General Cycling Discussion - Sad Moment: Bike Messenger vs. Pedestrian

Sad Moment: Bike Messenger vs. Pedestrian
July 22nd, 2009 by Matt


This falls under the category of really sad as far as I’m concerned.
It saddens me on several levels. It’s a commentary on the status of
our society in some ways. It’s a display of violence that certainly
did not need to happen. It’s sad because walking and biking are two
forms of transit that you hope would be free of road rage. I thought
the yelling and screaming crazies were mostly behind the wheels of a
motor vehicle. It’s sad because the post I ran into that broke the
story seems to glorify what happened.

A friend of mine ran into this story and passed it along. It seems to
have originated on the NYC Blog Gothamist that describes what happened
in the following way. The first part appears to be the quote of the
person who took the video, the second part appears to be commentary by
the blog:

” . . .they ran into each other at the intersection. the old guy just
wouldn’t leave the bike dude alone, so the bike dude totally let him
have it, POW! KRYPTONITE LOCK TO THE FACE LIKE 3 OR 4 TIMES!” Lucky
for us, he filmed it.

I’m of the opinion that stating “Lucky for us” regarding this video is
not the best description. If I was breaking the story on bikehacks I
would have written something along the lines of, “The incident was
captured on film and hopefully those who view it will be repulsed by
what happened.”

I know I have always rolled my eyes when I hear a TV news reporter
state something along the lines of, “Warning, what we are about to
show you contains scenes of violence. Those who are disturbed by
images of violence may wish to look away.” Don’t statements like this
just make you want to watch even more? However, now that the shoe is
on the other foot, I feel compelled to say, if you don’t like scenes
of violence, please feel free to skip this video.

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

From the very narrow view of the video, I don't see it as sad at all. Ped screwed with the wrong guy and got his a** kicked. This is how things should be. We as Americans hide behind the law and can't take up for ourselves without being sued. This ped should just take it as a lesson learned and not screw with people. But like I stated, the view is pretty narrow. The cyclist may have ran him over.

Jeez this thing is already being discussed in 2 other threads
give it a rest.

I can't believe that there were even a handfull off d bags commending the bikers actions! We humans must look like a bunch of fools in the eyes of the lord. If I were God, I'd be ashamed :(

There is no message here. I've lived in NYC. If you mouth off to someone - whether they are cyclist, a pedestrian, or flying a zeppelin - you can expect a response. NYC is a dangerous city - despite the mayoral campaigns to boost the image of the place to draw in more visitors - and you don't do that!

The fact the person had a bicycle is about as indicative of cause/result as wearing shoes. He might as well be riding a broomstick, and the other one having springs on his feet.

I smell TROLL here. Pathetic. Please don't turn this turkey into a 20-pager. :eek: :notamused:

Clicking the link set off my virus alert so be warned!

What we have here is a short clip showing a guy arguing with a cyclist. He gets smacked in the face.

No other facts are forthcoming. Dead Thread.

I can't believe that there were even a handfull off d bags commending the bikers actions! We humans must look like a bunch of fools in the eyes of the lord. If I were God, I'd be ashamed :(

It was obvious from the clip that the biker was trying to just leave it alone and get away to avoid any further confrontation. The pedestrian kept persuing, so he got what was coming. If I had a U-lock and some guy wanted to start something, then I would be the one to finish it, using the U-lock of course. You should never have to fight fair in a situation outside of an organized professional fight.

And if you're going to make comments about how even after the first few whacks the biker should have stopped, then put yourself into his shoes. If your adrenaline was pumping as his probably was and your fight/flight impulse kicked in, don't tell me you would have turned into Gandhi and sat down all humble and peaceful.

I say he got what he had coming to him...The cyclist said stop following me apparently, so he gave warning.

Jeez this thing is already being discussed in 2 other threads
give it a rest.

But this is the first thread that also offers the additional threat of a computer virus.

B-O-N-U-S!!

Bike messengers give cyclists a bad name IMHO. I have never seen one that is a courteous rider.

Jeez this thing is already being discussed in 2 other threads
give it a rest.

;)yeah, but some of us don't hang out here all the time and didn't realize it was overplayed. this is news to me, thanks to THIS thread:p

btw, who says the pedestrian is really a walker per se...and not just someone who would rather be riding his car but it got towed or he had another DUI or etc.

actually, not much info to garner from the video. but the ped should've said his piece and been done with it rather than keep hassling the guy. or so it SEEMS...

Removed 1st link, viral.

Sigh. I swear, some cyclist defends himself against some nutbar person, and we're all jumping down his throat. I can't stand how much so many of us cyclists hate their fellow cyclists.

Again, if there's an investigation, it will reveal that the ped has a history of mental illness. That's painfully obvious from the video.

And on the flip side, if Charles Manson rode a bicycle, we'd all be bending over backwards defending him.

I can't see the video right now. But frankly whether cyclist or not, nobody has the right to pick up something heavy and hit another person repeatedly unless it is extreme self defense. Like the person was threatening with something heavy or otherwise dangerous themselves, or took a serious swing at the person and the person swinging is obviously too powerful to overcome otherwise.

And as far as the adrenaline comment, that is just rationalization. Many of us have impulses that if followed will lead to violence, and we can and do fight these impulses, adrenaline or not. Otherwise, all the police beatings we have seen on video are justified... and there would be a lot more of them.

The "I got carried away because..." defense is the defense of a psychopath.