Originally Posted by
Eli_Damon
I admit that I made a bad judgement. However, (1) it was a public place so I had every right to be there, (2), my approaching him and arguing with him, which is not at all illegal, does not warrant his physically attacking me, (3) regardless of the fact that the police officer did not have enough evidence to warrant pressing charges on my behalf, he should still have taken me seriously and treated me with some sympathy rather than immediately assuming that I was not credible and (4) he should not have resisted taking my statement.
I expected him to (1) be familiar with the law, (2) represent his knowledge of the law truthfully, (3) acknowledge that the driver's behavior, as I reported it, was threatening and therefore was an example of a pattern that the police should be somewhat concerned about, and (4) take my statement so as to establish a pattern of behavior in case the driver was involved in another incident.
I know that and I considered it a problem to be addressed. That is why I am discussing it in the "ADVOCACY & Safety" forum.
I consider it more than meanness. It is a threat. I think that most other cyclists and would-be cyclists would consider it a threat and I believe that the driver intended it as a threat even if they did not intend to follow through on it.
I find your attitude upsetting. If you brought the same attitude to a discussion of sexual or racial harassment, you would be on the express route to pariahhood. "Motorists will be motorists" does not fly any better than "boys will be boys".
Well there you go, that's probably the basis of your frustration.
First, while you don't think it is illegal to approach someone (a stranger?) for the purpose of arguing with them, you're actions easily and quickly cross over to assault. All the other person has to say is that they felt threatened by you and took steps to defend themselves. If you compound your poor judgement by approaching a stranger with something in your hand (e.g. a tire pump, a water bottle that could be metal, a bike lock, etc) in most states they can kill you (if they do it quickly) and will not be charged with any serious crime.
"Well your Honor, I'm not sure what happened. I tooted my horn at this bicyclist to let him know I was there when I passed him, the next thing I know I turn around and there he is screaming at me about something with what looked like a club in his hand, so I hit him once with a tire iron. I feel real bad that it killed him." Case closed.
So you're mad because you got no sympathy from the Cop? Well, some people deal better with hot heads than others. I'll feel sorry for you if it makes you feel better. However, if the Cop let you off without an assault charge and thinks you're a nut for insisting he "take your statement" or whatever, I'm hard pressed to say he committed any actionable infractions. We may all wish for some "Andy Taylor" type to come by and make us all feel better, but you ain't gonna find that in anybody's job description.
HERE'S AN IMPORTANT POINT YOU SHOULD LEARN. Attributing threatening *intent* to common behaviors (like honking at someone on the road or passing too closely) is virtually impossible based on second-hand accounts. As I replied in my last post, if the Cop is actually there to see the "threat" he/she *might* write a ticket based on their personal, verifiable, training and experience. On the other hand, walking up to a stranger and initiating a confrontation *is* a threatening behavior where *intent* is much more easily attributed to the initiator.
Now my tactic of trivializing the "threats" you suffered as "meanness" is an effort to give you a perspective more in line with the legal system you expect to do "something". Nobody hit you, stopped and beat you (or walked up to you to discuss your pig headedness over road usage) so realize there isn't anything this Cop is going to do for you. The problem you create for yourself is that if you ever do call 911 from a ditch your credibility as a level headed road user trying to mind his own business is shot as far as this Cop is concerned. This is not good for you.
Finally, I never said "boys will be boys" or anything like that. You're adding that from your "attitude" and are therefore "lying" and not being "sympathetic" to my opinion.
You should work on that. I'm outta time and gotta go. (wave)