Old man runs motorcyclist off road. Says "I don't care."

[Travis]

I certainly understand the urge to throw a pipe through the spokes of a motorcycle lane splitting while you in a car have been at a standstill for many minutes because politicians refuse to rebuild the highways or fund public transportation. A kind of "if I have to be this miserable everyone will be stuck here with me" attitude.

Just an urge mind you. Haven't done it to date.

 

[gregthehammer]

I certainly understand the urge to throw a pipe through the spokes of a motorcycle lane splitting while you in a car have been at a standstill for many minutes because politicians refuse to rebuild the highways or fund public transportation. A kind of "if I have to be this miserable everyone will be stuck here with me" attitude.

Just an urge mind you. Haven't done it to date.

No offense, but that is kinda of a **** attitude.

 

[Jules Galen]

I certainly understand the urge to throw a pipe through the spokes of a motorcycle lane splitting while you in a car have been at a standstill for many minutes because politicians refuse to rebuild the highways or fund public transportation. A kind of "if I have to be this miserable everyone will be stuck here with me" attitude.

Just an urge mind you. Haven't done it to date.

OMG! We are doomed...

 

[Travis]

No offense, but that is kinda of a **** attitude.

Thank you.

 

[Flo]

I certainly understand the urge to throw a pipe through the spokes of a motorcycle lane splitting while you in a car have been at a standstill for many minutes because politicians refuse to rebuild the highways or fund public transportation. A kind of "if I have to be this miserable everyone will be stuck here with me" attitude.

Just an urge mind you. Haven't done it to date.

I wonder when was the last time jealousy and envy have brought a solution to any such problems ...

 

[The Don]

I wonder when was the last time jealousy and envy have brought a solution to any such problems ...

Never, but quite a lot of us do seem to be hardwired for it. For example, people seem to be happier when they're better off than their friends and neighbours even if they are doing less well in absolute terms.

Maybe it's part of our co-operative ethos. "We're" (those of us stuck in traffic) all in it together whereas "they" (the motorcyclist) are gaming the system to get an advantage - it offends our sense of fairness. It's be the same if we were all queuing patiently for something and someone else is whisked to the front of the line. They may be perfectly entitled to do that (because they are high born, famous or merely because they had the foresight to book in advance) but many (most ?) of us in the queue would be angry and/or envious.

 

[Andy_Ross]

I wear Jeans around town on my bike but they are proper Biker Jeans with Kevlar mesh woven in to them.
http://www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk/motorcycle_parts/content_prod/112054

 

[P.J. Denyer]

Never, but quite a lot of us do seem to be hardwired for it. For example, people seem to be happier when they're better off than their friends and neighbours even if they are doing less well in absolute terms.

Maybe it's part of our co-operative ethos. "We're" (those of us stuck in traffic) all in it together whereas "they" (the motorcyclist) are gaming the system to get an advantage - it offends our sense of fairness. It's be the same if we were all queuing patiently for something and someone else is whisked to the front of the line. They may be perfectly entitled to do that (because they are high born, famous or merely because they had the foresight to book in advance) but many (most ?) of us in the queue would be angry and/or envious.

Oddly this sense of fairness only seems to go one way, drivers never seemed to be anxious to open their sunroofs and wind down their windows when I was getting soaked or freezing my nuts off in winter. Cars and bikes have different advantages, getting upset because a bike can filter is about as sensible as getting upset because planes can fly. The fact that some people seem to tacitly condone this psycho's actions just because the victims were on a bike is pretty horrible.

 

[The Don]

Oddly this sense of fairness only seems to go one way, drivers never seemed to be anxious to open their sunroofs and wind down their windows when I was getting soaked or freezing my nuts off in winter.

True, the fairness only seems to work one way (i.e. I'm being hard done by). Maybe some bikers were looking enviously (however briefly) at those drivers in their nice cosy dry cars.

Cars and bikes have different advantages, getting upset because a bike can filter is about as sensible as getting upset because planes can fly. The fact that some people seem to tacitly condone this psycho's actions just because the victims were on a bike is pretty horrible.

Who are these people ?

