More news from the city where I'm important and you're not:
Convergence of Driver, Bicyclist Ends in Arrest
Bystanders Track Alleged Assailant
By Petula Dvorak
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, July 2, 2005; Page B01
It began as a shouting match on a busy Capitol Hill street corner during the frenetic morning commute, a bike-vs.-car incident not uncommon in a big city.
But then the silver-haired, retired Navy lieutenant got out of his car, approached the red-headed ballet dancer riding a bike and allegedly shoved her to the ground, authorities said. He got back into his car and, as bystanders followed him, drove down the block to his nearby office, the bicyclist said.
The man was identified as Ted E. Schelenski, 64, vice president for finance and operations at the Heritage Foundation, a think tank that promotes conservative policies. He pleaded not guilty this week to a charge of simple assault.
The bicyclist, Kristin Hall, 23, said the trouble began about 8:30 a.m. June 14. She was riding on the sidewalk, about to turn onto the 300 block of Massachusetts Avenue NE, when a car stopped in front of her, blocking her path, she said. She stopped her bike and asked the man to move his silver Acura, she said.
But Schelenski wouldn't move, and the two yelled at one another, she said in an interview yesterday.
"It was some kind of road-rage nonsense," Hall said. "When he got out of the car, I told him: 'You're crazy! Get back in the car!' "
But Schelenski came at the 105-pound, communications assistant at the Academy for Educational Development and shoved her to the ground while she was still straddled on her bicycle, she said.
"I was pretty scraped up and bruised," Hall said. "And he just got back into his car and floored it. He took off."
There were several bystanders. One helped Hall up; someone took down the license plate number of the car and watched it go just a block past the scene to the foundation's office. Someone else summoned a nearby U.S. Capitol Police officer, she said.
About 10 minutes later, Schelenski returned to the scene, Hall said, and tried to apologize. "He said he lost his temper," she said. "And then he told the officer that all he did was try to shake my bike. He said I was the one who fell over."
Police arrested Schelenski after he gave them his side of the story and took him to Capitol Police headquarters for processing, according to charging papers filed by prosecutors. He was released and appeared Thursday in D.C. Superior Court. His attorney, Robert Bredhoff, declined to comment on the case, and Schelenski did not return calls to his home or office.
Schelenski is due back in court July 27 for a status hearing.
The BikeForums Team
-adv-
This is an archived thread, you can find the full version of this thread, with images, links and more content here.
But Schelenski came at the 105-pound, communications assistant at the Academy for Educational Development and shoved her to the ground while she was still straddled on her bicycle, she said.
What a class act. :rolleyes:
mpop
Please do not think all conservatives are bike haters. Just because one conservative did this do not think all conservatives are like this. I am a conservative and I have been hassled and attacked by people with liberal bumper stickers, but I don't think all liberals are bike haters.
TeleJohn
Oh the Heritage Foundation.
Major contributors:
The Rev. Syung Mung Moon - Leader of the "Moonies"
Hyundai Corp - Korean Industry
-=Łem in Pa=-
This lesson in patriotism was necassary.......
The 105lb cyclist was an affront to the Amerikkaan lifestyle and dream
of gratutitous self-overindulgence and disrespect of all other people who
aren't like you. She needed to be reminded not to disrespect good, family
value, consumption loving , *ME*ME*ME* oriented, Nu Amerikka.
'Conservative think tank'..... That's an oxymoron if Ive ever heard one.
John E
Mr. Schelenski gives conservatism a bad name. Mpop is right; the struggle for safe accommodations on our public roadways should not be a liberal-conservative thing or a class fight, but merely mutual respect ad maturity.
ivan_yulaev
This lesson in patriotism was necassary.......
The 105lb cyclist was an affront to the Amerikkaan lifestyle and dream
of gratutitous self-overindulgence and disrespect of all other people who
aren't like you. She needed to be reminded not to disrespect good, family
value, consumption loving , *ME*ME*ME* oriented, Nu Amerikka.
'Conservative think tank'..... That's an oxymoron if Ive ever heard one.
Sadly, I have just as many liberals with "Save the earth" or whatnot stickers honk at me as conservatives...
trayer350
This lesson in patriotism was necassary.......
