Convertible sped away as cyclist hung on

[tboy]

For the record, yes, I've been hit, nearly hit, and hit really hard by vehicles while walking, bicycling and with my motorcycle. Hanging onto a moving vehicle is the LAST thing that went through my head in any of the instances.

If the driver stops immediately? Then it's not too bad, but (as what happened here) if he doesn't and speeds up? Only one thing will happen: the hanger on will let go and die or be severely injured.

In your case Lisa, if he was backing out of the driveway he couldn't have been doing anymore than 1 or 2 mph. If he sped up to shake you off to 20 30 or faster? You'd be hurt a HELL of a lot worse than if you fell under the vehicle. Have you ever hit the pavement at 40 mph? how about 60?

It ain't pretty let me assure you......if you ever go to a terb party ask me to show you my road rash scars........

 

[iamthegucc]

This is all very distressing. Idiot SOB driving and such a tragedy for the cyclist....

HOWEVER... and not to be controversial here but to make a point as both a driver and a cyclist. I don't know the details of the event in terms of who started the incident and who took it too far (clearly at least the driver of the car took it too far)... but i feel that cyclist believe that they can often break any and all the road rules (shares lanes, driving in and out of traffic, not stopping at signs or lights) but get seriously pissed if a car pulls up along side them to share the lane. Ive been yelled at, my car's been kicked and have been close to getting assaulted by virtue of bing a driver that takes adequate precautions and is well aware of cyclists. like i said, i often cycle, including to work downtown

I don't want to downplay the event today, but these things will continue to happen unless all parties not only learn to share the road but obey the laws.

 

[Mongrel4u]

I'm going to wait till I hear the whole story...

because some of these cyclists can be quite rude, beligerent, abrasive and WRONG. They dont follow the rules of the road and some are straight up assholes.

I'm not saying he deserves to die but if it turns out that the cyclist was threatening the driver and he took off because he was scared and inadvertently dragged the guy...then I'm not sure that the driver is the bad guy

 

[dirkstoned]

Ever since he banned a breed of dog i have hoped something like this happened to him. Just too bad there was a cyclist that got caught as collateral damage.

 

[guelph]

I'm going to wait till I hear the whole story...

because some of these cyclists can be quite rude, beligerent, abrasive and WRONG. They dont follow the rules of the road and some are straight up assholes.

I'm not saying he deserves to die but if it turns out that the cyclist was threatening the driver and he took off because he was scared and inadvertently dragged the guy...then I'm not sure that the driver is the bad guy

Is it possible the cyclist was threatening the driver i.e. he was hanging on to the car -- could be the driver felt his life was threatened.

 

[Bale]

If an enraged cyclist got off his bike and tried to enter my vehicle uttering threats of bodily harm, I would probably try to avoid the situation by driving away. If the cyclist decided to hold on to the door in the process then I would think this guy is truly irrational and poses a danger to myself. I think by him continuing to hang on and probably cursing at the driver caused the driver to think there was only one way to avoid the cyclist, shake him off.
By this point both parties were very worked up and beyond the stage of the driver slowing down and both sides discussing things calmly.

Emotions blinded the cyclist & driver, but the cyclist was in the wrong for escalating the situation by approaching the man in a threatening manner.

 

[shakenbake]

Is it possible the cyclist was threatening the driver i.e. he was hanging on to the car -- could be the driver felt his life was threatened.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/video/witnesses-describe-what-they-saw/article1271559/

Enough for the driver to act in such a manner, willingly, to kill the cyclist? Come on, what weapon did the cyclist have, compared to the two plus tons of metal that the driver was wielding? It seems that the driver was, indeed, using the car as a weapon.

"Witnesses told police the cyclist collided with a black Saab on Bloor at Bay about 9:45 p.m. They said he hung onto the driver's side of the car, which had its convertible top down, while the driver yelled at him to get off.

The driver then veered onto the eastbound lanes and mounted the curb, brushing against trees and poles, witnesses said.

