Harlan Head shows the shattered windshield of his minivan. He says cyclists caused the damage and also the broke the door.
Jason Meggs, a Critical Mass organizer, filmed part of Friday's altercation.
Posted on 05/15/2007 4:30:46 PM PDT by SmithL
A Friday clash between a Berkeley minivan and Critical Mass bicyclists continued to generate conflict Monday as the van driver said the bicyclists placed bicycles under his front tire during the violent melee.
"A certain number of the bicyclists were prepared to do this with malice aforethought," said Harlan Head, 70, driver of the Chevrolet minivan. "They shoved bicycles under the car and attempted several other things."
Critical Mass organizer Jason Meggs, 38, who filmed part of the incident (see video) on his digital camera, called Head's accusation "outrageously ridiculous."
"It's really, really, really not true," said Meggs, a UC Berkeley graduate student in public health and in urban planning who filmed part of the confrontation on his digital camera. "It's really a great leap of faith that anyone would have that kind of conspiracy theory."
Police said two witnesses reported seeing riders throw their bikes in front of the van.
The incident happened around 8 p.m. Friday, when about 30 bicyclists were riding south on The Alameda and collided with Head, who with his wife, Marilyn, was driving west on Monterey Avenue to visit their disabled daughter across town.
Police have not determined who had the right of way at the intersection.
The cyclists said Head shouted, "I'm sick of you people," and attempted to run them over.
Head said the cyclists surrounded his van, tried to knock it over, broke the windshield wiper, kicked in the windshield, broke the door and stuck bicycles under his tire.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Jason Meggs, a Critical Mass organizer, filmed part of Friday's altercation.
When you have to use the word "really" 3 times, your lying your ass of!
“Fer shure!”
Whomever lifted up that van and placed their bike under the tire of the van must be a very strong person.
Someone in the mob yelled: “Somebody’s under the car”. No one was under the car. Meanwhile, people are pounding on the car (with a handicapped tag) — the old guy looks confused and terrified. Many people would have floored the accelerator, to get to safety.
It was a set-up. Meggs by his own admission didn't see the start.
These “critical mass” people work at provoking encounters all over the country....then they get their wish..and...
VOILA....they become the victimized....!!!
It’s hard to believe that the peace loving radicals of Berkeley could ever get violent about anything. This is a man bites dog story.
Man, those people are animals. “Agree with us, OR ELSE!”
What SCUM...!!!
I wonder how “cute” they’d figure they were if one of the old couple suddenly went into fibrillation or worse...???
They are ALL guilty of assault from what I saw...they had NO “right” to pull open those old folks’ car doors or pound on their vehicle. I’m 58 and I think I would have had a hard time containing my PTSD long enough NOT to run over the lot of them. They DID purposely leave their bikes in the path of the vehicle..it is PLAINLY visible at the beginning of the video.
All the false accusations are at the very LEAST intimidation and verbal assault. Those KIDS were crying because of the the multi-hue-haired LOSERS shouting at the top of their lungs. I think the old guy kept his cool admirably under fire.
You might ALSO note in the beginning of the taped presentation that the bicyclists were in ALL lanes of traffic.
What if an emergency vehicle had to help someone who really WAS under a car...???
What about the “turn only” signs on the ground that the lot of them just rode over, ignoring the LAW...???
That little video does WAY more to indict the hippy-freak-LOSERS than it does to incriminate the old couple. At WORST they owe somebody a bike...and even THAT looks shaky. That’s one jury I’d LOVE to be on.
The guy is a 38 year old graduate student? He must be like one of those “students” that seized the embassy in Tehran.
“It’s hard to believe that the peace loving radicals of Berkeley could ever get violent about anything. This is a man bites dog story.”
They acted like a pack of WILD DOGS, you meant...right...???
Every weekend that is half way nice, they come out in their VW’s and Volvo’s with their cutesy little bike racks and terrorize the locals who have to drive the roads to get to work, to get the kids to activities, etc.
They will at some point get someone killed or injured trying to avoid the arrogant twits.
Why don’t these people ever throw their bikes under a 4x4 with an eight-inch lift, or an H-1 Hummer? I wish they would.
