Cop Who Shoved Cyclist Fired by NYPD, Faces 4 Year Sentence

[Winsor_Pilates]

what is critical mass?

[Igottago]

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

I have no problem with CM cyclists..but I am not suprised that someone else would take a run at one..I wonder if something was said? Can't really tell by the video.

CM happens here in Vancouver the afternoon of the last Friday of the month...I feel for the motorists who get stuck in that circus...WHAT I don't understand..is cyclist have whole streets dedicated to them in Vancouver (7th/8th ect)...so for the most part there is no need to cycle on major roads in this town...

They talk about respect...but the respect goes both ways..

A lot of bikers in Vancouver have can be annoying as f*&$.

I've noticed a lot of them are highly disrespectful to the rights of others on the road and expect people to part like the red sea when they are coming through.

[Bagor]

It's a catholic thing. Where they rush a priest to you when you're dying.

Joking aside, see post #13

[metallicat]

Nice hit. Just from reading on these critical mass people, I think more of them should be bodychecked off their bikes.

[Traditional_Ale]

Originally Posted by oilers_fan

Nice hit. Just from reading on these critical mass people, I think more of them should be bodychecked off their bikes.

They need a better route, not to be killed. Also, I don't know what its like for cyclists in Van, but if in Calgary I can make it from Marda Loop to McKenzie Lake in 30 mins then it can't be all that bad. I think most of the aversion is the inability for people to realize that there is an alternative to a car or public transit, but it involves planning, breathing heavy, getting your heart rate up for a period, and, god forbid, sweating a little.

One taste of satisfaction and adventure to be had even on the commute to work on a bicycle is addictive to the max.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

what is critical mass?

Could probably give the Rangers hockey club a few lessons

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Traditional_Ale

I think most of the aversion is the inability for people to realize that there is an alternative to a car or public transit, but it involves planning, breathing heavy, getting your heart rate up for a period, and, god forbid, sweating a little.

One taste of satisfaction and adventure to be had even on the commute to work on a bicycle is addictive to the max.

Honestly, the only reason I don't bike to work is the sweat. I don't mind being sweaty but I don't want to enforce my BO on my colleagues just to avoid the bus.

[cyclone3483]

Originally Posted by Traditional_Ale

What is a critical-mass biker?

Critical mass is a large group of cyclists making a statement by riding in one large group through normally busy streets. I think the statement is that they are 'taling back the streets'. I'm an avid cyclist and I think it's kind of stupid.

Anyway, usually they are organized, often respectful enough to tell authorities in advance of the day, time, and route they will take. The authorities will sometimes attempt to stop this behaviour (interfere, attempt to arrest), but usually will just be on hand to re-direct traffic away from the route to avoid confrontation and accidents.

Can anyone else shed more light?

[Ronald Pagan]

Critical masses are great fun. I highly recommend them to anyone who hasn't gone.

And to Mel, I'm a Vancouver critical mass regular. Hope to see you out there. Great way to spend a Friday afternoon.

[metallicat]

Originally Posted by cyclone3483

Critical mass is a large group of cyclists making a statement by riding in one large group through normally busy streets. I think the statement is that they are 'taling back the streets'. I'm an avid cyclist and I think it's kind of stupid.

Anyway, usually they are organized, often respectful enough to tell authorities in advance of the day, time, and route they will take. The authorities will sometimes attempt to stop this behaviour (interfere, attempt to arrest), but usually will just be on hand to re-direct traffic away from the route to avoid confrontation and accidents.

Can anyone else shed more light?

So they break the law and cause disturbances? Seems to me, this cop had enough of their , and basically snapped.

[Ronald Pagan]

It's not breaking the law in Vancouver. The cops come out and protect the cyclists from the motorists. They issue tickets to raging drivers, handle disturbances, and keep the peace. VPD is excellent for the critical mass, so it's not all cops.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Ronald Pagan

Critical masses are great fun. I highly recommend them to anyone who hasn't gone.

And to Mel, I'm a Vancouver critical mass regular. Hope to see you out there. Great way to spend a Friday afternoon.

Fine, they're great fun, except for thier habit of "Corking" their routes, stopping at green lights and running red lights and pretty much riding like aholes.

[cyclone3483]

Originally Posted by oilers_fan

So they break the law and cause disturbances? Seems to me, this cop had enough of their , and basically snapped.

Not sure how NY is organized. They will sometimes get permision ahead of time so they are not breaking the law necessarily. I imagine is could be fun, but potentially also confrontational with motorists.

