0 comment Sunday, April 20, 2014 | admin
About a year and a half ago, I reported on an incident in LA that has now become the rallying cry for holding violent drivers accountable for endangering cyclists. Today, we find that the defendant, 60 year old ER doctor Christopher Thompson has been found guilty on all counts. For better coverage, check out the VeloNews reports.
It's a relief to see at least one case where the obvious offender has to pay for their actions despite having the best legal representation money can buy. I will say that the defense argument was stupid, basically saying Thompson was pulling over to take a photo of these belligerent cyclists, and that they crashed due to the "inherent instability of the bicycle". You couldn't find two more sympathetic plaintiffs, Ron Peterson was a cycling coach at USC and UCLA and a racer, and Christian Stoehr was a very experienced racer. They had corroborating witnesses and a police report from two other cyclists of a prior incident with the same car.
My hope going forward is that incidents of road aggression don't require as compelling a body of evidence in order to hold violent drivers accountable. We all know most incidents don't leave as much evidence in their wake, but are no less dangerous.
Safe riding out there.
It's a relief to see at least one case where the obvious offender has to pay for their actions despite having the best legal representation money can buy. I will say that the defense argument was stupid, basically saying Thompson was pulling over to take a photo of these belligerent cyclists, and that they crashed due to the "inherent instability of the bicycle". You couldn't find two more sympathetic plaintiffs, Ron Peterson was a cycling coach at USC and UCLA and a racer, and Christian Stoehr was a very experienced racer. They had corroborating witnesses and a police report from two other cyclists of a prior incident with the same car.
My hope going forward is that incidents of road aggression don't require as compelling a body of evidence in order to hold violent drivers accountable. We all know most incidents don't leave as much evidence in their wake, but are no less dangerous.
Safe riding out there.
Labels: Road