I can't and don't speak for anyone else, but I've never been one to side with cyclists simply by virtue of their being cyclists. I get flamed here often enough for my failure to buy into the pro bicycle POV. In that respect, I'm like a black republican.

OTOH the taxi union point of view that (all) cyclists are a hazard is patently ridiculous.

It's not like some poor cabbie with an otherwise spotless record of safe and careful driving was suddenly scared out of his wits.

This isn't about cabs vs bikes, immigrants vs long time residents. It's simply about who's foot was on the gas pedal.

I'll even concede that the "low-life thug" scared him, but that doesn't change the fact that he was the only one driving the cab.

By the way the story keeps changing. Original witness reports placed the cyclist forward of the cab. Later the cabbies report put the cyclist behind him. If that's true, then why did the driver feel so threatened. You seem to want to place the cyclist at the window, where he might have been a threat.

I expect that as the situation develops we'll find that the cyclist cab interaction spanned more time than "he startled me" would imply. I doubt the cyclist is lily white here, and if facts support a charge of some kind, I'd have no problem with that, but it was still the cab driver who's foot was on the gas pedal.

BTW- now the driver is trotting out the tearful, I' feel so bad, I'm a lousy driver and shouldn't be driving a cab and I only do so because I need a job. Good try, but if you know you're a lousy driver, maybe you could have found another job before your 2nd accident.

Here is what the driver said in his exclusive interview with NY Post (click the link to read more):
(The green parts are quotes of the article)

“He was in my way and I got upset, so I gave him notice that I wanted to pass through,” he said, meaning he leaned on his horn.

[So perhaps it's not initiated by the cyclist?]

“He started pounding on my car with his hands and was yelling things at me. I suddenly felt like I had to get out of there. It was becoming a bad situation. So I accelerated to get in front of him.” "I accelerated, and the rest is hard to remember.”

[So it was not like he mistook the gas pedal for the brake?]

I think the "I suddenly felt like I had to get out of there" must have been the cause of many car accidents. They suddenly felt, and so acted on the urge without assessing the surroundings. Maybe just at the moment they suddenly accelerated, some pedestrian or cyclist was in front of their wheel.

“I don’t want to drive a taxi. I need a more suitable job."

Wish many other taxi drivers realized this for themselves before too late.

Reminds me of a lot of old gangster movies where the boss tells to his mugs before they pull a job, "And if anyone gets in your way, take care of them !!!"

Apparently that is what some motorists feel justified in doing when a cyclist is in the lane ahead of them and is "getting in their way."

I'm with you on this one; the ONLY sufficient provocation for accelerating a motor vehicle into a cyclist on a bike is a gun pointed at the windshield by the cyclist. There IS NO VERBAL threat that meets the standard of provocation, nor a gesture. With no sufficient provocation (obviously). the cabbie bears the blame 100%. That's where I stand.

In case some are not aware of just how far the cab ran off the street, here is an overhead view.
The curb he jumped is being straddled by the ambulance to the left of the cab.
Just visible above the light pole is the gap in the planter where he tore off the chunk of granite
which was lodged under the cab when it came to a stop.
Full set of images here: http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/gallery?...212726&photo=1

Hi, everybody, I am a new friend.

Then you are in the wrong subsection. Nobody is friends in here. :D

Good set of pics. A driver has to work quite hard to get to this point. He can certainly make statements with the taxi mouthpiece declaring innocence, but the forensic evidence points towards something completely else. I feel badly for the British tourist. I do hope she is pursuing litigation here in the US.

Wow
Thanks for the pictures!
the cabbie certainly lost control
1-scared spit-less-
2)hit gas -
3)hit curb lost control-
4) chunk of planter unweighted at least one drive wheel-might have helped stop him

“He started pounding on my car with his hands and was yelling things at me. I suddenly felt like I had to get out of there. It was becoming a bad situation. So I accelerated to get in front of him.” "I accelerated, and the rest is hard to remember.”

The above sure reads like fear to me-not road rage anger. Of course he could be lying, but since the bike rider was recently convicted for threats etc-and regularly intimidated subway riders into giving him free swipes(and been arrested 3 times for it)-I suspect this cabbie is telling the truth about the banging on cab and yelling.
-the bike rider had something to do with this-22 arrests-many involving some sort of intimidation-thug.

Even if the cyclist was banging on the car and yelling threats, that doesn't mean you try to run him over. You stop and let him go, or you go around him and turn down a side street.

I feel bad for all involved, but just because the cyclist has 22 charges (how many convictions?) doesn't excuse the taxi driver's behavior.

