Trucker Charged with Assault

[BucketHead]

Read all about it.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20040812-9999-1mi12ncrime.html

Oh, hi. I'm BucketHead.

[pletcgm]

That's awesome that they got the trucker!!!!!!

[Crazy Cyclist]

what a jackoff that trucker was. Probably some redneck!!!!

[FXjohn]

Finally, Some Justice

[TechJD]

Finally, Some Justice
maybe depence on what is done to him
if they just basic give him a slap on the wrist and say dont do it again
then nothing accomplished

[supcom]

maybe depence on what is done to him
if they just basic give him a slap on the wrist and say dont do it again
then nothing accomplished

One can hope that even if the driver pleads to a misdemeanor, he'll lose his commercial drivers license and any truck driving job along with it. Fortunately, it appears that the cyclist was not injured.

[Chris L]

He'll probably only get a 'slap on the wrist' warning as no actual collision occurred, and no injuries were sustained by either party. To be honest I'm surprised the thing even reached the news. I myself have managed to get drivers 'lectured' by the cops on previous occasions for similar behaviour. The best we can hope for here is that the lecture might dissuade the driver from doing it again.

[supcom]

I suspect it was repeating the offense multiple times that got the guy in trouble. You can't very well claim you didn't see the cyclist three times in a row!

[Stor Mand]

He was lucky not to have been hurt. Hopefully, the driver gets some sort of fine or something. That reminded me of when I was in my teens and got forced into a curb by a pickup when I was going close to 35 mph. Difference being that I wrecked .. totaled my bicycle and had a lot of sand, pebbles and stones to dig out of my hands, arms and legs. I didn't ride for a long time after that .. plus, I had no bicycle after that ... I hate when that happens.

[LittleBigMan]

A little clean-up is necessary, once in a while, to get incompetants off the road. (At least, we hope, in this case.)

[Dchiefransom]

what a jackoff that trucker was. Probably some redneck!!!!


Isn't it curious how we accept some slurs about groups of people, but would never, ever think of using them about other groups?

[The Rob]

Hoo boy, here I go...

"The bicyclist rode into the street around the truck, exchanging words and hand gestures with the driver, Rawson said."

Had the cyclist simply passed on and chalked it up to ignorance on the part of the truck driver, this incident would never have happened to this cyclist. I italicize those last words because I realize that the trucker was wholly responsible for his actions, but so too was the cyclist. The errors and poor behaviors of motorists (or anyone) are not valid excuses to redress offenses with similarly offensive actions. Of course this driver's reaction was over the top, and he should be charged with a host of infractions, not the least of which would be assault with a motor-vehicle (that alone should net him a huge fine and some time in the clink). That is beyond dispute. That cyclist, however, turned a personal annoyance into needless peril for himself simply because his self-righteousness was allowed to cloud his common sense. Since in the end he was unscathed, he probably deems his efforts worthwhile, justice done (or hopefully about to be), another bad guy brought low. And he won't change his habits one iota and he'll feel justified flinging his fingers and epithets. So what happens when he finally makes his displeasure known to another motorist who has either less control of his mental stability or less control of his vehicle?

If it's simply bad manners, ignore it and roll on. If it's a true danger for yourself or others, report it to the authorities as quickly as you can manage. Bear witness, if you feel it's necessary. Write your congressman, sign petitions, get your name on a ballet. But since, in effect, you're in the tiger's cage with the gate shut, Don't Tease The Tiger!

[brokenrobot]

Isn't it curious how we accept some slurs about groups of people, but would never, ever think of using them about other groups?

Just curious - are you wanting to defend truckers, or rednecks?

-chris

[bertt]

Hoo boy, here I go...

"The bicyclist rode into the street around the truck, exchanging words and hand gestures with the driver, Rawson said."

Had the cyclist simply passed on and chalked it up to ignorance on the part of the truck driver, this incident would never have happened to this cyclist. I italicize those last words because I realize that the trucker was wholly responsible for his actions, but so too was the cyclist. The errors and poor behaviors of motorists (or anyone) are not valid excuses to redress offenses with similarly offensive actions. Of course this driver's reaction was over the top, and he should be charged with a host of infractions, not the least of which would be assault with a motor-vehicle (that alone should net him a huge fine and some time in the clink). That is beyond dispute. That cyclist, however, turned a personal annoyance into needless peril for himself simply because his self-righteousness was allowed to cloud his common sense. Since in the end he was unscathed, he probably deems his efforts worthwhile, justice done (or hopefully about to be), another bad guy brought low. And he won't change his habits one iota and he'll feel justified flinging his fingers and epithets. So what happens when he finally makes his displeasure known to another motorist who has either less control of his mental stability or less control of his vehicle?