In this thread we have Travis expressing his frustration and me attempting to explain my theories on why people may feel that way. If this is the level you set the bar for condoning tacitly then you're setting it rather low IMO.

 

[P.J. Denyer]

Whew. Good thing it was just a motorcyclist. I was worried a human had been hurt.

The car driver deserves prosecution and jail time but I wouldn't let the biker off the hook either.

Just a thought - maybe the driver was fed up with idiot motorcyclists breaking the law. Hopefully everybody involved gets prosecuted.

Most of them ask for it.

I certainly understand the urge to throw a pipe through the spokes of a motorcycle lane splitting while you in a car have been at a standstill for many minutes

I wasn't referring to you The Don.

 

[P.J. Denyer]

Maybe some bikers were looking enviously (however briefly) at those drivers in their nice cosy dry cars.

But I've never known them resort to violence over it.

 

[Tolls]

I wasn't referring to you The Don.

xjx388 wasn't condoning the actions of the driver, as far as I can see.

 

[The Don]

I wasn't referring to you The Don.

Still not seeing who those people are.

xjx388 was quite rightly pointing out that the motorcyclist was also breaking the law by crossing the double yellow lines.

In Travis' first post he clearly included a smiley to show it was a joke, in his second he was expressing feelings of frustration but as far as I could see, was not condoning action.

Noahfence's second comment was very specifically edited to put it in the worst possible light here it is in full.

Most of them ask for it. At least in my experience. If I had a nickle for every time some idiot split lanes, passed on the right on a 1 lane road, tailgated me, etc.. I'd be able to afford one of those crotch rockets I love so much.

Now you could insist that motorcyclists never do this. Speaking only personally and anecdotally I think that there is a small but significant number of motorcyclists who ride dangerously and/or discourteously and at least locally (we are cursed with living in a village on an excellent motorcycling road) I think that proportion is higher than the proportion of car drivers who behave with a similar lack of concern for the law or fellow road users.

 

[P.J. Denyer]

Now you could insist that motorcyclists never do this. Speaking only personally and anecdotally I think that there is a small but significant number of motorcyclists who ride dangerously and/or discourteously and at least locally (we are cursed with living in a village on an excellent motorcycling road) I think that proportion is higher than the proportion of car drivers who behave with a similar lack of concern for the law or fellow road users.

Never said they don't do it, but I would say that the fact that some might do it doesn't justify vigilante justice as in the OP.

I admit that I may be over sensitive about this, but having been injured and my bike written off because an idiot van driver didn't use his mirrors it was only because there happened to be video evidence that showed me clearly within the law that I didn't fall victim to the testimony of 5 'witnesses' who all stated to the police that I was obviously speeding and at fault- because I was on a bike. If I am misrepresenting what people are saying then I apologise, but it sounds too damn similar to what I heard after that accident, and on too many other occasions when motorcyclists are injured in accidents and then immediately blamed before the facts are established.

 

[jimbob]

It happens more often than one would think, and now recommend the Gopro as a normal part of riding gear.

The sad part is that when these cases get into a criminal court, even in incidents of vehicular homicide, riders lives don't seem to have much worth:

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Road-Rage-Driver-Jailed-His-truck-killed-2951208.php

Julius was a riding buddy. As a human being, he deserved better. I know of many individuals (w/o prior convictions) that have received far longer sentences for non-violent crimes.

Not just in the US. The UK too, vehicular assaults seem to be considered to be more minor than other assaults with weapons.

I also think that reckless or negligent driving is often only charged as causing death by careless driving, rather than by dangerous driving - the difference is supposed to be between a moment's inattention, and more risky behaviour (say doing 60mph in a 30 zone and crashing into someone).

 

[Andy_Ross]

In the UK In regards to 'dangerous' and 'careless' driving the offences may not be what you are thinking. They are simply a matter of driving falling below the standard expected of a reasonable, prudent and competent driver. Dangerous obviously falling far below that 'standard'. Low end careless can include simply failing to give way for example or pulling out on someone (which happens every day frankly). It's a matter of degree and opinion.

 

[bignickel]

Some people don't like being passed by a bike.