The 105lb cyclist was an affront to the Amerikkaan lifestyle and dream
of gratutitous self-overindulgence and disrespect of all other people who
aren't like you. She needed to be reminded not to disrespect good, family
value, consumption loving , *ME*ME*ME* oriented, Nu Amerikka.
'Conservative think tank'..... That's an oxymoron if Ive ever heard one.
I don't think it has anything to do with conservatism or liberalism. But I think it has a lot to do with the stress almost everyone seems to be under. When I was growing up, people lived in neighborhoods. Life was slower and everybody was careful to be nice because someone you were dealing with probably lived in your neighborhood and word would get around if you did something. But life being slower also made a big difference. Now, so many husbands and wives are working 45 hour work weeks few have time to be decent. Almost everyone is stressssssssssed out!
-=Łem in Pa=-
Sadly, I have just as many liberals with "Save the earth" or whatnot stickers honk at me as conservatives...
I suppose my initial post was a little antagonistic.
Realisticly, people in cars hate people on bikes....at least here in the east anyway.
If you hold someone up for 2 seconds or look different you are going to be told about
it in some offensive manner.
Here is an idea (http://radio.ksl.com/index.php?nid=19&sid=205392) whose time has come......
trayer350
If what happened is as reported, and that is an if, then this guy's career might be ruined because he couldn't control his temper and he thought he was a tough guy. On the other hand, I hope the bicyclist wasn't mouthy. I was driving home from the store yesterday, and this older kid is bicycling down the right hand lane of a 45 mile-an-hour zone. He was going about 10 mph, if that. I happened upon him as I came around a curve, so I didn't see him until the last moment. To tell you the truth, I was first shocked, then angry, though I didn't say anything, or beep my horn, or do anything of any sort. But, I have seen bicyclists take a lot of chances on the road and give me a scare because I have so little time to do something. And I have seen bicyclists give people unkind gestures when I didn't think the gestures were deserved. Both sides seem to have a lot of anger and fear. Out here in the Los Angeles basin, which is a huge, huge area, too many people are the roads. They talking about building more roads, but where? Roads and freeways are all over the place, yet most roads are jammed like it was Manhattan or something.
bkrownd
Now, so many husbands and wives are working 45 hour work weeks few have time to be decent. Almost everyone is stressssssssssed out!
Um, I hate to break this to ya but 45 is considered lazy these days, lots of people are working 60+. But that's not the source of people's stress anyway...
bkrownd
Realisticly, people in cars hate people on bikes....at least here in the east anyway.
If you hold someone up for 2 seconds or look different you are going to be told about
it in some offensive manner.
It isn't about bikes. People just hate people who are "different", or get in their way.
jim-bob
Um, I hate to break this to ya but 45 is considered lazy these days, lots of people are working 60+. But that's not the source of people's stress anyway...
Why the hell would someone want to work 60 hours a week for the rest of their lives? I'd call that unacceptable.
H23
Conservative or not...
It is totally reasonable to question the integrity of an organization whose VP would thrash a 103 pound woman because of road rage.
The Octopus
He was probably listening to his local NPR affiliate at the time.... :rolleyes:
CB HI
I don't think it has anything to do with conservatism or liberalism. But I think it has a lot to do with the stress almost everyone seems to be under.
Your right about it not having to do with conservatism or liberalism. It also has nothing to do with stress, race, color, sex, religion, etc.
People that behave like this have had only one trait in common, they are all insecure bullies, looking for someone they perceive to be weaker. Their assault is an effort to find a small amount of self esteem for themselves.
CB HI
If what happened is as reported, and that is an if, then this guy's career might be ruined because he couldn't control his temper and he thought he was a tough guy. On the other hand, I hope the bicyclist wasn't mouthy. I was driving home from the store yesterday, and this older kid is bicycling down the right hand lane of a 45 mile-an-hour zone. He was going about 10 mph, if that. I happened upon him as I came around a curve, so I didn't see him until the last moment. To tell you the truth, I was first shocked, then angry, though I didn't say anything, or beep my horn, or do anything of any sort. But, I have seen bicyclists take a lot of chances on the road and give me a scare because I have so little time to do something. And I have seen bicyclists give people unkind gestures when I didn't think the gestures were deserved. Both sides seem to have a lot of anger and fear. Out here in the Los Angeles basin, which is a huge, huge area, too many people are the roads. They talking about building more roads, but where? Roads and freeways are all over the place, yet most roads are jammed like it was Manhattan or something.