If it's simply bad manners, ignore it and roll on. If it's a true danger for yourself or others, report it to the authorities as quickly as you can manage. Bear witness, if you feel it's necessary. Write your congressman, sign petitions, get your name on a ballet. But since, in effect, you're in the tiger's cage with the gate shut, Don't Tease The Tiger!
Couldn't have said it better myself.

[TechJD]

well I think this comes under the heading of Road Rage on both parties
both should have to goto some class or something
as far as rednecks go listen to Jeff Foxworthy :)

[dobber]

Hoo boy, here I go...

"The bicyclist rode into the street around the truck, exchanging words and hand gestures with the driver, Rawson said."

Had the cyclist simply passed on and chalked it up to ignorance on the part of the truck driver, this incident would never have happened to this cyclist. I italicize those last words because I realize that the trucker was wholly responsible for his actions, but so too was the cyclist. The errors and poor behaviors of motorists (or anyone) are not valid excuses to redress offenses with similarly offensive

Have to agree whole heartedly. Sounds like we're becoming the cagers we loath. Road rage on a bike is still road rage, just that much more childish.

[slotibartfast]

Well said, RobCat. When you're in a vulnerable postion - on a bike with no protection riding among motor vehicles - keep your emotions in line and stay alive. There's enough crazies out there these days and you never know when you'll run into one of them. Take the high road and don't poke the bear.

[LittleBigMan]

"The bicyclist rode into the street around the truck, exchanging words and hand gestures with the driver, Rawson said."

I believe it's very wise not to provoke other road users the way this cyclist did. It's just common sense. Too many of us are too free with our sign language and our mouths.

But I think the end of the article sums it all up nicely:

Police arrested the driver, Marcus Brost, 51, of Garden Grove, on Interstate 5 just north of Palomar Airport Road.

There is no justification for purposefully running a cyclist off the road, ever. I hope the driver gets a desk job soon.

[Dchiefransom]

Just curious - are you wanting to defend truckers, or rednecks?

-chris

I'm not defending anyone, but I've noticed repeatedly that it's okay in a politically correct way to use a denigrating term (redneck), to describe someone, and I've only heard this term used about Caucasian males. If someone were to use a word that starts with "N" to describe a black person, I do indeed believe there would be sanctions by the moderator, and flames from others here.

[LittleBigMan]

I'm not defending anyone, but I've noticed repeatedly that it's okay in a politically correct way to use a denigrating term (redneck), to describe someone, and I've only heard this term used about Caucasian males. If someone were to use a word that starts with "N" to describe a black person, I do indeed believe there would be sanctions by the moderator, and flames from others here.
You should try wearing a "49ers" cap around here in Atlanta, like I do. (Not that I like the San Francisco 49ers, nor do I dislike them. I just have the cap and I like the way it looks, especially since nobody else around here wears one.)

:)

[AndrewP]

I would commend the truck driver for pulling into the bike lane and stopping to make a cell phone call. It might be an inconvenience to cyclists but its not dangerous as is driving while making a cell phone call.

[Dchiefransom]

I would commend the truck driver for pulling into the bike lane and stopping to make a cell phone call. It might be an inconvenience to cyclists but its not dangerous as is driving while making a cell phone call.


Unless there are signs saying you can park there during certain hours, it's not legal to park in bike lanes in California. Stopping and standing applies also.

[LittleBigMan]

I would commend the truck driver for pulling into the bike lane and stopping to make a cell phone call. It might be an inconvenience to cyclists but its not dangerous as is driving while making a cell phone call.
No...

The driver purposefully ran the cyclist off the road several times in a fit of rage. That is not the behavior of a thoughtful citizen stopping to make a cell-phone call.

[Chris L]

No...

The driver purposefully ran the cyclist off the road several times in a fit of rage. That is not the behavior of a thoughtful citizen stopping to make a cell-phone call.

I'm wondering if attempted murder is a more appropriate charge than assault.

[Raiyn]

I'm not defending anyone, but I've noticed repeatedly that it's okay in a politically correct way to use a denigrating term (redneck), to describe someone, and I've only heard this term used about Caucasian males. If someone were to use a word that starts with "N" to describe a black person, I do indeed believe there would be sanctions by the moderator, and flames from others here.
You'd best believe it.
You should try wearing a "49ers" cap around here in Atlanta, like I do. (Not that I like the San Francisco 49ers, nor do I dislike them. I just have the cap and I like the way it looks, especially since nobody else around here wears one.)

:)I'd imagine that's like wearing a Vikings shirt in Tampa. Something I know about first hand.

Of course it could be worse I could wear a New Orleans Saints shirt instead. :D

[twahl]

Nah, assault with deadly weapon is appropriate here. I would think that if the trucker had wanted to kill the cyclist he could have done so, and certainly would have done more than forced him off the road. Taken in another context, if you walk up to someone and shoot them in the foot with a gun, it's obviously a deadly weapon, but you obviously weren't trying to kill them.