"He was driving on the wrong side of the street and up on the curb trying to knock him off the car for about 100 metres, said Ryan Brazeau, a worker with a crew laying sewer pipes on Bloor. "Lots of people were watching and they couldn't believe what was happening." "

100 metres is a very long distance in my opinion. The actions, as per witnesses accounts, seems to me to indicate that teh driver was willfully trying to knock the cyclist off the car. Yes, there was an altercation, and the cyclist may have provoked it. However, the law states that you can only use sufficient force to protect yourself from an assault, something that a former Ontario AG would damned well better know.

 

[james t kirk]

I'm going to wait till I hear the whole story...

because some of these cyclists can be quite rude, beligerent, abrasive and WRONG. They dont follow the rules of the road and some are straight up assholes.

I'm not saying he deserves to die but if it turns out that the cyclist was threatening the driver and he took off because he was scared and inadvertently dragged the guy...then I'm not sure that the driver is the bad guy

Agree, we've all run into the asshole cyclist on the road, HOWEVER, it doesn't give the auto driver the right to kill the guy regardless of how threatening he was. That's what the cops are for (Mind you, they wouldn't do anything anyway.)

Perhaps it's times for bicycles to have licence plates just like motorcycles or cars so that they can be identified to police?

The driver in question got into it with the cyclist. He (the driver) snapped and went primative on the cyclist at which point rational judgement shuts down.

Mitigating the circumstances at best, however, not changing the fact that he dragged a guy to his death who didn't deserve to die.

 

[doggee_01]

I'm going to wait till I hear the whole story...

because some of these cyclists can be quite rude, beligerent, abrasive and WRONG. They dont follow the rules of the road and some are straight up assholes.

I'm not saying he deserves to die but if it turns out that the cyclist was threatening the driver and he took off because he was scared and inadvertently dragged the guy...then I'm not sure that the driver is the bad guy

he still left the scene......

 

[Questor]

it doesn't give the auto driver the right to kill the guy regardless of how threatening he was. That's what the cops are for

LOL

 

[shakenbake]

he still left the scene......

Kate Hammer
Globe and Mail Update Last updated on Tuesday, Sep. 01, 2009 12:56PM EDT

The victim in a fatal accident involving former attorney general Michael Bryant was a 33-year-old bike courier named Darcy Allen Sheppard, The Globe and Mail has learned.
Mr. Sheppard had been working for Action Messenger since January, according to an employee who answered the company's phone. She said that Mr. Sheppard was well like and that a customer had recently sent a letter to the company just to say what a pleasure it was working with Mr. Sheppard.
The ordeal began around 9:45 p.m. last night, on Bloor Street between Bay Street and Avenue Road, at a traffic light. Police said a cyclist and a man in a convertible got into an “altercation.”
Raajiv Rajadurai, 23, said he was in an eastbound vehicle on Bloor Street when he saw a cyclist slam his backpack onto the hood of a convertible and then grab the driver's side mirror as the vehicle sped away.
“The driver was going so fast that at one point the biker was holding on to his car and there were sparks coming from the bottom of his shoes,” he said.
“It seemed like the driver was trying to shake him off because he turned really suddenly, put on the brakes, jetted it one last time and then all your hear is three thumps and then the guy falls on the floor.”
Mr. Bryant will be charged with criminal negligence causing death and dangerous driving causing death, a police source tells the Globe.
More to come

 

[tboy]

HOWEVER, it doesn't give the auto driver the right to kill the guy regardless of how threatening he was.

1) 300 m isn't that far in a moving car. what's that, a block or two?
2) If the driver felt threatened, then tried to escape and the cyclist jumped on the car, I TOO would do whatever I could to shake him off.
3) The cyclist was on the driver's side so he could have had his hands on the wheel making 100% control impossible.
4) as I said, if the cyclist was saying things like "I'm gonna kill you" then whatever the driver did was sufficient and that would include killing the cyclist in self defence.
5) As for the driver not stopping after the cyclist was forceably removed from hanging onto his vehicle: I don't know that I would either. If the guy wasn't incapacitated then I/he would be in more danger now than before.
6) If the passenger DID call 911 and report what happened and even alluded to "this guy jumped on our car and won't get off and is threatening us" that is the EOS.

