kokomo61

Toronto students catch road rager

Students Accidentally Catch Cyclist Assault On Tape
Tuesday May 8, 2007
It was supposed to be a class project on public spaces in Toronto. But it turned into an amazing education on the legal system for a group of Grade 12 students Tuesday. Their cameras were rolling when they caught a startling crime on tape - a road rage incident in which a man physically attacks a cyclist.

The kids' mini-cam was pointed at the scene near Queen and Bay when the driver on four wheels got into a dispute with a cyclist on two. As the students watched in disbelief, they saw the motorist get out of his still idling car, approach the cyclist and punch him boldly in the face. He pushed the stunned bike owner onto the sidewalk where the assault appeared to continue for several more moments.

Allison Mann, the media teacher at Ursula Franklin Academy, was with her charges when the incident took place. "We're on a field trip with about 40 students and looking at public and private space in Toronto. It's ironic this happened this morning because each group had a video camera."

Mann, who gets rave reviews from her pupils on "Rate My Teacher.com", claims she's proud her students kept rolling and capturing clear images of the incident. A copy of that tape is now in the possession of Toronto Police. It will eventually be used as evidence in court.

slowandsteady

Geez... I am glad they were there.

genec

Gee, and some "advocates" just don't think "harassment" is violent...

https://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.p...5&postcount=26

Zeuser

Camcorders are everywhere these days. That's a good thing. This is a nice "I told you so!" for all the naysayers... which are mostly car drivers BTW.

Zeuser

That's BS! I've seen plenty of violent behavior from cagers. Not always pointed at cyclists but I've seen enough incidents involving cyclists to say that John is totally wrong!

Being a cyclist in such a situation is an advantage though; we're far more mobile so it's easy for me to evade the road rager by ducking in between buildings, going offroad where he simply can't go, lane splitting to evade and so on.

I'm not going to stand there and take a beating from a road rager. "Phok u cager... I'm outta here."

Helmet Head

Gene, you're taking things out of context.

Diane's phrase, "motorist harassment and threats of actual violence", clearly made a distinction, with "harassment" referring to the honking and yelling mentioned in the OP, and Forester was simply responding in the terms that she established.

trackhub

People should be aware by now that cameras are everywhere. I've read that in American cities, you are photographed and/or video taped about fifty times a day. Looks like the kids got a pretty good education that day. Hopefully, this waste matter will be prosecuted.

Any chance at all that it's the same genetic defective who attacked that female messenger about a year ago? (just joking, of course. )

huge

Maybe it's just me, but it looked like the cyclist was about to throw his bike at the car before he got punched. I'm curious to hear what was being said right before the video started.

pj7

"put down that camera and help me, I'm getting my ass kicked admmit!!!"

Dchiefransom

It looked like he was holding his bike up off the ground because the driver was kicking the rear wheel. The most telling comment here is the student saying the cop looked like he didn't believe the guy at first. What was also caught on tape is nobody helping the cyclist.

GreenGrasshoppr

We don't know why he picked his bike up... it did look like he was about to throw his bike on the hood, but since we haven't seen what happened or what's been said before between the biker and the driver, we can only speculate

As for why no one helped him? The driver looks like he's slightly bigger than the average size guy, and getting into a fight is always a risky proposition.

I would ask: "where are all the internet tough guys when you need them?"

slowandsteady

It is hard to tell, but it looks like the cyclist was already hit once when he raised his bike up. Perhaps it was to hit the driver back or use as a shield following the first blow.

Quartz

I'd agree with Dchiefransom. When you watch the beginning of that video on the site, I'd agree; it looked to me like the cyclist was about to club his attacker with his bike. If you watch more towards the end of the video, though, they replay the attack from a little earlier on, and it looks to me like the attacker walked up and tried to kick the back wheel out from under the bike, and the cyclist is just trying to stop his bike from falling by keeping it in the air.

genec

I took nothing out of context and provided a link to the statement. Harassment is harassment, and none of it is good. And if harassment is part of "...are treated like drivers of vehicles," then, no thanks.

EnigManiac

This incident really bothers me, but not just for the seemingly unprovoked assault on the cyclist, but for a number of important reasons.