[Ryan1]

Damn truckers!

[WorldIRC]

agreed.. damn them

[AndrewP]

"Unless there are signs saying you can park there during certain hours, it's not legal to park in bike lanes in California. Stopping and standing applies also."

I expect its legal to talk on the cell while driving in California, but I would prefer drivers stop illegally to make a call, rather than continue driving legally while calling.

"The driver purposefully ran the cyclist off the road several times in a fit of rage. That is not the behavior of a thoughtful citizen stopping to make a cell-phone call."

The road rage harassment was started by the cyclist so the police should book both of them

[natelutkjohn]

To blame the biker for road rage is such a load! Yeah he was upset and rightly so. If that was a car that got stuck behind someone who came to a complete stop in the middle of the road to answer a cellphone call, the car would have laid on the horn and rightly so, it's a danger to stop there. The bike did his version of the horn. So what if it came out as hand gestures, etc. If the truck driver was being so inconsiderate, maybe he needed a wake up call. I applaud the biker for doing what he did, yeah he put himself in danger with the truck driver, but that was his choice, at least he didn't just let it go and let that driver think that it was no big deal to stop in the bike lane.

[DanFromDetroit]

I would commend the truck driver for pulling into the bike lane and stopping to make a cell phone call. It might be an inconvenience to cyclists but its not dangerous as is driving while making a cell phone call.

Would you also commend this driver for pulling over into the left lane to stop and make the call ? He didn't pull out of traffic, he just made himself a dangerous obstacle.

Dan

[brokenrobot]

I'm not defending anyone, but I've noticed repeatedly that it's okay in a politically correct way to use a denigrating term (redneck), to describe someone, and I've only heard this term used about Caucasian males. If someone were to use a word that starts with "N" to describe a black person, I do indeed believe there would be sanctions by the moderator, and flames from others here.

Fair enough, and rightly so. As a Caucasian male from a First World part of the States, the term "redneck" has never offended me personally; I've always assumed it applied primarily to the sort of people (of whatever race) who only come down from the hills to marry their siblings and/or first cousins and/or offspring; offensive, in short, in a primarily class-based or perhaps even anti-Southern-stereotype manner, but not racially biased. I'll reconsider - and if I've inadvertently offended any self-identified rednecks who disdain people married to their siblings, or, conversely, any sibling-marriers who disdain self-identified rednecks, or any Southerners who disdain either or both other classes of potentially offensible peoples, I hereby apologize. But you'll never get me to apologize for calling ANY trucker a trucker if indeed a trucker he is - that's just the kind of guy I am.

The road rage harassment was started by the cyclist so the police should book both of them

Is road rage illegal? If so, you're absolutely right. If the crime for which the arrest was made was soemthign more like assault with a deadly weapon (ie a truck) or attempted vehicular assualt, or something along those lines, then I'd say the trucker alone had it coming. Last I heard it was disrespectful, perhaps unwise, but not illegal to give a jerk the finger.


-chris

[supcom]

Flipping the finger and voicing your opinion of another is not (yet) illegal in the US. Running people off the road is. Starting an argument with another person does not make you criminally liable if the other person loses his cool and shoots you.

Initiating an argument with a stranger when you have nothing to gain is unwise, but not illegal.

[twahl]

Not necessarily true. Verbal abuse can be considered assault, thus the difference between "assault" and "assault and battery".
Just to be clear, I'm one of those people that will vent my feelings verbally and using "sign language", but I also know that I could be charged with assault for doing it.

[Ryan]

The trucker is wrong in what he did, but the cyclist provoked him. If i was the that trucker I would definetly goto court and try to get the charges reduced. Attempted murder is too serious of a charge for this.. I am sure the hand gesture was the middle finger, the cyclist could have handled the situation from the start. I would have ignore it, big deal the trucker wanted to make a call, better then him passing you his attention on the phone... And if he really wanted something done he should have just notified the police without hand gestures or words. However the trucker was wrong to go chasing him down, especially when hes in an 80,000 pound rig compared to the 20lbs bike.

[Raiyn]

He'll have a hell of a time getting the charges reduced when he ran the cyclist off the road THREE TIMES! Once I could see maybe, but three times no way.

[supcom]

Not necessarily true. Verbal abuse can be considered assault, thus the difference between "assault" and "assault and battery".
Just to be clear, I'm one of those people that will vent my feelings verbally and using "sign language", but I also know that I could be charged with assault for doing it.

In my state, Texas, assault requires bodily injury, imminent threat to cause bodily injury, or touching someone when contact would be considered unwanted. There is also a law against Terroristic Threat which is threatening to commit an offense against another.

I don't believe that merely cursing another person and/or flipping the finger would be considered a terroristic threat when the cursing finger flipper is on a bicycle and the cursed finger flippee is in a truck.

