Didn’t see his name anywhere. I’ve seen him described as a 35 YO white male and a 35 YO male, but that’s it.Originally Posted by TGS
Didn’t see his name anywhere. I’ve seen him described as a 35 YO white male and a 35 YO male, but that’s it.
Formerly known as xpd54.
The opinions expressed in this post are my own and do not reflect the opinions or policies of my employer.
www.gunsnobbery.wordpress.com
Sorry if my wording wasn't clear; I'm referring to the victims being bicyclists, and the tendency for people to feel road rage towards bicyclists being an obvious and common motive in running them over, just as clear as it is for religious extremism to be a common and obvious motive for Muslim males who kill a bunch of people. I'm drawing a comparison, not implying the motive in this incident is religious extremism or that the perpetrator is Muslim.
"Are you ready? Okay. Let's roll."- Last words of Todd Beamer
Ok. Gotcha. Totally took that a different way.
Formerly known as xpd54.
The opinions expressed in this post are my own and do not reflect the opinions or policies of my employer.
www.gunsnobbery.wordpress.com
It makes me shudder to think that I might be next. I've got 36 years on a bike as a commuter-type rider, and do my best to not be a dork to other road users. Really, the complete opposite of a Critical Mass-hole.
"If I ever needed to hunt in a tuxedo, then this would be the rifle I'd take." - okie john
"Not being able to govern events, I govern myself." - Michel De Montaigne
I went for a ride this morning after having read this. I used to race and it looks like they hit the Master's group...the one I would've been in. Seeing those pieces of bikes was sobering.
Same. I won't lie and say I've never ever run a stop sign on my bike, but I ALWAYS obey every sign when ANY cars are present, because being predictable = not getting hit, plus of course the non-asshole factor.
As I've said in other threads, I wish cops around here would start aggressively pulling over and ticketing bikers who ride against traffic on the wrong side of the road, because I think that sort of negative reinforcement is the only way that they're going to understand what the rules are and that they apply to them. I think that if everybody understood what the rules actually are and followed the ones that apply to them, we'd have a lot less conflict and anger.
I also wish people on trails (whether they're walking, rollerblading, biking, or whatever else) would learn to keep right so as not to impede traffic faster than themselves, but that's a pipe dream too. The part that really confuses me about that one is that I know most of them have driver's licenses, so you'd think it'd be a standard, basic concept, but I guess we're stuck with people the way they are.
Back when I was riding and racing a lot, I saw lots of dangerous behavior towards cyclists. Some of it was clearly intentional. I've been punish passed many time, sometimes resulting in a large trailer passing within a foot of me. That will teach you to hold your line. I've had things thrown at me, and my manhood has been questioned. When I was directing our club's race, some tough-guy wannabes on loud motorcycles didn't think that they had to obey my course marshals, but the Loudoun County sheriff that I paid for set them straight. But sometimes it isn't intentionally intentional. Distracted driving is a big one, or just plain oblivion. Cyclists seem to be invisible to many motorists, which is which blinkies front and rear are standard equipment for me unless I'm on my mountain bike. Another time, I was in between events at a race, watching the other racers. The course was a closed loop, very well marked and well controlled, but a car somehow managed to drive onto the course. Panic shouting ensued. Fortunately the pack was on other side, and the spectators managed to get the confused senior citizen off the course in time.
Don't know what happened in this case. The route was on open roads, which can difficult to control, but the cycling websites I read said that it happened in the first mile, and it was at 0730, so the event was probably just starting. If I were to guess, I'd say the driver was annoyed at all the race logistics at the start blocking his roads, and he was late to work, and either intentional or unintentionally drove onto the course. The collision could have been a very deliberate act because he was pissed that a bunch of rich f---ot Lance Armstrong wannabes on bikes were making him late to work. Or, on longer open courses like this one, it's hard to completely close the route, so sometimes one lane is left open for oncoming traffic. The driver might've been legitimately on the course headed in the opposite direction, tried to pass a slower vehicle, moved into the other lane, and looked up to see a pack of cyclists heading right towards him.
Sometimes it's not even punishment. I about leaped off of my bike once when I went under an overpass and some dude on a motorcycle went wide open throttle just as he passed me. I don't think he was doing it intentionally to scare me so much as to amuse himself at the sound in a semi-confined space, similar to revving the engine in a tunnel, but oh boy did it work to scare me.
Some idiots in an SUV once hit me with a balloon full of warm liquid. I'm mostly sure it was water...mostly...I've had things thrown at me, and my manhood has been questioned.
I don't think that works anymore. Significant parts of the population here are drunk, on weed or other prescribed drugs, on illicit drugs, distracted, vision impaired, elderly with cognitive problems, or just plain stupid.
"Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA
Beware of my temper, and the dog that I've found...
Last year my best friend got smash-o’d by a dude who admitted to the police that he was trying to FaceTime his wife while he was driving. He was lucky that the impact threw him off the road and he landed in the relatively softer dirt. His worse injury was a complete separation on his right shoulder and some major bruising.
im strong, i can run faster than train
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