Let me see if I understand your post correctly:
You are a bicyclist. But when you drive a motor vehicle around a limited line of sight curve, you do so at a speed you consider unsafe if their might be a bicyclist, child or other hazard in the road. You become angry when that hazard comes into view and you have to brake excessively hard because of your excessive speed. But you are a good guy because even with your anger, you did not yell or sound your horn.
In your mind, what is the speed limit at which bicyclist should be banned from that road? We know it is something under 45 mph; so maybe 35 mph, or 15 mph or should it be the 10 mph speed that the teenager was traveling at. :(
CB HI
Conservative or not...
It is totally reasonable to question the integrity of an organization whose VP would thrash a 103 pound woman because of road rage.
I disagree, just because this guy is a VP in their financial department (which may not really be that high a position), does not reflect badly on the organization. What would reflect badly on the organization, is if they retain the jerk after they find out the type of bully he is. Flood them with complaints about this bully being part of their organization and give them a chance to fire him. :eek:
bkrownd
Why the hell would someone want to work 60 hours a week for the rest of their lives? I'd call that unacceptable.
Then I guess you wouldn't want a typical job in science or technology. I used to think of 60 hours as a light week when I had a good job in a lab building interesting experiments.
dobber
Let me see if I understand your post correctly:
You are a bicyclist. But when you drive a motor vehicle around a limited line of sight curve, you do so at a speed you consider unsafe if their might be a bicyclist, child or other hazard in the road. You become angry when that hazard comes into view and you have to brake excessively hard because of your excessive speed. But you are a good guy because even with your anger, you did not yell or sound your horn.
In your mind, what is the speed limit at which bicyclist should be banned from that road? We know it is something under 45 mph; so maybe 35 mph, or 15 mph or should it be the 10 mph speed that the teenager was traveling at. :(
The cyclist should be bright enough not to put himself in harms way. Rather then ride down a high speed road with limited sight lines, find an alternative path.
Or is that to obvious?
alanbikehouston
This dude is VERY tight with Tom DeLay, and other top leaders of the neo-fascist, radical right wing of America's ruling party.
If some average guy from the "inner city" attacked a 105 pound female, he would be looking at serious pen time. But, with the connections involved in THIS attack, this thug will never serve a minute behind bars. In America, there is a "legal system", but there is no longer a "justice" system.
lilHinault
Someone see if they can get this story talked about by one of the talkers on Air America, I listened to AA a few months ago and thought they were pretty lame, but I've started listening again and they're not bad, not bad at all. That story needs to get some coverage.
cyclezealot
Anyone remember the COngressman from No./or So Dakota that hit a cyclists. Seems he killed the cyclist in a fit of anti - cyclist venom..Wonder what affiliation this guy was..? I think the point of road rage as related to traffic congestion freaking us all out. That should encourage us to support alternative transportation.
Wonder if this guy is politically supportive of 'alternative transportation.' that might be relevant to his road rage and reaction to cyclists.
a point. they don't want us on sidewalks and then other cycling opponents don't want us in the streets. can't win.
Marge
I was horrified when I read this, what threat could 105 lb person make? I was really
scared about about how he got out of his car and knocked her to the ground.
Seems like violence against women, (something I just HATE)
and yes, it's not reds vs blues. even in liberal blue Seattle I almost gotten flatten plenty o'times by car drivers with bike racks.
lala
This dude is VERY tight with Tom DeLay, and other top leaders of the neo-fascist, radical right wing of America's ruling party.
If some average guy from the "inner city" attacked a 105 pound female, he would be looking at serious pen time. But, with the connections involved in THIS attack, this thug will never serve a minute behind bars. In America, there is a "legal system", but there is no longer a "justice" system.
Sad but true.
duane041
This dude is VERY tight with Tom DeLay, and other top leaders of the neo-fascist, radical right wing of America's ruling party.
If some average guy from the "inner city" attacked a 105 pound female, he would be looking at serious pen time. But, with the connections involved in THIS attack, this thug will never serve a minute behind bars. In America, there is a "legal system", but there is no longer a "justice" system.
Actually, if it was just someone from the inner city, we wouldn't have ever heard about it.
