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Semmel, a reader from Los Angeles, recently directed us to this article from the LA Times, which reads:
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.
An earlier article reports:
Thompson has denied wrongdoing and said he has never been involved in a road rage incident.
Here is also a good write-up with a video of the doctor trying to get into his car, if only the door wasn’t looked.
http://soapboxla.blogspot.com/2008/12/mandeville-canyon-road-rage-case-moves.html
This is truly disturbing. The doctor “teaching them a lesson” has me truly speechless.
This guy’s license should be taken away. Anyone who uses their car as a weapon or “to teach a lesson” is a danger to society.
I agree with Semmel. There is no way that this man should be allowed to own a driver’s license or even be let near the wheel of a vehicle again in his lifetime. It makes me sick to my stomach to think that I’m sharing the road with people like that.
Not only that but this man is a DOCTOR!!!! An ER dr none the less. So if you are a cyclist and you come into the ER with an injury does the man as a dr help you, or would even want him to. Maybe he would teach you a lesson in the ER too. SCARY!
I don’t understand bikers. There are plenty of bike paths all over LA, why do they choose places that are inherently not for bicycles!! Next thing you know they will want to ride their bikes on the freeways!! Watch out OJ!!! These guys deserve what they get, bicycles are NOT cars and should have their own lanes to ride in!! I grew up in Mandeville and honestly it pissed me off to have to follow bicycles which is very dangerous as the bicycle do NOT go the legally posted speed limit!!
@NMB its the speed LIMIT. exceeding it by even 1mph is breaking the law. going less than the speed limit is not. Driving is a privilege that we in the U.S.A. are lucky enough to enjoy, but because of exceedingly powerful automobile lobbies public transit sucks. Cities can exist and be so much better and provide you with so much more freedom. Example, NY with 24hr subway access you can go out partying all night on one side of town, and get home quickly without endangering anyone but yourself. Freedom does not depend on cars! My ability to ride my bike is not limited by the oil industry’s whims on fuel prices. sorry for the rant, I grew up in L.A. and know that it is almost impossible to get anywhere except by car, but hating on cyclists for slowing you down by a few seconds is an ignorant and unproductive way of thinking that wont improve your life, or your ability to drive faster.
We as cyclist get little respect from motorists and people who commit heinous acts against us should be prosecuted to the fullest. Ride Defensive.
@NMB I find it disturbing of how completely self centered and inconsiderate you are. What gives you the right to dictate what is proper use of PUBLIC ROADS? We are entitled, as honest tax payers, to enjoy every bit of freedom that you do no matter what our mode of transportation is. What you are suggesting is that it’s “okay” to run over pedestrians who are crossing the street in the crosswalk when there is only a “yield to pedestrians” sign because it’s their own decision to try and get somewhere. I’m surprised that you even have a DL considering that bicycle safety is part of the DL test in most states that I’m aware of. It’s the LAW to yield to slower traffic whether it be a semi going up a hill to even a cyclist, maybe you just didn’t read that part of your test. Besides, “your argument of Next thing you know they will want to ride their bikes on the freeways!!” commits every logical fallacy that it just makes you look a little… foolish to say. It’s what’s called the “slippery slope” fallacy and when someone uses it, they find themselves on it losing traction and grounds for their original argument which is where you are.
@ Cameron Owens
While I appreciate your keen knowledge of the already available laws on driving and bicycle riding, I merely made a suggestion that bicycle riding on certain streets and in certain areas is just dangerous, and can be a road hazzard in certain situations. As a taxpayer myself I believe that roads are for cars and bicycle lanes are for bicycles, I am entitled to my opinion as a taxpayer. However, I do understand the laws of the road and I obey them, no matter how discouraging. So thank you for your opinion of my level of foolishness, but remember it is only an opinion.