Correction: some people don't like being passed at all. I remember back in the 80's when I was a kid, my dad was driving the car on a road running parallel to the highway, and the driver in front of us was going pretty slow. So my dad went around to pass him; at this point, the other driver, realizing how slow he was going now that someone was trying to pass him, immediately sped up, and made sure my dad couldn't pass him.

When they got to a fork in road, they both stopped, and my dad "had words with him". I'd never before, or had since, ever heard my dad use the language he used that day, even if he had hit his fingers with a hammer.

 

[jimbob]

In the UK In regards to 'dangerous' and 'careless' driving the offences may not be what you are thinking. They are simply a matter of driving falling below the standard expected of a reasonable, prudent and competent driver. Dangerous obviously falling far below that 'standard'. Low end careless can include simply failing to give way for example or pulling out on someone (which happens every day frankly). It's a matter of degree and opinion.

Yes I was specifically referring to causing death due to dangerous driving, or causing death due to careless driving.

A lot of the convictions for causing death by careless driving, would (IMO) demonstrate falling far below reasonable standards. A recent local case was a lorry driver overtaking when blinded by a low sun and hitting a cyclist. (TBF, this was "just"a charge of "careless driving" as luckily the cyclist "only" spent time in intensive care). However, I would say that is pretty poor driving and *should* have been considered as "dangerous", because it was, and wasn't a moment's inattention, but a deliberate dangerous act. Similarly the accident my parents were involved in, where they were in stopped traffic on the outside lane of the M6 and a lorry drove into the back of them, and wrote off the next four cars in front of them too. Witnesses said that he'd been seen on a phone earlier and driving erratically but the CPS failed to even get any conviction. Dad was called as a witness in Birmingham but the CPS hadn't managed to serve a summonses onto the driver so that was a waste of his day.

 

[BStrong]

Correction: some people don't like being passed at all. I remember back in the 80's when I was a kid, my dad was driving the car on a road running parallel to the highway, and the driver in front of us was going pretty slow. So my dad went around to pass him; at this point, the other driver, realizing how slow he was going now that someone was trying to pass him, immediately sped up, and made sure my dad couldn't pass him.

When they got to a fork in road, they both stopped, and my dad "had words with him". I'd never before, or had since, ever heard my dad use the language he used that day, even if he had hit his fingers with a hammer.

Absolutely correct.

On the bike, I've had more than one instance where a driver going significantly slower than the posted speed limit in good weather on a well maintained road not only didn't pull to the right when the passing lane came up, actually swerved in whichever direction they though I was going to pass them, up to and including swerving to the left and crossing a double yellow line. Highways 92 and 9 in my area seem to have many drivers that have issues about being passed.

The majority of such drivers have been males, but the worst example I've personally encountered was a woman driving a Volvo station wagon that evidently was divinely anointed by the FSM to never suffer the indignity of being passed by a motorcyclist.

After myself and two other riders managed to pass her while she was swerving all over the road in the area of the passing lane on Highway 9, we continued on to our destination at the intersection of Hwy. 9 and 35, had gotten off our bikes, taken off our helmets and other gear, bought hot dogs and bottled water and stood around with other riders like you do up there when she finally made it to the intersection...she'd only taken about 15 minutes to get to that point, and she felt it necessary to pull into the vista point area, jump out of her Volvo and throw around language at everyone in earshot that was probably not much different from the language your dad used. As she had no idea who exactly to blame for the indignity of being passed, she just let fly at whoever was closest without regard to the other folks (families) who were also on site.

Please note: I and the other riders weren't tailgating, stunting or riding like fools before this driver decided to block us from passing. Going uphill from Santa Cruz towards Hwy. 35 there is a great wide section of road w/ a designated passing lane at Castle Rock park. This driver not only did not pull to the right to allow passing, the moment that we made the move to pass she pulled hard to the left (not much different from the vid linked in the op) and ended up crossing the center double yellow line...while she was busy getting outraged and all that jazz, myself and my buddies passed her on the right and also note that every other passenger vehicle driver had pulled to the right to allow passing...

Hwy 9:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Route_9

 

[Andy_Ross]

It's a lot harder to get Dangerous as a conviction do there is usually a 'dual charge' and the Accused pleads guilty to Careless.