Nice to see that the thread had to be labeled. :rolleyes:
Marge
Anyone remember the COngressman from No./or So Dakota that hit a cyclists. Seems he killed the cyclist in a fit of anti - cyclist venom..Wonder what affiliation this guy was..? I think the point of road rage as related to traffic congestion freaking us all out. That should encourage us to support alternative transportation.
Wonder if this guy is politically supportive of 'alternative transportation.' that might be relevant to his road rage and reaction to cyclists.
a point. they don't want us on sidewalks and then other cycling opponents don't want us in the streets. can't win.
It was Representative Janklo from South Dakota and he blew through a stop sign a killed a motorcyclist.
which doesn't excuse Janklo's behavior.
catatonic
Why the hell would someone want to work 60 hours a week for the rest of their lives? I'd call that unacceptable.
dude....for the entire year of 2004 I was working 80hr+ workweeks.
Before that 65hr weeks were the norm, for about 4 years.
Now I'm grateful I have about 45.
Being overworked is part of it...it's not the hours, it's the sheer amount of crap they want you to do...when you have to work at a breakneck speed without a single slip-up, that's incredibly stressful. Heck in my 45 hours, I have to do the work of an entire production line by myself....but that was still better than the 80 hours where I had to do the work of that production line, and my manager, and the materials dept, and to top it off tell everyone else in the dept how to do their jobs (I worked with basically the most incompetant group of people I have seen ever), to sum it up I was literally doing the work of 10......I only ate when I got home, right before going to sleep....I never had breaks at work, nothing.
Needless to say that year I was pulling 80, I was very easily angered.
This is part two....bull----. People have too much bull---- in their lives. Politics is a huge part of this, but the other side is people do/buy things they don't need to that end up becoming a burden. Trying to live beyond one's means is a quick way to get stressed out. The other is trying to please the unpleasable...if one's boss is incapable of being pleased, or is just outright stupid, then the problem of the manager is to be dealt with, and not worry so much on the unrealistic expectations. Oddly people just play into the politics game and become stressed as hell.
Then you have c---blocking at work....such as you need a certain piece of equipment to get your job done...you know they have one, and nobody isusing it....but they still won't let you use it, so you have to make do. In this case, I was lifting 150lbs by myself without a back support. I evntually just decided "it's not going to ship...you c---block me, I c---block you...reciprocity is in full effect, you threaten me, and I'll pull a trump card (it's called OSHA...learn to deal with it)"
The final part is venting stress....people in general suck at stress relief...people are too lazy to vent, and are often too closed-minded to find a alternate means to vent other than going off on people. So they just hold it in until they blow their top.
Basically I do think a majority of the stress is work-related....in general I found people at work to be very pettey, superficial, and backstabbing. This also leads to me being very weary of people there. I usually treat a person i don't know who works in the same place as me worse than I would a stranger on the street, as I have no clue what workplace cloak and dagger bull---- they are cooking up.
I for one know even at this place, my stress level is unreasonably high, but it's the lowest it's been in years....this also leads me to think that maybe we have been under so much stress for so long that maybe, we don't know how to not be under stress anymore....and that scares me.
bkrownd
Wooo - glad I don't work at your place. I'm used to working with laid-back academic types here in the fabled "Ivory Tower", which is usually pretty easy on the blood pressure. ;)
CB HI
The cyclist should be bright enough not to put himself in harms way. Rather then ride down a high speed road with limited sight lines, find an alternative path.
Or is that to obvious?
So you only ride down perfectly straight roads, no bends ever.
Karldar
Obviousy, someone needed a time-out. The article mentions that she was on the sidewalk, but I don't quite understand whether she was transitioning from sidewalk to street or staying on the sidewalk. Not that it excuses his attacking her, but it doesn't sound very safe for her either way.
This dude is VERY tight with Tom DeLay, and other top leaders of the neo-fascist, radical right wing of America's ruling party.
If some average guy from the "inner city" attacked a 105 pound female, he would be looking at serious pen time. But, with the connections involved in THIS attack, this thug will never serve a minute behind bars. In America, there is a "legal system", but there is no longer a "justice" system.
