there was a study done years ago; it wasn't a scientific cross section or anything, but it was just a handful of questions on a form given to people wandering through a mall.

Nestled in the survey and separated by other questions were these two:

* Do you or does someone close to you ride a motorcycle?

* Did you see a motorcycle driving to the mall today?

This was in a city where there were lots of motorcycles, too.

Perhaps not surprisingly, there was a very high correlation between those people who rode or knew someone who rode a motorcycle and those who saw one on their way to the mall. And the reverse was also true; very few of the people who didn't ride or know someone who did saw motorcycles.

As noted above, if you're attuned to it and looking for it, you'll see it.