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An Anonymous Coward writes:
Velonews has this story, http://www.velonews.com/2017/05/news/legally-speaking-brought-justice_437651 which describes an incident of road rage against a bicyclist. Turns out, this was the wrong cyclist to buzz, he was a lawyer and eventually settled with the cager's insurance company for USD $4500 -- setting a price for cyclist harassment in Louisiana.
The road-raging driver had just endangered the life of the cyclist and his toddler, and now he was spoiling for a fight. It began on a calm Sunday morning in New Orleans. Charlie Thomas had gone for a ride with his young daughter Colette, towing her in a Burley trailer, enjoying the ride and time together. But on the edge of the iconic French Quarter, their peaceful Sunday morning was violently interrupted when a speeding car buzzed them, passing within a foot of Charlie and Colette.
[...] "I'm not trying to start anything," Charlie said, "but you passed way too close to my daughter and me."
And that's when the driver, motioning that he was about to get out of his car, responded with his tough-guy threat: "How about I get out and f—k you up in front of your kid?" Charlie's emotions surged, but he knew that any further engagement would be unproductive, and with his daughter there, unsafe. So he broke off the encounter, and the driver sped away.
[...] Although the incident didn't involve a physical impact, Louisiana has both a three-foot passing law and a non-harassment law on the books. Charlie filed suit seeking damages for the driver's harassment. There had never been a case setting the value of damages for a harassed bicyclist under Louisiana's law, so Charlie and the driver's insurance company were in uncharted negotiating territory.
Eventually, Charlie negotiated a settlement that established a value of $4,500 damages in a civil case for cyclist harassment in Louisiana; the proceeds were donated to Bike Easy, the New Orleans-area bike advocacy group. The official case on the books is Thomas v. Arbona, Case No. 16-03127; First City Court for the City of New Orleans. Now, any other cyclist who sues a driver for harassment in Louisiana can use the value for damages established in this case.
(Score: 5, Funny) by DannyB on Tuesday May 09 2017, @08:24PM (7 children)
While TFA is much better than the summary, one thing remained unclear. The article failed to confirm whether the road rage driver was in a BMW.
Some cities have smaller lanes expressly marked for the exclusive use of bicycles and BMW drivers.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 09 2017, @08:34PM (2 children)
:s/BMW/Audi/
FTFY (got to keep up with the times)
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Tuesday May 09 2017, @10:47PM
Interesting.
Is there any way to quantify the brands no sane person wants to be associated with?
Something like comparing vehicle registrants with criminal record database? except that those databases may be inaccessible by plebs.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 10 2017, @07:06PM
I'm a white male with an MBA from 2012. I still don't have my BMW, but now I guess I'll have to adjust my sights toward Audi. I'll report back via the obligatory 'peak douchebag' selfie on Facebook when I do finally get the car.
(Score: 2) by Snow on Tuesday May 09 2017, @08:38PM (2 children)
I was actually imagining a pickup truck with a confederate flag on the back window.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday May 10 2017, @06:02PM (1 child)
I was going to say "could be", but the article seems clear that it was a car. However that doesn't exclude a confederate flag.
I wonder if a BMW with a confederate flag is a possibility? That would be quite a site.
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(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday May 10 2017, @06:05PM
Ugh . . . sight. Not site.
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(Score: 2) by kaszz on Tuesday May 09 2017, @10:42PM
BMW is that Big Mafia Wehicle ? ;)
In some countries its more or less equivalent to say "I'm a thug".