Critical Mass bicyclists are basically terrorist on Bikes. These environmental loons need to be arrested.
Maybe you could exercise a little patience the next time you come upon a cyclist on the road. If your trip is delayed by 10 seconds so you can safely pass, it's truly not that big a deal.
You apparently don't like it, but bikes are considered vehicles and are entitled to the same rights and responsibilities as motor vehicles -- that said, I know cyclists don't always follow the rules of the road, particularly at intersections.
They will at some point get someone killed or injured trying to avoid the arrogant twits.
Interesting. "They" or "twits" could very well apply to aggressive drivers, although I don't think that was what you meant.
Finally, I don't agree with the means Critical Mass uses to get out their message. I doubt many people even know what their purpose is. From my reading and experience, it usually devolves into an uncalled-for, unorganized, and rude rolling instigation of motorists. This motley group in Berkeley needs to be held accountable for their outrageous actions.
Okay, pond scum, GAME ON!!!
How about we get local grading and paving contractors in the S.F. Bay Area to organize their own "Critical Mass"?
WITH STEAMROLLERS!!!
"Hey! Spandex Boy! Chuck yer 'Specialized' in front of THIS!!"
“The guy is a 38 year old graduate student?”
“But, mom...I HAVE a job. I’m a STUDENT.”
Nobody seems to be buying what you’re selling on FR.
“Sounds as if you feel that you own the roads.”
Actually, in a sense, he does. How much do bicyle riders pay in gasoline taxes for highway construction and maintenance?
If you look REEEAL close, I think there are invisible “/sarc” tags on that post. ;-)
Since most bicycle riders drive a lot more miles than they ride, odds are it's quite a bit. It is also appropriate to note that bicycles cause essentially no wear and tear on the road when compared to a multi-ton car or truck.
Please don't lump all who ride a bicycle in with the idiots in the video. Some of us just appreciate the exercise, money-saving and not-giving-money-to-Chavez aspects of cycling.
I don’t like driving or living in a world where one is required to drive in order to live a normal life. However, given that we do live in such a world, it is vital that cyclists and drivers coexist in peace. Conscientious cyclists ride in single file at the edge of the lane, allowing motor vehicles to pass. Conscientious drivers give cyclists a wide berth, slowing when necessary until safe to pass.
That being said, no one has the right to create a public disturbance by obstructing motor vehicle traffic. These Critical Mass people are not mere bicyclists; they are social protestors, creating public chaos in order to make a political point. In a sane world, these folks would be treated as the peacebreakers they are, and quickly and efficiently swept into the gutters by firehoses for arrest.
NB: I am from Texas. Anyone attempting to block my vehicle from legal passage on a public thoroughfare will be treated as a threat to my person and property, and will be met with armed force.
Watching the video, I keep wondering "Where are the police?" These demonstrations should be treated like any other riot, and it should be a shame if somebody's $2000 bike gets trashed.
Thanks for pointing out the difference. I have been active in cycling for 20 years, mostly in USCF competition. These Critical Massers are nothing but troublemakers, and I would have no sympathy for them if they ran into a bunch of riot police who have no holds barred orders. These sad excuses not only clog up the road, they actively seek out confrontations, with video cameras ready to have it all shown on YouTube.
Of course this incident took place in San Francisco, which by the way is NOT part of the United States.
I'd like to see them try that crap in Florida - north of South Florida that is.
“Finally, I don’t agree with the means Critical Mass uses to get out their message. “
This is not a “message” problem and it’s not a “communications” problem. It is an a$$hole bicycle fascist problem. They are as arrogant toward pedestrians, who HAVE the right of way over them, as they are against cars.
Those idiots think that impeding traffic to create a massive traffic jam is a moral act! They try to do exactly what I try hard NOT to do when I ride.
I ride about five to seven miles most days. Last week a woman in a supermarket parking lot accused me of trying to save the planet. I assured her that was not the case.
If they keep it up, they're eventually going to run into someone they'll wish they hadn't, video camera present or not.
