A Public Service Announcement for bicyclists.

[_CY_]

Doctor sentenced to 5 years for hitting brakes, causing 2 cyclists to crash

Former ER physician Christopher Thompson was sentenced today to five years in state prison for seriously injuring two bicyclists after he allegedly deliberately slammed on his brakes and caused two bicyclists to crash. The cyclists were seriously injured.

A jury in November found Thompson guilty of multiple felonies.

Thompson, the owner of a medical documentation company in Woodland Hills, was convicted of hitting the brakes on his Infiniti sedan in front of two bicyclists on July 4, 2008.

One cyclist's nose was nearly severed after he flew through Thompson's rear window, while the other separated his shoulder after hitting the pavement, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Witnesses testified Thompson had a history of run-ins with other cyclists.

http://www.scpr.org/news/2010/01/08/10284/doctor-sentenced-5-years-hitting-brakes-causing-2-/

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L.A. road rage doctor gets five years

The California physician, convicted of assaulting a pair of cyclists with his car, was sentenced to five years in prison at the close of a hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday morning.

Photos of Thompson's car may have helped convince the jury.

Sixty-year-old Christopher Thomas Thompson, found guilty of six felonies and a misdemeanor, has been in custody since his conviction in November. Following an emotional two-hour hearing Superior Court Judge Scott T. Millington sentenced Thompson to two years on the charge of assaulting cyclists Ron Peterson and Christian Stoehr with a deadly weapon and added a three-year enhancement because Peterson suffered serious bodily harm. The remaining lesser charges also carry prison time, but those sentences will be served concurrently with Thompson’s five-year sentence. The judge also ordered that Thompson be stripped of his driver’s license for life.

Prosecutors had asked that Thompson be sentenced to eight years for crimes mostly relating to a July 4, 2008 incident in which he abruptly stopped his car in front of the two riders descending Mandeville Canyon road, near Los Angeles. Thompson was also convicted of misdemeanor charges relating to a similar incident that occurred months earlier, but did not result in injuries.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/01/news/l-a-road-rage-doctor-gets-five-years_102274

 

[RickN]

Of course that was the People's Republic of California. Cyclist need to learn manors same as everyone else.

 

[XD-9Guy]

I think it's just the fact that they are being so careless with their lives that draws our ire, at least that's the case with me. I have the EXACT same beef with idiots on motorcycles. My theory is, these are the same idiots that while in their cars blow through the red light because they just missed the yellow, jam the gas in the merging lane and then cut somebody off squeezing in because they're too important to merge when the signs actually tell them to and they typically fail to signal 90% of the time. It's just that these unsafe scenarios are magnified when they are cycling or riding their motorcycles.

I've been cut off by motorcycles several times and I've been given the finger by a biker for honking at him when he squeezed in front of me without enough space which forced me to stomp the brakes to save his life and almost got ME back ended. Then when some of these bikers make a bonehead move in traffic and I give them a look or or tap the horn they try to mean mug me or cut me off & tap brakes to make me slow down... as though that frightens me????? If I can't get on my brakes quick enough this guy is going to be my hood ornament. Realistically if a motorcycle so much as bumps a vehicle at interstate speed, the biker is a dead man, while the vehicle likely won't have a scratch on it. And bikers try to intimidate car drivers? Really? I couldn't help but laugh the one time a biker pulled up all close to my truck and tried to stare me down after "he thought" I cut him off - I just couldn't believe it was happening. But jerks are always jerks regardless of their transportation and unfortunately idiots don't make any better decisions when they get on a bicycle or a motorcycle.

 

[dennishoddy]

I just got back from 9 days in British Columbia, where a mains source of transportation is cycles and walking. People in that area are very fit, and trim. Landed at DFW, and all I could see was a whole lot of "plump" people.
Maybe some need to quit bitching and start riding.

 

[LightningCrash]

Just sayin....most motorcycles dont weigh over a ton....and it might be a good idea to have insurance,,, riding bikes around 1 ton vehicles...just sayin......

wonder if they offer it and "pedestrian insurance" for people who walk a lot.

 

[HiImSeth]

Hey guys. I rode my bicycle on the road today. Put 50 miles in and didn't die or impede much traffic. Got 70 in yesterday and seemed to be a pretty nice guy while I was riding my bicycle on the road then as well. I'm doing my part to be a good cyclist and not piss off any piece of trash redneck that may want to kill me with his truck that has testicles hanging from the hitch. I may/may not have come to a complete stop at stop signs that had no other cars present. Kinda the same thing you automobilers likely do in your automobile. No big deal really.

Also, I won't ride on sidewalks - I assume they were given such a name because they are meant for walking on, but I could be wrong.

I kinda expect to see some of OSA's finest spending time in jail sometime for running over a bunch of cyclists because they are costing them 30 seconds (or some amount of time that is totally absurd and not worth killing or injuring someone over) out of their commute. That would be a really fantastic idea. You guys are a really great set of people. All about rights, except not so much the rights of others to use the road w/ their bicycle. Cool. Stay classy, OSA.. stay classy.

 

[bulbboy]

Best post in this thread!

 

[338Shooter]

Getcha a boat oar! A 4 footer.

This killed me. lolol!!!

 

[MaddSkillz]

Hey guys. I rode my bicycle on the road today. Put 50 miles in and didn't die or impede much traffic. Got 70 in yesterday and seemed to be a pretty nice guy while I was riding my bicycle on the road then as well. I'm doing my part to be a good cyclist and not piss off any piece of trash redneck that may want to kill me with his truck that has testicles hanging from the hitch. I may/may not have come to a complete stop at stop signs that had no other cars present. Kinda the same thing you automobilers likely do in your automobile. No big deal really.

Also, I won't ride on sidewalks - I assume they were given such a name because they are meant for walking on, but I could be wrong.

I kinda expect to see some of OSA's finest spending time in jail sometime for running over a bunch of cyclists because they are costing them 30 seconds (or some amount of time that is totally absurd and not worth killing or injuring someone over) out of their commute. That would be a really fantastic idea. You guys are a really great set of people. All about rights, except not so much the rights of others to use the road w/ their bicycle. Cool. Stay classy, OSA.. stay classy.

Please do not bring logic into this thread. Some would rather let emotions dictate their decision making.

Thanks!

 

[WTJ]

Hey guys. I rode my bicycle on the road today. Put 50 miles in and didn't die or impede much traffic. Got 70 in yesterday and seemed to be a pretty nice guy while I was riding my bicycle on the road then as well. I'm doing my part to be a good cyclist and not piss off any piece of trash redneck that may want to kill me with his truck that has testicles hanging from the hitch. I may/may not have come to a complete stop at stop signs that had no other cars present. Kinda the same thing you automobilers likely do in your automobile. No big deal really.

Also, I won't ride on sidewalks - I assume they were given such a name because they are meant for walking on, but I could be wrong.

I kinda expect to see some of OSA's finest spending time in jail sometime for running over a bunch of cyclists because they are costing them 30 seconds (or some amount of time that is totally absurd and not worth killing or injuring someone over) out of their commute. That would be a really fantastic idea. You guys are a really great set of people. All about rights, except not so much the rights of others to use the road w/ their bicycle. Cool. Stay classy, OSA.. stay classy.

He has a valid point. Tools operate many different kinds of equipment. Before Political Correctness and the Nanny State repealed the Laws of Natural Deselection there were less Tools.