I completely agree with your assessment of America's "legal" system, but I do wish I could read more than two threads in A&S without an off-topic reference to politics. I visit A&S to read about bicycle advocacy, not Democratic, Republican or Libertarian advocacy. I do realize that politics is necessary to aspects of cycling advocacy and safety, but I do not understand what purpose name-calling serves here. Does the P&R forum not allow for enough venting there?
muccapazza
Anyone remember the COngressman from No./or So Dakota that hit a cyclists. Seems he killed the cyclist in a fit of anti - cyclist venom..Wonder what affiliation this guy was..? I think the point of road rage as related to traffic congestion freaking us all out. That should encourage us to support alternative transportation.
Wonder if this guy is politically supportive of 'alternative transportation.' that might be relevant to his road rage and reaction to cyclists.
a point. they don't want us on sidewalks and then other cycling opponents don't want us in the streets. can't win.
You sure about this? There was a South Dakota congressman who killed a motorcyclist when he blew thru a stop sign, and he had a penchant for speeding and was repeatedly ticketed. here's the story: http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/newsandupdates/JanklowScott/ , maybe there was another one who killed a cyclist.
Anyway, I stopped drinking Coors years ago, and not because I have such exquisite taste.
edit: just read marge's post seems this was for naught, off to pull another draught.
Urban Terrorist
Hi i don't know if his polictical connections had anything to do with his rage but Australia is full of dickheads with one thing in common a drivers licence and a sense of their miserable self importance who look at cyclists as a hindrance to them joining the road death toll.
Prom.T.
catatonic
Wooo - glad I don't work at your place. I'm used to working with laid-back academic types here in the fabled "Ivory Tower", which is usually pretty easy on the blood pressure. ;)
Heh I could really use a laid-back job right about now. Like I said this current job is far less stressful, but it's still a constant battle with the bosses to get what we need to get the job done.
All I need is one good idea to patent and sell....that should hold me for a few years :p
lilHinault
The last regular job with a regular company I had, 70 hours a week was becoming the norm. There's not a whole lot of "you" left when you work that much.
Catatonic - www.tinaja.com read the guy's thoughts on patents.
phinney
Obviously, the politics have nothing to do with this incident. Just another case of road rage which thankfully didn't result in anyone getting seriously injured.
IMHO, the cause isn't long work weeks or too much traffic. It's a decay in what is often called "common human decency" in how people treat each other. How often do you see people in traffic flipping the bird and screaming at each other? It's no way to act and leads to rage incidents. I doubt the guy got out of his car to confront the cyclist without some BS happening before hand.
We as cyclists and as citizens need to make a real effort to treat each other better and control our emotions. A little consideration and decency goes a long way. Just because you're overworked is no excuse for acting like an idiot.
Travelinguyrt
60-80 hours a week and NOT self employed equals incompetence, or lack of self confidence to build one's one company, or is a masochist,or likes groveling at the feet of his SUPERIORS. The idea that to work that much is somehow a plus on a resume is to fall into the American work ethic trap..
GROVEL ON FOOLS
-=Łem in Pa=-
60-80 hours a week and NOT self employed equals incompetence, or lack of self confidence to build one's one company, or is a masochist,or likes groveling at the feet of his SUPERIORS. The idea that to work that much is somehow a plus on a resume is to fall into the American work ethic trap..
GROVEL ON FOOLS
So intellegent, openminded and wellspoken.
I apperciate the wisdom of years, years and years of rich
life experience you are imparting on us lesser proles so unselfishly.
JohnBrooking
This lesson in patriotism was necassary.......
The 105lb cyclist was an affront to the Amerikkaan lifestyle and dream
of gratutitous self-overindulgence and disrespect of all other people who
aren't like you. She needed to be reminded not to disrespect good, family
value, consumption loving , *ME*ME*ME* oriented, Nu Amerikka.
Maybe he was just a VC'er who stopped to yell at her for riding on the sidewalk. :D
JOKE!! It's a JOKE, people!! :D (I'm actually pretty much VC myself.)
"Joining the Heritage leadership
team was Ted Schelenski, a former
3M executive and, more recently,
Chief of Staff for Rep. Philip Crane,
R-Illinois, who succeeded Gayner.
Antonelli was succeeded by
Lawrence Whitman, former Senior
Economist for the Joint Economic
Committee of Congress."
Ted Schelenski
Vice President, Finance & Operations, The Heritage Foundation
E-mail Ted Schelenski
summary:
Ted Schelenski is vice president of finance and operations for The Heritage Foundation. He oversees its accounting, personnel, building administration and business supply departments, as well as the publication of its research papers and studies.
