Toronto Carfree & Conflict
02-08-06, 07:20 AM
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On Jan. 26, Ms. Hollinsworth watched a car driver throw garbage onto the street in Toronto's Kensington Market. She picked up the garbage, opened the driver's door, and dropped the litter back in his car. The driver got out, and a battle ensued, all of it captured by a photographer who posted the pictures on the Web.
. . .
"In Europe, people don't automatically assume that you're poor, an environmental zealot, or a member of the Communist Party if you ride a bicycle," he said. "In North America, unfortunately, people tend to pigeonhole cyclists."
"I can't stop the war in Iraq. I can't stop the nuclear program. But I can stop litter."
Ms. Hollinsworth lives in a community dedicated to the principles of environmentalism and conservation. She doesn't own a car. Some of her acquaintances refuse to ride in cars at all. One refused to wear a jacket because it had a car-company logo on it. Last year, some of her friends rode to Wasaga Beach on Lake Simcoe, north of Toronto, carrying supplies for a week-long stay. (The 140-kilometre ride took an entire day.)
Ms. Hollinsworth acknowledges the militant cycling community is sometimes guilty of blanket judgments -- the most extreme exponents tend to see cars as a statement of greed and carelessness.
"Some see the car first," she said. "They judge you based on that. To me, it's more subtle. I don't think cars are evil, but I think it's easy to misuse them. There's a legitimate purpose. But why does anyone need a Cadillac Escalade?"
"I'm not as extreme as some. But I do knock on car windows and remind them that there's an anti-idling law. It bugs me because it's so unnecessary, and because it's so bad for the world we live in."
. . .
"In Europe, people don't automatically assume that you're poor, an environmental zealot, or a member of the Communist Party if you ride a bicycle," he said. "In North America, unfortunately, people tend to pigeonhole cyclists."
"I can't stop the war in Iraq. I can't stop the nuclear program. But I can stop litter."
Ms. Hollinsworth lives in a community dedicated to the principles of environmentalism and conservation. She doesn't own a car. Some of her acquaintances refuse to ride in cars at all. One refused to wear a jacket because it had a car-company logo on it. Last year, some of her friends rode to Wasaga Beach on Lake Simcoe, north of Toronto, carrying supplies for a week-long stay. (The 140-kilometre ride took an entire day.)
Ms. Hollinsworth acknowledges the militant cycling community is sometimes guilty of blanket judgments -- the most extreme exponents tend to see cars as a statement of greed and carelessness.
"Some see the car first," she said. "They judge you based on that. To me, it's more subtle. I don't think cars are evil, but I think it's easy to misuse them. There's a legitimate purpose. But why does anyone need a Cadillac Escalade?"
"I'm not as extreme as some. But I do knock on car windows and remind them that there's an anti-idling law. It bugs me because it's so unnecessary, and because it's so bad for the world we live in."
The photos - scary actually: https://www.citynoise.org/article/2770
Photog's description: i did not see the beginning of this, but the report goes as follows:
motorist throws food out of window. courier, disliking littering, picks up food and throws food back in car. motorist dumps coffee on courier. courier scratches car with key. road rage ensues.
the courier is female. i 'got away' with taking pics by just doing it openly. nobody noticed me because the focus is obviously on the altercation at hand.
i followed the motorist back to his car to photograph his license plate number. he proceeded to open his trunk, take out a baseball bat, and charge me. i walked away, and was one of only two witnesses to stay at the scene and give a statement to police.
the courier is female. i 'got away' with taking pics by just doing it openly. nobody noticed me because the focus is obviously on the altercation at hand.
i followed the motorist back to his car to photograph his license plate number. he proceeded to open his trunk, take out a baseball bat, and charge me. i walked away, and was one of only two witnesses to stay at the scene and give a statement to police.
02-08-06, 06:50 PM
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Well, if she did in fact scratch his paint with her key, that was definitely not a hot move to begin with. That aside though, that guy was way out of bounds, because if her scratching his car with a key AND returning his litter was a terrible crime (in his books), then what does that make violently retaliating?
