Digital_Cowboy

One would expect it to work that way, but sadly we know "better," don't we. As has been said way too many times here: "Want to kill someone? Give them a bike and claim that ya didn't see 'em."

Digital_Cowboy

That is a valid point.

Digital_Cowboy

1. That is where one's lawyer can have an independent test done on the bottle.

2. Given the tag, and car description it would not be unrealistic to expect fingerprints to be taken to prove/disprove the ownership of the bottle.

3. The general advice here seems to be to call 911 and claim that the driver was DUI, NOT that one THOUGHT that driver was drunk or otherwise impaired.

I agree, that by wording it as "I think" or "I suspect" that the driver was some way impaired. But by calling 911 and saying, "Hey, the driver of a 2010 'black ford mustang,' with xxx-xxx license plate is driving drunk." Is filing a false police report. Whereas "Hey, I think that the driver of a 2010 'black ford mustang,' with xxx-xxx is drunk or impaired" is not filing a false police report.

fuji86

That's the vehicle that I'd pull out the cell phone for and call 911, get a very detailed description of all of them with license plate number, make & model of car, even location and let the police do their thing. I doubt it would take the police very long to have an officer there, maybe even luck into one being a few blocks away waiting for them when the light changes. Then you could ride up to that pullover and have the last word ?

oban_kobi

I got sprayed by a water bottle last night. -.-

No hope of catching them, and it didn't actually bother me, though I feel it should have. It was quite warm out, and felt rather good. If it wasn't water I'd have probably been ticked.

Fasteryoufool

Ehhh... they missed (I don't think they were trying very hard to hit me) and I didn't have my cell on me. Calling them on their bull**** seemed sufficient.

smasha

1 - at your expense, sure. but without access to a police database, what good would it do?

2 - reasonable, maybe. done in real life? no.

3 - there are plenty of people who call the police and don't preface their observations with "i think" or "it appears" or "they may be". unless these people make a habit out of calling prank-calling the police, there's nothing to worry about as far as false report. just keep it reasonable and based on what you've witnessed.

dougmc

If you're lying about the drunkenness of the driver in order to make the police take it more seriously when you have no reason to believe they're drunk, it's a false police report, no matter how you phrase the lie.

However, in order to actually charge you with a false police report, the police would have to know you're lying, and have some sort of proof -- which would be very difficult for them to do, unless you were stupid and told them.

Ultimately, you're not an expert on detecting drunk drivers, and it would be difficult to charge you for simply making a mistake -- even a perfectly sober driver can swerve a few times like a drunk, which could make even an expert make a mistake.

Ultimately, if somebody throws a beer bottle at you, it's a fairly good guess that they're drunk -- after all, 1) they have a beer bottle, they probably drank some (especially if this bottle is empty) and 2) sober people don't usually throw beer bottles at cyclists. That alone ought to be enough for you to honestly claim "you think he's drunk".

Digital_Cowboy

Given that lawyer's are able to to get suboena's for just about "everything" these days it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect a lawyer to get one for a sample of the driver's and/or passenger's DNA to compare to what is found on the bottle.

Given that both DNA and fingerprinting can determine who is/was the owner of the bottle at least the fingerprinting should be done.

That would be the best way to make the call, i.e. keeping it reasonable and based on what one witnessed and not embellishing it in any way.

This is probably true.

Exactly, we have a case sort of like this up in Polk county where a woman has been arrested and charged with making "sex noises" in her own home when a child could hear her. I would have to think that it would be extremely difficult for the prosecutor's office prove that she knew that the child was outside her window. And if he was right outside her window then shouldn't he (or his parent(s)) be arrested for trespassing?

I've had friends who cars were so messy that they could have had a "body" under all the garbage and never known it. So it is reasonable to think that the a sober person could have empty beer bottles/cans in their car and not be drunk or having recently drank any beer. And I'm pretty sure that the people who have thrown eggs, ice, slushies, etc. at cyclists were sober at the time.

smasha

@DC -

1 - if you can afford to pay for forensic examination, lawyers, filing fees, etc... go for it. i think most of us have to rely on police and prosecutors to pretend like they're concerned about public safety.

doing this also implicitly assumes that any fingerprints/DNA recovered from the bottle either belong to the registered owner of the car, or are on file in a police database. if a passenger without a criminal record drank the beer and threw it at you, you're outta luck. this is why it's best if the cops can locate the car quickly. not all cops are good, but a good cop can phrase questions in a way that will encourage a guilty passenger to admit guilt.

weeks or months later, someone could claim that you got the bottle out of their recycle bin and you're just lying and harassing them. maybe they could even come up with 3-4 witnesses (passengers) saying they were at home, watching a game, at the time of the alleged incident. without video, you're still stuck at "your word against theirs", and chances are you don't have a witness.

video is a witness. like any witness, what it sees can be challenged, but it is nonetheless a highly objective witness.

