Didn’t see that anyone posted this… we often have posts about incidents that go the other way so this is nice to see:
“Court had heard that Mizener had never previously been in trouble with the law and had 10 supporting letters pointing to his positive community standing, his strong family values, and his supportive and generous nature.”
Why the sudden lashing out?
Yup we have it here: http://www.slowtwitch.com/News/Road_rage_incident_has_aftermath_4215.html
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The $75,000 restitution is huge. That is a big deal.
we often have posts about incidents that go the other way so this is nice to see:
Wait, i thought cycling incidents were rare.
The $75,000 restitution is huge. That is a big deal.
What’s bigger is the judge’s comments towards a potential civil case.
There’s no reason not to take this dude to the cleaners imo.
I get that it relates to the payout, but I’m not really a fan of ‘businessman’ being stressed so heavily. He’s an aggressive driver who pursued a cyclist with malicious intent and then inflicted bodily harm…anyone fitting that bill should be substantially punished.
Slowtwitch seems to be happy about this but I don’t see this necessarily as a win for cyclists.
From reading the Slowtwitch article, Mizener was ordered to pay because he physically assaulted Rasmussen in a fist fight. Not because he grazed him with his truck mirror.
Rasmussen, presumably pulled into the parking lot to fight Mizener, in which he lost. I also assume his broken wrist came from landing a punch, which we of course do not read about.
What would have happened if Rasmussen won the fight? Would his buddy have pulled him off of Mizener?
Many drivers are inconsiderate to cyclists. That’s the unfortunate truth. You can keep your eye out for them and brush them off when they make stupid moves or confront them. Pulling into a parking lot after them suggests you would like to scrap with them. You are taking the chance that you may lose the fight and suffer some injuries or win the fight and be open to criminal charges yourself.
I will be content when a driver is charged with a crime for the aggravated driving alone.
we often have posts about incidents that go the other way so this is nice to see:
Wait, i thought cycling incidents were rare.
This is the second thread where you made that comment. I assume there’s a point you think you’re making.
I also assume his broken wrist came from landing a punch,
or shielding himself from punches or landing a punch in self defense or bracing himself during a fall from a punch or push.
which we of course do not read about
We may not know all of the facts but my guess is that the judge did, which is why he rendered the decision that he did. we can assume and presume all we want.
the way to combat motorist aggression towards cyclist is to make the consequences of doing so hurt like hell
I get that it relates to the payout, but I’m not really a fan of ‘businessman’ being stressed so heavily. He’s an aggressive driver who pursued a cyclist with malicious intent and then inflicted bodily harm…anyone fitting that bill should be substantially punished.
I think it’s important, because it means he should have a high enough education level to “know better”. He likely has enough net worth so that there are real monetary consequences for his actions. Going after “Joe dirt poor” doesn’t; really get you very far. “Joe” is often already a frequent flyer in the legal system and you can’t take really garnish his food stamps, SS or welfare check.
From reading the Slowtwitch article, Mizener was ordered to pay because he physically assaulted Rasmussen in a fist fight. Not because he grazed him with his truck mirror.//
That is where the civil case can come in, then he can get restitution for the near fatal car grazing as well as the beat down. And of course he pulled over, not sure why you assume it was to fight. If there was a crazy driver trying to kill me with his car i would pull over too. You seem to be defending this douchbag. Even if he pulled in to confront the driver, it would most likely be to say what the fuck? I don’t think that most 150lb triathletes think they are going to beat down a random aggressive dude in a car he has not seen. Most likely 90 out of a 100 random guys that would pull over would out weigh them and beat them down. The other 10 would have a gun, not good odds for most anemic cyclists and triathletes.
They confronted eachother in a parking lot afterwards. The kid got his ass kicked. I think thats a payday for him. Shit, I’ll take an ass kickin and a broken wrist for 75 grand! a 6 figure Civil suit after also? man, theres my P5 thank-you and retirement fund…
The kid is very very lucky to get any kind of restitution from that asshole truck driver!
I also assume his broken wrist came from landing a punch,
or shielding himself from punches or landing a punch in self defense or bracing himself during a fall from a punch or push.
which we of course do not read about
We may not know all of the facts but my guess is that the judge did, which is why he rendered the decision that he did. we can assume and presume all we want.
the way to combat motorist aggression towards cyclist is to make the consequences of doing so hurt like hell
This. There’s no way to assume anything that happened from that short article.
I thought Canadians were so polite…
Pulling into a parking lot after them suggests you would like to scrap with them.
I pull into the parking lot to calmly tell why what they did was dangerous and unnecessary. It works… I think.
But sometimes I just want to kill them… never actually caught anyone when I was in that frame of mind though.
Cars confer an attitude of insularity and entitlement. “This is my road, this is my space, get out of my way.” Technology sometimes encourages very bad behavior. I know a meek woman who is the sweetest person I know, until she gets behind the wheel. She will scream and yell at other drivers, give them the finger, tailgate, etc. Unfortunately, the trend is away from politeness on the highways and with the police (except in a few Florida towns) having less time to slow down and stop the rampant excessive speeding in America, things will only get worse. (Apparently, Canadians are no different after all…)
Maybe we need to start posting the photos of these people who do this. Maybe we need a page with the known perps? It could be its own forum. I don’t know, but this stuff has driven me from the roads for the most part.
I really feel sorry for the young man. Promising career possibly endangered and all because of the venality of one man.
To the guy who is blaming the cyclist, you obviously don’t know the facts. If this had been some sort of self-defense case the result would have been very different.
-Robert
“Court had heard that Mizener had never previously been in trouble with the law and had 10 supporting letters pointing to his positive community standing, his strong family values, and his supportive and generous nature.”
Why the sudden lashing out?
HA!
I remember when a dude I grew up with died in a car accident while drinking and driving.
He was a well known athlete on his way up the ranks in one of the big 4 sports.
All the newspaper articles had quotes like “He was such a nice/great/awesome guy.”
Truth is, he was a total dick.
He had parents, coaches and various other sycophants inflating his ego from a young age. He was in trouble with the law more than a few times, but always let off because he was “going to the big leagues”.
Point of my story… almost any asshole can find 10 people to give them a positive review. Doesn’t mean they’re not an asshole.
I thought Canadians were so polite…
When I first saw the amount I assumed it was a US case and my immediate thought was that I (a Canadian) wished we could get some nice settlements like that up here - now I’m tickled.
Slowtwitch home page.
Were you ever 21? And angry? We’re invincible.
He didn’t just pull over. He pulled over into the parking lot where the asshole driver was.
What is supposed to come after “what the fuck??”
You can either call the cops, ride away, or fight. Do you think the douchebag is going to see the error in his ways and apologize?
I’m not defending the guy. I know that when I’m in these situations (it happens frequently where I live) and I decide to chase after someone and stop where they stop, there is a high chance of me fighting them because that follows the natural escalation of the situation.
If he wins the civil case because he grazed the cyclist, I will be happy. But I don’t think we should be rejoicing yet. Wait til the justice system shows cyclists some respect.