Schelenski brings more than 30 years of experience in government and business to his new position. Before coming to Heritage, he served as chief of staff to Rep. Philip Crane, R-Ill. He also worked 33 years at 3M Corp. in various sales, marketing, and government relations positions, including Marketing Director of the Federal Systems department. Schelenski is also on the Board of Directors of Delta Star Inc., a manufacturer of electronic products located in Lynchburg, VA.
Schelenski graduated from Bradley University in Peoria, Ill., in 1963 with a bachelor's degree in business management. He was a lieutenant (j.g.) in the U.S. Navy from 1963 to 1966 and served in Vietnam. He has two grown children and lives in Crofton, Md.
brokenrobot
If what happened is as reported, and that is an if, then this guy's career might be ruined because he couldn't control his temper and he thought he was a tough guy.
Nah. The people at the Heritage Foundation will stop at nothing; they certainly aren't the type to be dissuaded by a little bit of temper!
Note: this is NOT an attack on conservatives as a group; I suspect that if the conservatives amongst us read many of the position papers from the Heritage Foundation, they too would be taken aback!
brokenrobot
I completely agree with your assessment of America's "legal" system, but I do wish I could read more than two threads in A&S without an off-topic reference to politics. I visit A&S to read about bicycle advocacy, not Democratic, Republican or Libertarian advocacy.
I'm with you completely, and I look forward to the day neither party is owned and operated by industry, and when politics has swung back toward the center enough that it is possible to discuss ANY aspect of life - particularly one as political as transportation - without also getting involved in partisan politics. Sadly, I don't think that day is here just yet!
alanbikehouston
...I completely agree with your assessment of America's "legal" system, but I do wish I could read more than two threads in A&S without an off-topic reference to politics. I visit A&S to read about bicycle advocacy, not Democratic, Republican or Libertarian advocacy. I do realize that politics is necessary to aspects of cycling advocacy and safety, but I do not understand what purpose name-calling serves here. Does the P&R forum not allow for enough venting there?
Assaults on bike riders and pedestrians are ALL about politics. Politics is the organization and application of power in a community. In my community, violence committed by miniority males toward Anglo females is harshly punished...sometimes by death during arrest, sometimes by death after trial. That is the "political reality" of living in a city in the "Old South".
In contast, attacks by anglo middle-class and upper-class motorists on pedestrians and cyclists usually go unpunished...and always go unpunished if the victim is poor or a minority. If you walk or ride a bike in Houston, you are a lower form of life. Harming a lower form of life is no more serious than harming a rat crossing the road.
The eighteen year old son of a weathy Republican leader in Houston got drunk, and ran the family car over an elderly Vietnamese man who was walking across the street. The judge refused to allow the kid to spend one minute in jail. While the case was still being heard, the judge was having private meetings in her office with the boy's father and other Republican leaders. The courtroom was filled with his classmates, wearing the uniform of one of the most expensive private high schools in Texas, and their wealthy and well connected parents.
The killer was sentenced under a statute that required him to spend a minimum of ten days in jail, even if he got probation. The judge refused to allow him to be placed in jail. The District Attorney sent the case to the Court of Appeals. The Republican controlled Court of Appeals held that the word "shall" in the statute actually meant "might" as applied to this particular killer. So, the judge MIGHT jail him or not. She chose not.
Pedestrians and cyclists will never be safe in urban American until we have a "fair and equal" justice system, where those who commit crimes, and those who are the victims of crimes, are treated fairly regardless of their age, ethnic background or wealth.
THIS dude is NOT going to jail. Tom DeLay and his allies of the neo-fascist right will not permit it. The truth may offend you, but that is the truth about this particular assault on a cyclist.
JohnBrooking
Nah. The people at the Heritage Foundation will stop at nothing; they certainly aren't the type to be dissuaded by a little bit of temper!
<snide_partisan_generalization>Yeah, remember these are the guys that brought you John Bolton. :eek: </snide_partisan_generalization>
cc_rider
Actually, if it was just someone from the inner city, we wouldn't have ever heard about it.... :rolleyes:
Incorrect. I would have read about it in the same place I read about this incident, Washington Post Metro Section. It might be on B4 instead of B1, but it would still be there.