The cyclist was obeying the law, according to the witnesses by stopping at an amber light as he---and all other road users---are supposed to do. The motorist, apparently, is one of those drivers who believes amber lights mean 'speed up.' And the motorist, enraged at being prevented from disobeying the law attacks him? For being safe?

The cyclist didn't seem to do much to defend himself. I'm not a tough guy nor a provoker of fights, but I can tell you that I wouldn't have simply let some moron punch and kick at me. What I couldn't do with my fists and feet, my chain lock would have. At 3.5 feet and 12 pounds, it makes an imposing and destructive weapon.

No-one came to the aid of the cyclist. I am a pacifist, but if I had been witnessing I would have tried to assist the cyclist and stop the assault. Not sure how, but I would have done something.

The police who arrived on the scene to investigate, according to one of the witnesses, were initially disinterested and not taking the matter seriously until presented with the evidence. That attitude toward cyclist-involved infractions is far too prevalent with the police and it has to change. The incident was not a traffic violation: it was a vicious unprovoked assault, a violation under the criminal code. Under any other circumstance, the police would have been all over it like white on rice.

Maybe it's time we started taking matters into our own hands. If we're going to be disregarded, dismissed and disrespected by those sworn to 'serve and protect' us, then we have to do it ourselves and mete out punishment and justice as the situation merits. Why whould we rely on police who have demonstrated over and over and over again that whatever happens to us doesn't really matter? We're supposed to be punching bags for JAM's? We're supposed to get hit, run over and assaulted and just take it? Or maybe I'm just p-o'd right now.

The worst part is, you can't even complain to the cops here. There's no email address and you have to submit a formal complaint listing details of a specific incident before beginning a long drawn-out process. Silly.

slagjumper

I am glad that this was caught on tape. I'd say that several years of anger management and prison time would be sufficient. Perhaps they could make him walk around town wearing a "Bikes are traffic too" sandwich board.

slowandsteady

I have to disagree with fighting back. First of all, you don't want to escalate this any more than it already is. Second of all, for the police to believe that you were in fact the victim here, you have to look like one and act like one. And that means you have to take a few punches. Unfortunately I know this from personal experience. If the assault doesn't look totally one sided, you won't be considered a victim of a crime. It isn't right, but it is reality.

bac

One more coward (did you see the sucker punch?) taken out by the power of the video camera. How sweet it is.


... Brad

Shiznaz

That was such a sucker punch. I feel really bad for the cyclist who is just an old guy who follows the rules. The driver was totally crazy. He does not look like he is trying to throw the bike, and was simply trying to get it our of the way when the guy was trying to kick it.

EnigManiac

I understand what you're saying, but the police didn't seem to give a damn whether the fight was one-sided or not and they likely weren't going to do a damn thing about it until the video made their case solid. Without the video they'd have had to actually take witness statements and pursue the driver and make a case for the Crown. Seems unless we, the public, do all the work and make their case for them, they aren't going to lift a finger no matter how one-sided that altercation was.

I am not a punching bag for some low-life scumbag coward. Since the police aren't going to take the situation seriously, I'd defend myself knowing full well that unless there was video evidence they'd just shrug their shoulders and say 'well, what do you expect us to do?' Nah. Forget that. Let the JAM know the next time he's thinking about accosting another cyclist he's likely to get another beating.

slowandsteady

If you have wounds here in the states the cops will most certainly do something. Maybe they just don't give a damn in Toronto. By the way, were you there? How do you know they weren't going to do something?

Zeuser

They do. And you don't even need wounds for them to give a damn. I've put a guy in jail for 4 days because he assaulted me (punched me) for no good reason. I wasn't even wounded, bleeding or anything. I just had 3 witnesses to the thing, filed a complaint and I ended up in court testifying against the guy. It was a minor assault so he got 4 days.

Point is: They do care; even about minor assaults.

invisiblehand

The bold emphasis is mine.

Well, we don't know. It was just the opinion of a witness.

STEEKER

strange how they don't put the drivers in jail for killing cyclist or ped's in Toronto nor do they put drunk drivers in jail . that's not the cops fault it is the courts fault , the courts actually might give a heavy hit on the driver see'ing this is getting alot of exposer but I doubt it

Zeuser

Is it any different elsewhere in Canada? I don't think so. I don't think it's anything peculiar about Toronto but more about how the law works in Canada.