You just made this up, right?

Actually, if the idiot knew the law, he'd know that actually bicyclists (and any muscle powered transport) does actually have a RIGHT to be on the road. "Right" means it's not revocable. You can't by law stop anyone from using the public roads if they're walking or on a bike - even restricted access roads must have a reasonable alternative route for pedestrians and cyclists.

By contrast, ALL non-muscle-powered transport (IE cars, trucks, busses) are only allowed on the road as a privilege which can be revoked as the state sees fit.

Welcome to the New America, land of the thugs, home of the gangsta.

I'll be your friend

But that can be changed in law, can't it? It wasn't until 1954 I believe that the final state in the lower 48 started requiring motorists to have a license. I'm not saying it should be, but nothing is absolute and impossible to change. It just gets harder as you go up the line.

What will be interesting to see is how the Taxi and Limo. association disassociate from this driver once the investigation is done. Probably in a move to relieve themselves of litigation. The person at the losing end of this ordeal will be the gal who got her legs severed. Hopefully there is some form of payout from the insuring agency related to the cab.

The public statements the dolt of a driver is making is more fodder for the plaintiff. Obviously he's not been told to shut up and implicate himself further.

If so, then what do you think the driver would have done if he was not in fear and was in rage? It seems to me accelerating is an aggressive expression, esp. in that circumstance, and consistent with rage. He knew the power of his vehicle.

If he were really in fear, he would have stopped the car to let the cyclist pass.

No matter how this plays out, the victim will be offered a settlement from the taxi driver's fleet insurance. The taxi association won't be implicated in anyway, as they were neither the driver nor owner of the taxi, so they don't have to fret about what they say (except for seeming foolish).

The victim will likely hire an attorney to negotiate the settlement, and/or sue if the offered compensation isn't enough. It's never be enough in a real sense, but financial compensation is the only type possible.

Then depending on the events immediately before the accident, there may be criminal charges filed against the driver or the cyclist, but intent or criminal negligence are tough to prove in cases like this.

Cheers FB. I hope it plays out this way.

Again, I feel bad for this woman. Enjoying yourself only to have a _______ cut your legs off. I hope she gets a commensurate amount of money for the pain and suffering she will have to endure for the rest of her life.

+1 - the only positive is that a taxi cab company likely has more insurance than an individual and more assets to pursue.

Of course the cabbie didn't handle this well,
but he is a foreigner-

The thug was RECENTLY convicted for saying he was going to DECAPITATE someone-and KILL their whole family??? This foreigner-the cabbie-might have taken that sort of language literally.The Thug certainly would have been putting on an impressive display-beating on car snarling.So yeah I can see this cabbie being more scared panicked-than enraged.
Does the cabbie have a road rage history? Violent history?

The poor woman-innocent bystander.

“I personally feel that if that man on the bike didn’t bang on my car, maybe this would not have happened,” Himon said. “I didn’t yell at him. I had my windows up and my A/C on. I could barely hear what he was saying."

The cyclist (admittedly not a good guy, either) could also say: If the taxi driver did not block me, I would not have banged on his car, and this may not have happened."

What does being a foreigner have to do with anything?

Likewise, the cyclist's, or THUG if you will, history isn't relevant, since the Cabbie didn't know it. In his own words he couldn't hear what the cyclist was yelling at him because he had the window up.

So we can't say the cabbie was threatened by someone who he thought was going to kill him, since he had no way of knowing that.

I'm not saying he's criminally liable, that depends on intent and what transpired before, but he is responsible, even if he felt somehow threatened. Panicking is by way of explanation, but not excuse. There's a big difference between the two.

HERE is another NY Post report.

Quote:

"He has seven points,” Mateo said. “If he pays $1,000 fine he can work until he has 10 points. The federation and its 28,000 workers will not allow his license to be revoked.”

“There’s a lot of pressure and demands on drivers. There are drivers that are irresponsible but that isn’t the case here.”

“This young man has a family to support,” Mateo said. “If he can find another job, great. If not, he should be allowed to drive a cab."

“He was in my way and I got upset, so I gave him notice that I wanted to pass through,” Himon said.
Seconds later, Himon’s cab jumped the curb near 48th Street and plowed into Green, a tourist who had stopped with a friend for a hotdog.
“It’s not my fault, it was an accident,” Himon said today. “I didn’t see [Olivo] -- only when he banged on my car.

He gives the biker who was in his way "notice to pass through" but didn't see that same biker. RIIIIIGHT.