I haven't been in one, but I saw Vancouver's once and it seemed well organized, none-confrontational, with police cooperation. The cyclists were being safe and thanking drivers that had to wait. That's the way to do a critical mass.

When not done that way (and it seems like NY was like this in the past), I personally think it would often make cyclist-motorist relations worse as motorists get frustrated having to wait or find alternate routes. Then next time they have to deal with a cyclist on the road, they may be a little more apt to rage.

I understand the idea was originally to stand up for rights of cyclists, but I think it is harmful to motorist-cyclist relations. I find if I am polite to motorists (eg. wave a 'thank you' if they patiently wait for me to cross their path) then they are generally polite and safe in return.

Better to share the road than wind up a hood ornament.

[MarchHare]

When it comes to Critical Mass, I completely sympathize with their cause, but I have no sympathy whatsoever for their methods. I'm a pedestrian/transit user, and my wife rides her bike to work whenever the weather permits, so we're far from "angry motorists", but we both think CM participants are a bunch of aholes.

If they wanted to draw attention to the goal of having urban planning that doesn't focus first and foremost around the use of the automobile in an acceptable manner, I would be right there with them, but ignoring the laws of traffic, deliberately causing congestion (what's the environmental impact of forcing all those cars to needlessly idle, I wonder?), and assaulting drivers and damaging their vehicles is absolutely not an appropriate way to get their message heard.

So yes, the NYPD officer in the video is a jerk-off who deserves his sentence, but I have to admit I smiled when he sent that self-righteous prick flying.

[MelBridgeman]

Originally Posted by Ronald Pagan

Critical masses are great fun. I highly recommend them to anyone who hasn't gone.

And to Mel, I'm a Vancouver critical mass regular. Hope to see you out there. Great way to spend a Friday afternoon.

I doubt it..I will be driving from Granville/Broadway down to Delta just for my taco bell

[rubecube]

nm

[Ronald Pagan]

Originally Posted by rubecube

You sound pretty much like every other extremely liberal, wannabe-hippy ###### I've met out here.

EDIT: Not to say that they're the only types who inhabit B.C. but god damn there's a lot of them.

Uhh...

thanks?

Glad to know that I'm a liberal ###### because I describe how the VPD protects cyclists during critical mass.

Weird post that borders on being completely idiotic.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

When it comes to Critical Mass, I completely sympathize with their cause, but I have no sympathy whatsoever for their methods. I'm a pedestrian/transit user, and my wife rides her bike to work whenever the weather permits, so we're far from "angry motorists", but we both think CM participants are a bunch of aholes.

If they wanted to draw attention to the goal of having urban planning that doesn't focus first and foremost around the use of the automobile in an acceptable manner, I would be right there with them, but ignoring the laws of traffic, deliberately causing congestion (what's the environmental impact of forcing all those cars to needlessly idle, I wonder?), and assaulting drivers and damaging their vehicles is absolutely not an appropriate way to get their message heard.

So yes, the NYPD officer in the video is a jerk-off who deserves his sentence, but I have to admit I smiled when he sent that self-righteous prick flying.

You take geat delight watching someone get hurt?

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by Ronald Pagan

It's not breaking the law in Vancouver. The cops come out and protect the cyclists from the motorists. They issue tickets to raging drivers, handle disturbances, and keep the peace. VPD is excellent for the critical mass, so it's not all cops.

Riding more than 2 abreast where you're disrupting the flow of traffic is illegal. Running a red light is illegal. Wilfully preventing in any manner the free passage of a person, vehicle etc in a public place is illegal.

As for the cops protecting the cyclists it's no different in my eyes to Ruutu (cyclists) and his antagonising cheapshots then hiding behind the refs (cops).

They achive nothing except to piss people off. Way to get people to share your POV.

[Ice]

The problem with demonstrations like this is that it does NOTHING to help their cause. The way to get more bike routes isn't to become territorial of streets with 45MPH speed limits and get your buddies together to claim all the lanes and slow down every car behind you.

Wouldn't a smarter approach be to do some sort of fundraising? Maybe some 5K or 10K rides where they can legally close streets and get sponsors? I doubt the jurisdictions/municipalities aren't building the bike routes because they don't want them, its probably because there's no funding for them. Meet with City Planners and come up with a plan where you come up with the initial cost of infrastructure and they'll absorb the cost of maintenance. That would require more thought, more proactivity and more work than just getting a bunch of people together to piss people off but you might actually get what you want at the end of the day.