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Remember last year when Dr. Christopher Thompson slammed on his breaks on Mandeville Canyon Road so bicyclists he apparently was annoyed with would crash into him? He was found guilty by a jury on all seven counts this afternoon. "Thompson was accused of assault with a deadly weapon, reckless driving causing specified bodily injury, battery with serious bodily injury and mayhem," among other charges relating to two incidents, one of them being the July 4th, 2008 incident, according to VeloNews. Last week, the LA Times looked into the case, saying "bike riders see the case as a test of the system's support for their rights." Looks like the system was on their side this time. Congrats!
'Road Rage' Doctor Found Guilty for Attacking Cyclists
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Any ideas why the 110 off/on ramps will be shut down for 1 year starting tomorrow from the hours of
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If you do the crime...be prepared to do the time.
Yeah, I'm definitely with skd.. this is a ridiculous case of someone's temper getting the best of them. They should at least have the self control to hold it in and take it out in some other way!!
Dr. Thompson, now a convicted Felon, has been remanded to custody. Sentencing in two weeks. He faces up to 10 years in prison.
That will reverberate throughout this car-centric city.
That's awesome that he was actually convicted. He tried to protray himself as all innocent, as pulling over to take pics of the cyclists to report them to his HOA. Yeah right... Hopefully his time in jail will put a dent in his wallet, and maybe even make him lose his home. We should all go on a big group ride in that area every weekend to show him he made a difference...
The LA Times article that is linked is illuminating on details of the case. Dr. Thompson is recorded on the 911 call and the police officer on the scene all portray him as deliberate and malicious. Hard to make a case when its recorded.
He should go to jail for this, but why are bikes given same road as vehicles. Bikes are not vehicles. Unless a bike can go 50mph, some guys abuse it and take their sweet time while us cars, which travel 50+++ mph, must follow behind, or swerve, possibly hitting cars in our left lanes.
Bikes ARE vehicles. . .so are buses, trains, boats, planes, rickshaws, etc.
Why can't folks just share the road? Why is that such a difficult concept? So what if you arrive at your destination one minute later because a bike was on the road? Sharing is a concept learned in Kindergarten, so I don't know why so many people pretend as if they don't know what the hell it is.
More importantly, why are you doing 50++++++++ on surface/residential streets?
Use the freeway.
Treat bikes on the streets as slow cars and just pass carefully, it's the law and it's really not that hard.
Agree!
Nice to know bike riders have the right not to be the victims of attempted murder (which would have been the more appropriate charge I think).
Also, slammed on his "breaks?" Seriously?
Dr. Thompson deserves prison for this. It's no different than pulling a gun and firing at someone in a dispute on the sidewalk. Seriously, I don't think it's any different.
That said, this isn't about bikes and cars at all. It's about one guy who takes his frustrations out on vulnerable targets. If it wasn't cyclists, it'd be his wife or his dog.
Unfortunately, there's a LOT of frustrated drivers out there and most (like "SpicyTuna") have no idea what the rules of the road even are. It's shocking how little people know about their responsibilities.
Bicyclists annoy me.
Right? we're always fussing over which socks go with which jersey...if we should wear a backpack or messenger bag, walking in to Starbucks all sweaty, the list goes on. Annoying! (thats what you meant, right?)
nope.... just their spandex short :)
thecheddar has a point. motorists are often frustrated before they leave the driveway as they anticipate all the things that are going to keep them from making great time to their destination.
"bicyclists annoy me." you must be a joy to be around. everything about riding a bike is a hugely rewarding except the part where you get killed by a texting motorist. let's ALL be considerate out there: bicyclists, motorists, truckers, bus drivers, pedestrians.
i guess i have my own road pet peeve. teenagers who go through the crosswalk extra slow to piss you off: they annoy me.
peace on the roads.
Great!
Justice is served. I don't wish prison on anyone, but maybe a nice long probationary period, some charitable work with a inner city youth bicycle group, and some anger management classes.
I'd have to disagree. Prison for this guy is just.
What I hope happens now is this doctor is CLEANED OUT in a civil suit. I'm not big on litigating for revenge, but in this case, seeing a road raging lexus driver lose EVERYTHING, including his medical license, for his stupidity will be a good shot across the bow for everyone on the road.
