Headpost

Seriously, this is terrible behavior, and incidents like these will have only bad repercussions for riders here in NYC.

https://nypost.com/2020/12/30/nyc-bi...d-video-shows/

BobbyG

Looks like a "Criminal" Mass ride.

CB HI

It is national news and gives bad motorist everywhere an excuse to assault cyclist.
Props to the driver for not just taking off in self-defense and running over a couple of the criminals.

rydabent

I would have run over their bikes.

Darth Lefty 

How many times have I felt like assaulting a grandma with my gang? Well... never, really.

Iride01

I wonder if this is a group that actually is involved with stealing bikes. Seems they didn't care much for their bikes.

I've been under the assumption that bike theft in really big cities is an organized thing. You want to sell drugs, but a lot of your users run out of money quick. So you have others go out and steal bikes then give the bikes to your users to sell so they can get more money for more drugs which is your main business. Similar to laundering money. It removes you from the crime since it's the user that'll get caught selling the bike and they won't tell that they were doing it to get more money for drugs.

Maybe not. But hoping a reason or cause is found.

Milton Keynes

Well, it was a BMW so they probably deserved it...

Seriously, I wouldn't call them cyclists, but a group of thugs with bicycles. The article said they attacked a cab after that incident, so it would appear to be less of a road rage incident and more like a bunch of troublemakers causing mayhem.

Milton Keynes

I don't think that's a thing. Normally it's the drug users themselves stealing stuff to either fence or pawn in order to get drug money. It doesn't make sense for a drug dealer to have someone steal bikes to give to the druggies to sell in order to buy more drugs. If they were into theft as well as drug dealing, they'd just sell the bikes themselves and keep that money while also getting money from the drug users.

blacknbluebikes 

This ain't about cyclists. I work in NYC and have seen these "wanna be gangstas" cruising around midtown. It's not just 'one group', this is like an instagram thing now. I've seen probably ten different groups over time, they come through TSQ like they're doing a parade or something. I maybe see one bunch a week. They're usually teens, maybe a dozen or so, riding as a pack and taking up the whole street. Lotsa wheelies, often quite impressive with the wheelies. Saw one cat riding a wheelie on a lefty fork with NO front wheel - how far he came and went, who knows. The groups are intentionally provocative, but never seem particularly dangerous, more circus-like. And they cruise thru, with maybe a few antics if there are spectators around, and then they're gone. So, I don't know what happened with the car/driver in the above article, but this is the first time I'm ever hearing of an altercation (quite an altercation) happening with these kids (they are almost always 16-19 years old). It's extremely unlikely that this car/driver was attacked randomly, but apparently he pissed off the wrong crew at that moment. One really shouldn't do that in New York. Or anywhere. This ain't about cyclists, it's about a driver that pissed off a big group of show-off-bully teens in New York one day. And they had bikes, by the way.

justtrying

They are not cyclists they are punks on bikes whose “ courage” only is apparent when they are with their peers. 1 15 yr old has been arrested. The driver had his 70 yr old mother in the car. When the Mom called 911 she should have correctly said they were in fear of their lives. The driver should have immediately start to slowly drive away while steadily and slowly increasing speed until they were out of harms way then wait for the cops.

plowmanjoe

Does anyone know the law in regards to trying to flee aka driving through the attackers in a situation like this?

justtrying

I don’t know the legal implications if you do drive away and strike the assailants I would imagine if an investigation rightly proved you were in fear of serious injury or losing your life you would no trouble legally. As the saying goes” I rather be judged by 12 individuals then being carried by 6”

njkayaker

Sounds rather, uh, fanciful.

njkayaker

User name checks out!

njkayaker

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/11/n...manhattan.html

justtrying

That is a somewhat different scenario. They slapped the car, they did not jump on he car or attempt to throw a bike through
the windshield. In the end it is how a DA or a jury perceives your intent.( whether you really feared for your life and acted accordingly or you panicked and ran over people. This latest incident seemed more dangerous to the occupants of the BMW then the one with the woman.

njkayaker

Yes, it's somewhat different (I certainly wasn't suggesting they were the same).

We know (in hindsight) what the outcome was in this scenario.

It was likely much better than it would have been if the BMW driver had ran anybody over.

Bmach

A few years ago a driver ran over motorcyclists that were harassing him kicking his car etc. I don’t think anything happened to him. This also was in NY or a close suburb.

cubewheels

There has been many times I felt like smashing something like a big rock to car that cut me real close in a corner at high speed.

It's real easy to chase a car in traffic even if their trying their best to flee so it's really pointless fleeing.

cubewheels

You have the right to self defense.

But the driver of the car is far too brainwashed by the society to even try to save his life.

samkl 

Huh. Projecting much?

Scary for the driver, but his life seems to have been saved just fine. He did the right thing. In what universe would it have been better if he ran over and killed these 15 year old doofuses?

justtrying

Hind sight is 20/20. We saw most of the incident. When the gang was in the process of demolishing the windshield,I would say any reasonable person could be afraid for their life & more importantly the life of his 70 year old mother.

njkayaker

Most of what you learn is from hindsight.

rydabent

On the news, the police have arrested one of the thugs that committed that crime.

mcours2006

Let's not paint them with the 'cyclist' brush just cuz they had bikes. If they were running around the city on foot doing such nonsense would we call them runners? "Group of runners terrorize couple in SUV"