Trucker Charged with Assault

[LittleBigMan]

There was an SUV that parked in the bike lane at a major intersection every morning next to a, "No Parking" sign here in Atlanta on Edgewood and Boulevard to make deliveries. I reported it to the nearest City of Atlanta Police precinct on Auburn Ave. The lady who answered was extrememly courteous.

No one has parked there since.

[phinney]

First, it's ok for me to use the term redneck but offensive to me when I hear non-rednecks using it.

The cyclist should have simply told the driver in a courteous fashion that he was blocking the bike lane rather than doing so in an offensive way, "Hey guy, you're not supposed to park in the bike lane". If the trucker had responded poorly ignoring the trucker and calling authorities would have been safer and more appropriate. Hand gestures and offensive language really should not be used ever and can only degenerate a situation. As the most vulnerable of road users it's really only a matter of how big we lose in a road rage situation.

On the other hand consider the poor trucker. He may have known all about the bike lane laws and had obeyed them religiously but found himself in a situation where he absolutely had to talk on the cell right then and right there. Some of these drivers are on the road for a week or more at a time. Maybe he got a phone call from a buddy telling him his wife was cheating on him (probably with the unemployed best friend that "keeps her company" while he's on the road) and he had to pull over immediately. Next thing he knows this guy on a bike is going off on him like he'd just killed someone. Oh, and his bend friend also rode a bike and looked a-lot like this cyclist.

Or maybe he had emotional problems like Mike Tyson where he would fly into uncontrollable fits of rage if he didn't take his medication. He just realized he had forgotten to take the medication and, worse yet, didn't have it with him. So he pulls over quickly to call his parole officer (was in prison for killing a cyclist in a road rage incident, paroled because he was a model prisoner, only needed medication to control his disease, had a wife to take care of, it was only a cyclist and they deserve it anyway (a cyclist gave one of the board members the finger that morning), etc.). Try as he might he can't get a cell phone signal ("can you hear me now"). Then, through the ever darkening red vail of rage that is descending upon him he hears somebody yelling telling him what an idiot and moron he is and that he can't park his truck there...

Sorry, got carried away. Anyway, please always ride courteously and respectful of others. You really don't know what kind of person is in that car you're ridiculing and you will lose any violent confrontation in a big way. Tons of steel with hundreds of horsepower to drive it is a hell of an effective weapon against a cyclist, as well as being handy for taking the kids to soccer practice.