Sorry, what you are basically saying is that if someone carjacks you you MUST just give him the car and do whatever he says no matter what. Otherwise YOU will be at fault if you hurt the perp.

Again, I will wait until all the evidence comes in before hanging anyone.

As for wielding 2 tons of metal as a weapon: if someone threatens my life? I will use whatever is necessary to protect myself and that includes anything at my disposal. If that happens to be a .45 cal handgun at 5 lbs? I'll use it. If it is a 100 ton crane? I'll use it or if a guy is hanging onto my truck? I'll use it.

A bike courier? Oh we know what gentleman riders THEY are don't we? LOL......I bet he was a prince on the road......

 

[dirkstoned]

Agree, we've all run into the asshole cyclist on the road, HOWEVER, it doesn't give the auto driver the right to kill the guy regardless of how threatening he was.

Ya right. I tell you now if it was me..i would have sped away and not looked back to see when he fell off...let alone stop for some doucebag trying to inflict pain on me by holding on to my car and screaming at me. im sure the dude just wanted to talk about politics with him...no other reason to do such a damn fool thing.

 

[Brill]

Now tboy raises the possibility of it being a car jacking.
I'm not surprised, I imagine tboy would have done the same thing with his own road rage issues.

 

[lenharper]

Oh yes, the crazy maniacal bike courier, he is the one at fault. Are you nuts or do you perceive everyone to be a threat? If the guy in the car simply came to a stop and dealt with the situation on the busiest fucking street in Canada i very much doubt the bike courier would have pulled a weapon and dropped him. There were hundreds of witnesses (and no, this is not at all like the Jane Creba incident) and someone would have interceded. Saving that, at the corner of bay and bloor there are about a hundred cops a few seconds away to intercede after a 911 call. Ramming a guy holding onto your bike into lamposts mailboxes etc is idiotic.

Obviously no one was thinking straight but that in no way excuses the behaviour of the driver.

 

[dirkstoned]

Ramming a guy holding onto your bike into lamposts mailboxes etc is idiotic.

.

If that guy is screaming at me and holding on to my car AND is stupid enough to keep holding on while I am pulling away....Fuk him. He rode bikes long enough to know better. pissed or not.

Sorry someone had to die to show the bikers not to touch our cars. The fucking paint job on mine alone would have paid for 30 of his bikes. And i would want some dude touching it? not

 

[tboy]

Now tboy raises the possibility of it being a car jacking.
I'm not surprised, I imagine tboy would have done the same thing with his own road rage issues.

obviously you failed english comp 101 in high school. I compared it to a carjacking, nothing else......

Oh yes, the crazy maniacal bike courier, he is the one at fault. Are you nuts or do you perceive everyone to be a threat? If the guy in the car simply came to a stop and dealt with the situation on the busiest fucking street in Canada i very much doubt the bike courier would have pulled a weapon and dropped him. There were hundreds of witnesses (and no, this is not at all like the Jane Creba incident) and someone would have interceded. Saving that, at the corner of bay and bloor there are about a hundred cops a few seconds away to intercede after a 911 call. Ramming a guy holding onto your bike into lamposts mailboxes etc is idiotic.

Obviously no one was thinking straight but that in no way excuses the behaviour of the driver.

I guess you've never heard of the "fight or flight" response? If the driver had stopped, he could have had his ass whipped by the cyclist before any cop reacted. You are counting on by standers to intervene? Are you nuts? sheesh....if he was laying there beaten maybe but if someone was attacking him?

 

[lenharper]

If you'd kill a person over a paint job you are as callous as the gang bangers who killed people over sneakers.

 

[dirkstoned]

I wouldnt knowingly kill anyone...but if some jackass grabs on to my car screaming...ill get scared and then let the chips fall where they may.


Only an idiot would do different

But i still dont want any of youz touching my paint

 

[Brill]

Lots of fucked up guys with road rage on here, even when not behind the wheel.