A road rage incident between a motorist and a bicyclist dating back to October in Redmond, Wash., has led to a flaming torrent of anti-bicyclist commentary.
Reading through more than a hundred comments at the Seattle Times, I despair for a solution between the bicyclist-motorist animosity anytime soon.
According to published accounts, a Redmond man was charged recently with first-degree malicious mischief after he allegedly threw his bicycle at a car whose driver had honked at him.
Motorist story
Ben H. Han, 46, told police that he and his wife were driving down Old Redmond Road and got behind a bicyclist who was weaving in and out of the bike lane. Han honked and passed the cyclist, identified as Chad W. Olson, 42.
The cyclist chased the car, pulled up alongside the driver's door, struck at the mirror and spit on the window, according to what Han told police. The cyclist then rode ahead of the car at the next traffic light, got off his bike, and threw it at the car as it passed, striking the passenger door.
Bicyclist story
Olson showed up at the Redmond Police Department about an hour later with a different version of the story. Adding a little editorial comment, the Seattle P-I said Olson was “hoping to report a road rage incident.”
Olson told police that his bike had been hit by the car and he responded by hitting the driver's side mirror out of anger and self-defense, according to court records quoted by the Seattle Times.
The police officer who investigated the incident said it appeared the bicycle was elevated when it hit the vehicle, which supports Han's story. Damage to the Volvo was estimated at $5,700.
Commentary
The story gave a lot of people a chance to vent their spleens against cyclists. In the first six hours since the story was posted on the Seattle Times website, 114 people commented, mostly anti-bike.
Many of the readers felt compelled to complain that they've been “trapped” behind a cyclist blocking the road, that cyclists don't stop at stop signs, they're pompous, they don't pay any taxes for the roads, and they “try to travel in packs like a bunch of wolves.”
Come on kiddies, we're all in this big sandbox together. Nobody's leaving. We've got to learn to get along.
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