Conservative or liberal. Politics should be irrelevant. Road rage and bad behavior can happen anywhere.
However, the Heritage Foundation has a LONG history of taking an agressive approach to every confrontation. I've got friends who work there, and they admit it freely. It's their modus operandi. There are liberal organizations of a similar temperament. Organizations like this might attract people of a bullying nature.
mpop
Wooo - glad I don't work at your place. I'm used to working with laid-back academic types here in the fabled "Ivory Tower", which is usually pretty easy on the blood pressure. ;)
Ya academia is great I work at CMU. I love my job there, I know if I was to leave I could get paied more, but the benifites of working in academia FAR out weigh the differiance in pay.
Roody
The cyclist should be bright enough not to put himself in harms way. Rather then ride down a high speed road with limited sight lines, find an alternative path.
Or is that to obvious?Are you a troll or what? Maybe just incredibly oblivious to where you are posting?
Oh wait..I know...you work for the Heritage Foundation!
scarry
Are you a troll or what? Maybe just incredibly oblivious to where you are posting?
Oh wait..I know...you work for the Heritage Foundation!
I was thinking the same thing and wondering how to retort.
The first point I would make is what's know as the basic speed law:
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc22350.htm
Basic Speed Law
22350. No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property.
Amended Ch. 252, Stats. 1963. Effective September 20, 1963.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The attitude that the road is for cars, and that cyclists are simply crazy to legally use the road when it would cause motorists to have to slow down or have to manuver safely around said cyclist, and thus when they get hit, they somehow "had it coming" is ingrained in American Culture. It is now the majority view, but I would consider it in conflict with basic cycling advocacy.
But not all agree.
CARS SUCK.
http://www.cars-suck.org/
Right Of Way manifesto
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Poe's story "The Purloined Letter" turns on the idea that sometimes the best way to hide something is to leave it in plain sight. The idea is amply illustrated for New Yorkers by two glaring scandals that can be seen in action, any day, on any streetcorner, by anybody who ventures outside his house:
There's an unacknowledged crime wave of lawless behavior by drivers -- a crime wave that takes the lives of 250 or so New Yorkers every year.
In a gigantic theft of public property, the car-owning minority of New Yorkers has stolen the streets from the non-motorized rest of us.
Thugarchy, the rule of the road
Stand at a busy streetcorner in midtown any weekday morning and just watch what happens. You'll see a dozen dangerous crimes a minute: drivers "squeezing" the light or just plain ignoring it, drivers bullying pedestrians out of the crosswalk in a very lopsided game of "chicken," drivers stomping on their accelerators and peeling out of a stalled lane into another that offers an irresistible ten feet of Open Road, only to shudder to a squealing stop half a second later.
Enforcement is essentially nonexistent: when was the last time you saw, or heard of, a driver being ticketed for not yielding the right-of-way to a pedestrian? Or for reckless driving after forcing a cyclist off the road? It just doesn't happen.
Speed limits, of course, are a standing joke; most drivers in New York couldn't even tell you what the speed limit is. Whenever there's an opportunity for drivers to open it up and make time, God help the carless. And quite apart from the nominal limit, the concept of "reckless driving" simply has no meaning at all to drivers and police alike: cars roar down narrow side streets at thirty miles an hour, desperate to make a light; they may, by chance, be under the limit, but they're way above what is safe and prudent.
Obviously, nobody cares: not the Mayor, not the cops, not the District Attorneys. The police have an informal, though freely acknowledged, rule that a driver who kills a pedestrian has to be violating at least two laws before he'll be charged with anything. So the vast majority of killer drivers roll away from the scene of the crime without even any points on their license.
Not only do the authorities not care, but most New Yorkers simply accept these conditions, without indignation, as an inescapable fact of life; the Purloined Letter principle at work.
But this tyranny of motorized criminals is not a law of nature. It could be otherwise. It will be otherwise when people wake up to the reality of what is being done to them. So the first of our goals is this: to make the invisible visible
DnvrFox
Conservative think tank
Isn't that an oxymoron? :rolleyes:
(This belongs in P&R, not Advocacy and Safety!)
cyclezealot
Isn't that an oxymoron? :rolleyes:
(This belongs in P&R, not Advocacy and Safety!)
Denver. Yes and No..Beating on a cyclist - is that a political act?