That too. He def deserves to have his lifestyle interrupted money wise. I don't think he should have his medical license revoked. Two decades as an e-room doctor, he's probably saved the lives of a few bicyclists.
I think he learned his lesson, he didn't kill any body, no reason to ruin his entire life over this.
@SpicyTuna sums it up.
"Unless a bike can go 50mph, some guys abuse it and take their sweet time while us cars, which travel 50+++ mph, must follow behind, or swerve, possibly hitting cars in our left lanes."
"Us cars". When someone gets into a car, they can instantly dehumanize themselves, and become I Robot.
sheesh. WE SHOULD ALL BE SO LUCKY to have this doctor's life problems. waaaaah! some bicycle riders are riding on the public street in front of my mansion! This guy lost his mind and over a period of 6 months his rage got the better of him and he did something INCREDIBLY stupid. He threw away a lifestyle most people ON EARTH will never have the priviledge of enjoying.... wow. I just can't get over how petty even the most educated well off people can be. I was so glad to see this piece of garbage receive proper justice. No worries. He will be free again in 2 years and enjoying his life. 6 felonies.... WOW.
What i heard yesterday on the radio as a whole from people that lived in Mandiville Canyon is that the road is unsafe. With the nature of its twists and turns and blind curves the road it just hard to navigate safely. I think this road need the speedlimit lowered, enforced with speed traps (for all using the street, cars, bikes, motorbikes, Skateboards, rollerbladers) and add speed bumps. Maybe they need more stop signs too. They have made it perfectly clear that that is an unsafe road. If its unsafe for a cyclists going 30mph down hill, what about a pedestrian?
Added benefits - if more drivers will share the road with cyclists, maybe we can get more cyclists off the sidewalks.
The doc was wrong but when cyclists ride 3 or 4 side by side on Mandeville Cyn with no way for a car to drive around them it just shows how arrogant these guys are.
Well after this incident there are very few bicyclist up there now.
Hopefully this will serve as an object lesson to others who let their road rage get the best of them. It's inexcusable in the first place, but when you realize how many lives you can ruin by losing your temper and acting out, it puts things in perspective.
Does anyone know if Dr. Thompson will be stripped of his medical license as a new felon?
The reason they ride 3 or 4 across is exactly to prevent cars from trying to pass to close - its a defensive technique cyclists use when passing would be far too dangerous and where there isn't enough road space to simply ride to the far right.
Within the cycling community there is constant reminders to ride to the right, ride single file, stay out of the way - except for when it puts you at additional risk.
I agree with Jason (stay out of the way - except for when it puts you at additional risK) From the few responses from automobile drivers its clear that there is a lack of education out there. The real problem is the lack of speed bumps and the speed is waaaayyy too high at 50+++++mph. Imagine, we are talking kilometers around here and we are reducing from 50km/h to 30km/h about 20mph. Now we understand and know that 30 is like a dead stop in those luxury nonsports racing cars most people have today and that is why we need speed bumps, raised sidewalks, flowers and trees that cars and cyclists have to go around and never drive in a straight line. The list is super long on fixin our public spaces so they become livable, breathable, commercial business friendly streets.
The real problem is that this now famous doctor may be the one who has the job of fixin me or you, a cycliste; if ever I end up in his workplace and I don't want that vicious man with my life in his hands so yes revoke his permit to heal as he is obviously not a healer but a vicious killer. and HE will be driving as soon as he gets out, again in my your lifetime and I find that demented as well. His punishment for this conduct should be rehab big time on all ways possible. I also don't believe in jails (I've been there andit only makes matters worse) except for killers and this man who is definitly NOT a doctor his case is realy realy on the edge of a killer case. Watch him closely cause h'ell be out of the cage in a road rage like never before and you all will still be cyclists but him no siree.
Afew months ago we had a high level diplomat who did something even more stupid that this undoctor of yours and we are keeping a close eye on him cause he gat money and great layers on his side so the law is on his side and the cyclist is dead so he can't speak for himself. Anyway I wish us all a good time ridin.
We ride in snow around here and cars are often slippin around out of control so we need to get the highways attitude out of urban streets.
talk about speed reduction specialy in that stretch of road.
Cheeers
Viva la Vélorution