02-08-06, 09:29 PM
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Here's a little more on it, including a link to a citynoise forum in which the pix are posted, people discuss, then the messenger herself shows up and tells her side.
02-09-06, 06:57 AM
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From the messenger, Leah:
Hello all! I am the girl in the pics. My name is Leah and although I am a courier, I was WALKING my bike up Agusta when the incident took place. He was driving and opened his door (while driving) and yelling profanities he threw his beef patty on a bun out of his door. I walked over to his car, and right or wrong, I opened the door and "gave" him back his food (which he MUST have dropped by accident!) He then lost it, and jumped out of his car and threw 2 large Timmies at meand then grabbed me by my helmet and tried to toss me around a bit.It was at that point that my bike lock key (that I wear on a bracelet around my wrist) scratched his car. I have read all the postings about people sympathetic to the car driver due to the expense of repairing the scratch but sorry folks, i doubt that it will cost him anything to repair as it was a 1.2cm mark in the clearcoat only(did not damage the paint) but regardless a scratch none the less. Then with some "encouraging" from some helpfull bystanders he got in his car and drove away...or so I thought! People were comming up to me and saying that I should have him charged but at that point I just figured I had made my anti-littering point and and eye for and eye with the coffee shower, I mean I did throw that patty right. But just as I was getting on my bike to ride home he came running back and thats when the photos start. He had driven half a block and decided that the scratch was worthy of a more thorough beating I guess.
Now for a bit of clarity on a couple of things...
The blonde girl is his girlfriend...she also makes a pretty good shield from an angry mob!
I was NOT punching anyone! especially not with keys in my hand! I was just trying to save my bike (I just built it a week ago!!)
And as for the police charging him....
He took off in his car as soon as he heard the sirens....they chased him down but it is not a crime to leave the scene. They were going to charge him with a variety of things including assult with a weapon x2, mischief x2, aggravated assult, etc, but the police informed me that if I went ahead and placed those charges then they would have to charge me with mischeif for the scratch.
So in the interests of good karma (and my own sanity) I have opted to "let it go" and allow the universe to repay this angermanagement case in its own way.
And finally to those who say that i must have had a sudden case of self ritousness in regard to littering.....YOU ARE WRONG! I hate littering and NEVER do> In fact I am constantly picking up litter and make my son pick up litter at the park. I just feel that it is such a fixable issue in the world today. If everyone would not throw their own piece of litter then there would be none!! What a concept eh!?
enjoy the beautiful winter riding!
Now for a bit of clarity on a couple of things...
The blonde girl is his girlfriend...she also makes a pretty good shield from an angry mob!
I was NOT punching anyone! especially not with keys in my hand! I was just trying to save my bike (I just built it a week ago!!)
And as for the police charging him....
He took off in his car as soon as he heard the sirens....they chased him down but it is not a crime to leave the scene. They were going to charge him with a variety of things including assult with a weapon x2, mischief x2, aggravated assult, etc, but the police informed me that if I went ahead and placed those charges then they would have to charge me with mischeif for the scratch.
So in the interests of good karma (and my own sanity) I have opted to "let it go" and allow the universe to repay this angermanagement case in its own way.
And finally to those who say that i must have had a sudden case of self ritousness in regard to littering.....YOU ARE WRONG! I hate littering and NEVER do> In fact I am constantly picking up litter and make my son pick up litter at the park. I just feel that it is such a fixable issue in the world today. If everyone would not throw their own piece of litter then there would be none!! What a concept eh!?
enjoy the beautiful winter riding!
02-09-06, 12:40 PM
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The real underlying problem here is simple. I remember when I was an undergraduate in the Social Sciences the classic study of overcrowded rats and how they turned on each other. That is simply all I see here. The issues that are showcased are not the real ones at work-too many people jammed in too few streets.
02-09-06, 10:36 PM
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Originally Posted by folder fanatic
The real underlying problem here is simple. I remember when I was an undergraduate in the Social Sciences the classic study of overcrowded rats and how they turned on each other. That is simply all I see here. The issues that are showcased are not the real ones at work-too many people jammed in too few streets.
