Sure, and got caught too. But my "stupid" tended along the lines of doing drunk donuts in dirt lots and that sort of thing. Not aimed at individuals at all.

I'm not arguing that this guy shouldn't have been punished. I just think "removal from the gene pool", to quote the post to which I was replying, is too harsh of a penalty in this instance.

tend to agree... a stern cane whipping should do...

Lol Good one!

the first time i got hit by a car on a bike was on purpose and i dont think that it should be deemed just doing somthing stupid id say its attempted murder the judge in my case on that one wasnt in agreement with me but he wasnt the one that experienced it so f**k him anyways id say if you hit a cyclist on purpose you should be punished a lot more harshly than if it was accidental

Without his license, perhaps he will have to resort to cycling to get around for the next couple of years.

By all means that fellow should be charged with attempted murder AND assault with a deadly weapon (the car) - and for kicks and giggles also charge him with improper use of a lane. And since it was so deliberate, this is one of the instances where I would be 100% in favor of having his drivers license revoked for life, and additional jail time if he is ever caught behind the wheel of a vehicle. In addition to all that, he should have to undergo psychiatric evaluation and treatment if they turn anything up.

When I was growing up in a small farming community, I definitely heard talk from some of my classmates about how they would/should door cyclists while driving down the highway or whatever, and they seemed to think it was a hilarious idea... while I don't think most of them did it (I imagine that would have made the news), it certainly was very disturbing to hear, seeing as how I cycled down those very highways.

Hopefully his parents handed down a sentence of their own. It's probably more important how his parents handled the problem more so than the justice system.

For a kid to behave like that, I doubt his parents are overly involved and care about disciplin.

Maybe they beat him and he was acting out? Anybody's guess.

Although a childs behavior can reflect upon how his parents are raising him, this is not always the case. There are cases where parents will raise their kids as best as one could hope for and one child will turn out as the parents hoped, but the next one leaves them pulling their hair out.

If I ever heard someone talking like that, I'd be so very tempted to join the conversation, laughing, then turn it to "Yeah, and people driving small cars, when I'm driving a pickup - next time I see one of those on the road, I'm going to force them into a bridge abutment, that would be hilarious! Serves them right for being smaller than me! I love harassing and hurting people that are littler than me, it makes me feel so big and important!"

Of course I did. Nothing I did endangered a person's life though. Also I am still quite young - 23 - and don't feel the need to threaten people on the road who have done nothing to deserve it.

Not even kidding, I have actually heard things similar to this about people driving smart cars and other sub compacts.

I was fortunate enough to have good parents and I always thought of myself as a good kid. Still, I had a 1-2 year time in my life where I wasn't so great. My friends and I thought it was funny to throw eggs and balloons filled with water and shaving cream at people. I remember this poor jogger we hit... on the block that I lived even... I know for sure if we had seen a cyclist we probably would have thrown at him too. Now when I think back on it I wonder how far the person jogging had left to go and feel ashamed for doing that. I know I would feel if it happened to me on a bike... but in a karmic way I almost deserve it.

I think a lot of "good" people have done some pretty mean things to others at one point.

it was clear that he got off easy, prolly due to age. but if you were to think about it. it was assault with a deadly weapon, and attempted murder. not something to kid about. glad he got caught. thankfully it was not worse and no one was hurt.

Sigh. OK, I give up. Even when trying to be over the edge extreme I can't imagine how much some people suck.

Trouble was, as I recall, some of these guys WERE driving big trucks (although, now that you mention it, one of the guys who I imagine would have talked like this - I didn't keep track as to who was actually talking like this, but I have a general idea - drove the tiniest little red car... I'm sure if we had removed the center post of the schools double doors, we could have got it inside).

That aside, it would have been a great way to potentially shut them down, or at least give them a metaphorical slap in the face.

Yes, it does. Far from perfect, but better than the alternative.