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: 2) by sjames on Tuesday May 09 2017, @10:40PM (3 children)
Well, besides the assholes in all the other parts of the country. The south certainly has it's share of assholes, and like assholes everywhere, they tend to stand out in the crowd.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Tuesday May 09 2017, @11:06PM (2 children)
I wonder if certain parts of a country has more assholes than others in percent that is. And if it's possible to use demographic data or similar to get a heat map of such differences?
(Score: 2) by sjames on Thursday May 11 2017, @03:51AM (1 child)
It might be a bit hard to develop a fully objective definition of asshole defined in terms of existing demographic data. Interesting thought though.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Thursday May 11 2017, @08:55AM
Obviously Facebook stumbled on some statistical truths where liking a certain rapper made the person more likely to vote for Obama etc. So there is a goldmine to be had ;)