Cyclist on Critical Mass struck by car

Submitted by henrys on Mon, 2010-03-01 23:53

According to local Atlanta TV station 11Alive, a man stuck at an intersection drove his car (slowly) and struck a cyclist on the Critical Mass ride last Friday: video link. The man reportedly flashed a badge and claimed to be a police officer -- but he did not do any of the lawful things a police officer might have done to affect the ride.

Several details surprise me:

1) This is news on a TV News station, but I haven't seen any other mention, anywhere, on ABC, SBL, or other local Web site. No serious injury was reported about the cyclist, but anyone committing a deliberate assault with a 3,000 pound weapon, excuse me, vehicle, is potentially a menace to anyone and everyone on the road. Anyone driving can be menacing, and may even cause a great wreck (not an accident) by texting or using a cell phone, but few do things deliberately.

2) The comments indicate that half the folks are angry at the riders and support violence against them. Among the faults listed for the cyclists is, failure to ride at the minimum speed. of course, this is bogus, like the "right" to drive at the speed limit which is sometimes cited. The reality is, you drive as fast as you can, or as slow as you wish -- and if you're slower than you want because of other vehicles, well, that's life.

Anyway, it does not appear that Critical Mass has made many friends with their events.

3) Courteous Mass did not get a mention -- yet. I'll leave it to someone else to add a comment pointing to the Polite riders.

Hope I see some of you at Thursday's breakfast!

Henry

Comments

Comments on Courteous Mass

Submitted by jtackett on Wed, 2010-03-03 14:42.

I seem to remember that people are more likely to talk about a negative event than a positive event. CM is a negative event in the minds of most people (especially those that probably have never been impacted by the event.)

Perhaps ABC needs to contact the local media and ask them to do a story on the upcoming Courteous Mass on the 12th. Let them see how it can be done when everyone obeys traffic laws.