If the cursing is loud enough in a quiet area, the cursing person may be cited for Disturbing the Peace, but that would not be assault and certainly would not warrant running a person off the road.

[Ryan]

You would be surprised what people can get away with these days...

[Chris L]

However the trucker was wrong to go chasing him down, especially when hes in an 80,000 pound rig compared to the 20lbs bike.

Not just wrong, but also gutless. Somehow I doubt whether the trucker would have been so enthusiastic to go on with things had it been one 80kg pedestrian vs another 80kg pedestrian.

Either way, while flipping the finger is dumb, two wrongs do not make a right. If giving someone the finger is against the law, penalise the cyclist for it. However, that should make no difference either way as to the penalty for the trucker. Assault is assault, period. In a just society, you do the crime, you do the time. When you get right down to it, "he hit me first" is a pretty childish excuse.

[Dchiefransom]

Fair enough, and rightly so. As a Caucasian male from a First World part of the States, the term "redneck" has never offended me personally; I've always assumed it applied primarily to the sort of people (of whatever race) who only come down from the hills to marry their siblings and/or first cousins and/or offspring; offensive, in short, in a primarily class-based or perhaps even anti-Southern-stereotype manner, but not racially biased. I'll reconsider - and if I've inadvertently offended any self-identified rednecks who disdain people married to their siblings, or, conversely, any sibling-marriers who disdain self-identified rednecks, or any Southerners who disdain either or both other classes of potentially offensible peoples, I hereby apologize. But you'll never get me to apologize for calling ANY trucker a trucker if indeed a trucker he is - that's just the kind of guy I am.



Is road rage illegal? If so, you're absolutely right. If the crime for which the arrest was made was soemthign more like assault with a deadly weapon (ie a truck) or attempted vehicular assualt, or something along those lines, then I'd say the trucker alone had it coming. Last I heard it was disrespectful, perhaps unwise, but not illegal to give a jerk the finger.


-chris

I believe the article said they exchanged words. It doesn't say that the cyclist did anything more than remind the truck driver he shoudln't be parking there. "Road Rage" would involve more than just a reminder, but I didn't see anything specific about it. With drivers, just reminding them that they are doing something wrong is many times enough to set them off, even if you are polite about it.

[Ryan]

Maybe the trucker just kept falling asleep when he got next to the cylist and, drifting off the road....

[twahl]

In my state, Texas, assault requires bodily injury, imminent threat to cause bodily injury, or touching someone when contact would be considered unwanted. There is also a law against Terroristic Threat which is threatening to commit an offense against another.

I don't believe that merely cursing another person and/or flipping the finger would be considered a terroristic threat when the cursing finger flipper is on a bicycle and the cursed finger flippee is in a truck.

If the cursing is loud enough in a quiet area, the cursing person may be cited for Disturbing the Peace, but that would not be assault and certainly would not warrant running a person off the road.

I stand corrected. Assault requires a threat to commit harm with apparant ability to carry out that threat, not just verbal abuse, while assault and battery can be invoked as soon as you touch the "victim" after having made such a threat. In this case, so long as the cyclist only called the guy nasty names, he could not be charged with assault. I must make note of this distinction when I ride!

[Stor Mand]

Maybe the trucker just kept falling asleep when he got next to the cylist and, drifting off the road....

It could happen. :p

[twahl]

Yeah. He was hypnotized by the revolution of the spokes. Thank God he drifted right rather than into oncoming traffic.

[brokenrobot]

Yeah. He was hypnotized by the revolution of the spokes. Thank God he drifted right rather than into oncoming traffic.

Repeat after me: CYCLISTS ARE TRAFFIC! ;)

-chris

[LittleBigMan]

"The driver purposefully ran the cyclist off the road several times in a fit of rage. That is not the behavior of a thoughtful citizen stopping to make a cell-phone call."

The road rage harassment was started by the cyclist so the police should book both of them
If a motorist had shot the trucker a bird and the trucker ran the motorist off the road, nobody would say the motorist deserved it. The trucker would be in a world of sh**, and rightly so.

[Ryan]

It wasen't a motorist so whats it matter.. It was a cyclist.

[twahl]

Repeat after me: CYCLISTS ARE TRAFFIC! ;)

-chris

Aye, but the cyclist came up on the trucker from behind, so the cyclist was not oncoming traffic.
Repeat after me: SARCASM! :D

[Ryan]

I bet the cyclist probably when around to the side of the truck, started kicking the door with his metal SPD cleat, when the driver rolled the window down, he was like get the F outta the bike lane... The trucker ignored him so he got mad, rode off giving the trucker the finger.. Then the trucker saw the dents in his door and went chasing after him..

[brokenrobot]

Aye, but the cyclist came up on the trucker from behind, so the cyclist was not oncoming traffic.
Repeat after me: SARCASM! :D

Whoops! Right you are! :P