009jim

Is anyone aware of it becoming legal to assault someone if they torment you? This incident "below" happened in my city. Does this mean if a car driver hurls abuse at a cyclist in our city, the cyclist is legally able to punch them in the face? OR do we possibly have a double standard?

GriddleCakes

It should never be OK to solve your problems with violence.

Also, don't be surprised if, after you call someone "fat and stupid", they punch you.

whitey818

I agree, neither was in the right. If you are going to verbally assault someone don't expect them to be the one to turn the other cheek, not everyone is good at the name calling.

roots4x

Call someone fat and stupid and all bets are off. Physicsl assault is not much worse than that type of immature verbal assault.

mgw189

I would like to hear the whole story. While it may not be a good idea to call someone fat and or stupid it is not a good reason to punch someone.

stdlrf11

He deserved to be punched.

If you're going to sink to that level, you have it coming.

If you knew that every time you started running your mouth and acting like an idiot then you'd get thumped, the world would be a much nicer place.

Kind of like the phrase, "an armed society is a polite society."

SlimRider

People please! Words are just words! Words can be stated out of frustration, anger, ignorance, etc...

Words can be smoothed over and apologized for, ever having been stated.

Just think of your siblings, spouses, and parents. Think of all the ungodly things they've ever said to you...

Did you then just haul off and punch them for it?

When dealing with the public, you never know who or what you may encounter. Some people are stricken by senility, some by immaturity, some by mental-illness, and some people, just left a scene where they were already irritated. They were primed for the oncoming event.

In a civilized society, we don't just punch someone because of words...

- Slim

Cyclist01012

From the small snippet of the story you posted we are not getting the full set of details. Just because he pleaded not guilty does not mean the courts are going to find him to be.

dynodonn 

+1

What's next?

"Judge, I'm sorry about my pulling out the 44 mag and shooting him, since he did make some derogatory remarks toward me".

2manybikes

No it's not legal to hit someone, just because they said something. All we know is that he pleaded not guilty. The trial or plea bargaining had not happened yet, at the time of the printing of that story. We have no idea what will happen in court later.

Seb71

From the original post:

colleen c

Here is a full story of the incident:

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/quee...026-1mjaw.html

From what the article stated, it sound like things got escalated after the cyclist interfered with the mirror and window of the bus making the driver stop, but the cyclist did pull a pen out of the bus driver shirt pocket in an attempt to get the bus registration number and prompting the driver to push him to the ground. Then the cyclist pull the pen again out of the pocket a second time with the process of calling him "fat and stupid" somwhere along the argument.

IMO, would have been best if the cyclist just get the bus registration number after stopping the bus and not having to pull the pen out of the driver pocket.

dynodonn 

Twice the bus driver caused the cyclist bodily harm whereas twice the cyclist did not.

I wonder how many jurists in that trial commuted by automobile versus bicycle.

Bike Gremlin

I think verbal abuse, insults, verbal assaults etc. are not something a man should put up with. If a man is not good with words, a reply with a good old punch in the face is 100% OK by me.

dynodonn 

To think that this man is driving professionally behind the wheel of a several ton vehicle with passengers, the standards for his behavior needs to be somewhat higher than what he exhibited.

colleen c

I bet most of those jurists commuted by bus to get to the courthouse that day.

CliftonGK1

I'm not beneath thumping the side of a bus with my fist to get the attention of an idiot driver who nearly hits me. If they're close enough for me to thump the bus, then they're inside of the 3' passing zone; not an OK situation, especially with a bus.
I will not screw with their mirrors or windshield wipers because that's compromising the safety of the passengers and everyone else on the road if the driver can't see properly. I also wouldn't go and pluck things out of the driver's shirt pocket if I did get into an altercation with the driver.
The bus driver might have been in the wrong in the first place by almost hitting the rider (we don't know the specifics of that situation) but it seems to me like the cyclist deserved what he got: He picked a fight and he lost. Sorry, dude... Sack up and deal with the consequences. Go buy some band-aids and a new pair of glasses. Take some boxing lessons while you're at it.

dynodonn 

No battery toward the bus driver on the cyclist's part, but OK for the driver to do it twice on the cyclist.

Have you raised any teenage children?

mymojo

If you are gonna lip off, might be best to have enough ass in your britches to back it up.

1, Cyclist messed with bus. Provocation
2. took pen from driver without consent. provocation
3. Verbally insulted driver. Provocation.

Also, the moment the cyclist touched the driver (taking the pen from him pocket) without the drivers consent, it became assault on the part of the cyclist.

I would say the cyclist is lucky HE wasn't the one who got charged.

dynodonn 

Yeah, resorting to battery solves everything, take a pen from someone's pocket, throw it to the ground and they get to shove you to the ground, and then punch you in the face.

mymojo

Yes, actually they do. Its called self defense. He provoked the driver at least four times according to the story. Obviously he wasnt going to let it go. I'm lucky enough to live in a place that says I don't have to tuck tail when someone does that to me. I am allowed to stand my ground and defend myself.

The moment anyone tries to take anything out of my pocket, be it a pen or my wallet, I am legally allowed to defend myself and my property. BTW, taking the pen without permission is called theft - while "petty" to be sure, I still think its a chargeable offense.

The bus driver could have claimed self defense the first time the cyclist touched him (or his property) it took two more provocations before he acted. He actually showed more restraint than legally required.

So, the point is, if you're gonna disrespect another man buy trying to take his property and call him names, don't whine if he shows you the error of that decision.

dynodonn 

When one is being paid to drive professionally, especially with passengers, one needs to keep their behavior in check far better than this bus driver. Chances are that this particular bus driver's driving habits also reflected his personal behavior, possibly causing the incident with the cyclist in the first place.

I curious to see what takes place if the cyclist pursues this incident in civil court.

slcbob

I would have "defended" myself against the bike rider physically assaulting my person (snatching at my pocket) independent of whether he was calling me fat and stupid at the time. The bus driver should have won. The verbal stuff is a red herring.

There are plenty of examples of bike folk getting raw deals. This isn't one. We dilute our integrity by being pre-disposed to picking one side based on wheel count. Need to look at the whole story.

dynodonn 

Sure, my wife or children decide to verbally abuse me, and take something out of my pocket, that gives me the right to make them sport a black eye.

It's not just about wheel count.

mymojo

Probably. He could well lose his job for this. But whether or not he violated his company's code of conduct is not a matter for the courts. And who knows, he may still be found liable in civil court.

You may be right. Most peoples don't go off like that for no reason. But...... that's guess work. That's not allowed in court and I'm not basing my opinion on guesswork. I'm basing it on the information provided above. From that information we have: the cyclist provoked him four times prior to the driver taking action. The cyclist is the aggressor and the driver is the victim.