Northwestrider

Years ago I had an apple tossed at me, they missed. I reacted with an immediate hand gesture. I'm older/wiser now, so when verbal abuse is tossed my way, I react as if I had not heard it.

AC1074

Some of these stories are crazy. For those of you that are getting bottles of liquid thrown at them, man be careful. Better make sure it's water and not some other nasty stuff. I always keep a container of disinfectant wipes next to my bike rack. When I get back home the first thing I am doing is wiping my hands face and legs.

I haven't had anything thrown at me yet but I did get a few nasty looks and honks from passing cars. I just keep pedaling....

Digital_Cowboy

Sadly, I'm not in that position.

This is true, on all points. And is why if more people were smart (and how many are?) when questioned by the police in regards to something that they're accused of doing they something that they shouldn't have. That they should just keep their mouth shut.

And it's best if the video has the time and date included in the thread. Hell it'd be even nicer if the cam had a GPS built into it and have the coords also imprinted on the frame.

Sadly, with all of the editing software out there one can also argue that the video has likewise been edited or altered in some way. Of course though they'd still have to explain how and why they're seen on said video throwing a bottle or can or what have you at a cyclist.

fuji86

Police were out in full force on Saturday. Those getting their attention had multiple squad cars to deal with. They were getting so many tickets, I felt being on the bike that I wasn't even on their radar screens. These were casual speeders, the police pull them over for breaking that law on the very premise that they are endangering pedestrians and cyclists. Today was a day I really enjoyed being a cyclists. No hassles, those motorists were getting tickets with steep fines and still having to pay $ 4.15/gallon. It was actually pretty funny, they were all speeding and as bad a driver's as they are, they were all tailgating each other doing it. It was like a pack of wolves turned loose on a bunch of rabbits. The offenders never stood a chance and the police simply pursued the bunch of speeders, pulling all of them over as a group.

Greyryder

That's awesome!

Dear NYPD: That's how you do a proper crackdown.

dougmc

I'm no so sure the police are going to be keen on having the victim's private lawyer poking around in a minor criminal investigation that the police probably don't care much about to begin with.

The reasoning isn't certain. But it's more than good enough to honestly say "I think he might be drunk" or even "he seems drunk" and nobody is going to give you grief for it.

contango 

Cycling in London (England) I can honestly say I've never had anything thrown at me, no insults shouted, nothing. Once in a while a car passes a little too close, and every once in a while a car does something boneheaded. But hey, when I'm behind the wheel every once in a while I do something boneheaded as well so I'm not going to complain too long about it.

teaboy1748

Saw someone litter throwing a ball of paper out the window,
Caught up the next stop light and threw it back in the car.

hshearer

I have yet to be baptized, but the beginner women's group I was helping with last year had a nasty incident. A FULL beer bottle was thrown at them from an ONCOMING vehicle... speed differential probably something in the neighbourhood of 60 mph. The group was a large target, and the bottle broke the fork of one of the women's bikes, putting her on the ground. What a terrible way to be welcomed to cycling.

Of course, the group didn't manage to get a plate since it all happened so fast, and while the police were sympathetic, there was nothing they could do. They did say they'd keep an eye on that road (it leads to the beach). I wish I'd been there for that ride; I'd have tried really hard to flag down other vehicles to get some help getting a plate #... I hate seeing this sort of thing go unpunished.

WPeabody 

Around here, there is a $1000 fine just for littering.

curb hash

The new fad in my area is those compressed air horns. I had one blown next to me on my bike last year (startled me badly) and last night while jogging.

Digital_Cowboy

Are ya talking about those Horn Blaster train horn air horns? If so, if you ask me they should be made illegal.

smasha

that's probably a stiffer penalty than tossing a bottle at a cyclist

if it's on video, you might be able to make it stick.

Hold that honk: Car horns are for safety only

not sure if that would count as a form of assault, but many (most?) US jurisdictions have laws that restrict the use of a horn to alerting other road users of hazardous conditions and such. someone might argue that it only applies to horns installed in a motor vehicle, but i think a lot of municipal courts would be willing to overlook that. using a horn to startle a cyclist or pedestrian would be frowned on by police and prosecutors, but as always... unless you have video or a badge, you won't get far.

curb hash

Those party store compressed air can horns. I think I've even seen them at Walmart. I almost turned around and chased the joker while jogging to get his plate because I was coming out from dead end street but I barely had enough strength in my legs to get home. I hope those horns get banned because they are incredibly loud and startling.

irwin7638

Ultimately, if somebody throws a beer bottle at you, it's a fairly good guess that they're drunk -- after all, 1) they have a beer bottle, they probably drank some (especially if this bottle is empty) and 2) sober people don't usually throw beer bottles at cyclists. That alone ought to be enough for you to honestly claim "you think he's drunk".[/QUOTE]

Regardless of the symantics or the driver's BAC, you witnessed a driver using a car with an open container of alcohol. That's worth reporting and illegal to do everywhere I can think of.

Marc