02-10-06, 02:18 AM
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People need to chill. I am the sort of person who would admire her balls for doing it, if she were to throw back the food into my car. I'm not joking... I would consider it a lesson learned. Why is it that people aren't ready to learn lessons these days?
02-10-06, 07:10 AM
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Originally Posted by cooker
I don't buy your simple explanation - crowding per se is not the issue. Some of the most densely populated places, like Hong Kong, London and Manhattan, are not extraordinarily violent, while much less congested cities like Detroit are. If you changed your statement to "too many cars jammed into too few streets" I might begin to agree with you, at least as far as road rage episodes are concerned.
02-10-06, 09:06 AM
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EFF that Karma bull crap. This guy needs to be charged with assault and battery. F'ing simple as that.
"Sure, officer, charge me for the one inch scratch in his car that resulted from this EFF'ing EFF-wit throwing me around by me head!" If I lived near this guys, I would go at his car windows in the middle of the night with a friggin' Louisville Slugger. Damn this crap boils my blood. I am so hot right now I could slap my computer!!!
"Sure, officer, charge me for the one inch scratch in his car that resulted from this EFF'ing EFF-wit throwing me around by me head!" If I lived near this guys, I would go at his car windows in the middle of the night with a friggin' Louisville Slugger. Damn this crap boils my blood. I am so hot right now I could slap my computer!!!
02-10-06, 10:28 AM
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I thought about Leah this morning when I saw a fat guy toss a bannana peel out of his truck. I'm glad the weather and traffic geometry stayed my hand.
02-10-06, 12:24 PM
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"I don't buy your simple explanation - crowding per se is not the issue. Some of the most densely populated places, like Hong Kong, London and Manhattan, are not extraordinarily violent, while much less congested cities like Detroit are. If you changed your statement to "too many cars jammed into too few streets" I might begin to agree with you, at least as far as road rage episodes are concerned." -cooker
"Kinda disagree with that - London is a horrendous city possibly because of the traffic, but folk are crammed into the underground there and altercations are all too common...Singapore is full of folk, and cars, and is one of the friendliest cities on earth...and in Saigon you cannot move for mopeds - on the road, on pavements, up alleyways - and I never saw a single act of road rage or indeed get anything other than a totally chilled out, friendly vibe!" -misteralz
After I left the university, I began to take the jobs that people like to praise about and not actually do-like clean up after the social order begins to fall apart (teaching and social work). I saw many times first hand how overcrowding and poverty-or the threat of falling into poverty from the middle class-creates the stress that that lays the foundation which usually erupts into physical violence. Trust me, you might become very uncomfortable about what I see each day in the classroom, my office, and the streets-I still live in the older suburb (old part of the multi-ethnic Los Angeles basin) where I see the children grow into the adults that live the stressful life no matter what they follow in life. Also different cultures have different ways of coping. The social problems we have here in the North American continent is probably too new (only a couple of hundred years) verses the European and Asian cultures (thousands of years) to develop fully yet.
"Kinda disagree with that - London is a horrendous city possibly because of the traffic, but folk are crammed into the underground there and altercations are all too common...Singapore is full of folk, and cars, and is one of the friendliest cities on earth...and in Saigon you cannot move for mopeds - on the road, on pavements, up alleyways - and I never saw a single act of road rage or indeed get anything other than a totally chilled out, friendly vibe!" -misteralz
After I left the university, I began to take the jobs that people like to praise about and not actually do-like clean up after the social order begins to fall apart (teaching and social work). I saw many times first hand how overcrowding and poverty-or the threat of falling into poverty from the middle class-creates the stress that that lays the foundation which usually erupts into physical violence. Trust me, you might become very uncomfortable about what I see each day in the classroom, my office, and the streets-I still live in the older suburb (old part of the multi-ethnic Los Angeles basin) where I see the children grow into the adults that live the stressful life no matter what they follow in life. Also different cultures have different ways of coping. The social problems we have here in the North American continent is probably too new (only a couple of hundred years) verses the European and Asian cultures (thousands of years) to develop fully yet.
Last edited by folder fanatic; 02-10-06 at 12:31 PM.