Give it enough time and enough incidents of confrontation, and they'll have the misfortune of trying to halt some wanted two-striker felon with a trunkload of dope nothing to lose and no intention of sticking around for the police to show up over a bent up bike, or they'll try to roadblock some mentally imbalanced Cho Seung Hoi that will just think 'Well, this is as good a place as any to start blasting people'. Maybe they'll harass some Frisco chapter of the Hell's Angels old lady when she's in her van on her way to pick up some '59 Springer front end parts she was having chromed for her boyfriend 'Ugly Dan's birthday. One cell phone call and the streets would be filled with abandoned bicycles and dreadlocked anarcho-hippies running for their lives. Maybe it will be some Kern County CCW carrier who will deliberately try to get involved with Critical Mass troublemakers so he can finally use his piece lawfully when he explains that he was in fear for his life when they started pulling him from his vehicle.
Like I said, give it enough time and enough confrontations, and we might see a Critical Mass incident become nationally televised news.
I just hope that some innocent bystander doesn't get caught up in it.
Of course you meant to say this incident happened in Berkeley, which is not part of the universe and we are still BOYCOTTING.
“”Hey! Spandex Boy! Chuck yer ‘Specialized’ in front of THIS!!””
Frikkin’ Hilarious....!!!
> Sounds as if you feel that you own the roads.
Actually, I believe we do. Virtually all the cost to build and maintain roads comes from user fees (aka targeted taxes). This is primarily from gas taxes, but also from sales taxes on car sales and auto licensing fees. There are VERY few places anymore that use general taxes for roads. I an not aware of any targeted tax on bicycles. Can you enlighten me?
I am outraged that they picked on an elderly couple with handicapped plates..........CM looked like maggots circling some road kill.......where WERE the cops?
Believe me, we all have to have patience. Often your choices are to slow down to the pace of the shellheads in the middle of the road, try to pass which is not always possible, or risk your life doing both. Of course, the shellheads never pull over and always continue to ride in middle of the road anyway.
The thing is that the roads were not built for weekend jaunts in the country. They were built for the people that have to use them for actual business and transportation purposes. While I am sure that spandex and thousand dollar children's toys please some, me and most of my neighbors are not amused.
Rarely do we encounter a polite shellhead, mostly they encounter polite yet irritated drivers. I have had this discussion with people before, and unless you have lived it as we have, you cannot gain a full picture of what we have to deal with on an almost daily basis.
These guys are criminals, they violate the law, and then get violent whenever they pay the price for it.... MOW THEM DOWN!
Just because you are on a bicycle does not mean you get to ignore traffic laws, lights or signs.
Either get a permit and have a route, or be mowed over.
Sherman Logan already addressed this in post number 23. Most cyclists also own vehicles, and would therefore pay these taxes. Moreover, as I said, bicycles are considered by law to be vehicles entitled to use roads.
I very much doubt this is true. One could say all motorists always attempt to run cyclists off the road, speed, shout rude comments out their windows, and litter.
The thing is that the roads were not built for weekend jaunts in the country. They were built for the people that have to use them for actual business and transportation purposes.
Perhaps the roads were initially built for slow-moving farm equipment. Do you have an issue with tractors using roads? You should probably stick to interstates, where bicycles are not allowed and everyone is traveling "for actual business and transportation purposes."
While I am sure that spandex and thousand dollar children's toys please some, me and most of my neighbors are not amused.
Cyclists may ride for many reasons, but I'm pretty sure your amusement is not one of them. It's unfortunate you have bad experiences every weekend when you encounter cyclists on the roadways. Share the road.
Rarely do we encounter a polite shellhead, mostly they encounter polite yet irritated drivers.
If politeness on the road is a factor which merits any weight in determining who uses roadways, half of the drivers out there shouldn't be allowed to drive anymore.
I have had this discussion with people before, and unless you have lived it as we have, you cannot gain a full picture of what we have to deal with on an almost daily basis.
I have lived it before, from the perspectives of both cyclist and motorist. Maybe that makes me more qualified than you to weigh in on this issue.
You lie like a cloud of greenhouse gasses. Your own film shows bikes being laid right in front of the wheel, and then someone in your gaggle telling the driver to back up, when a bike has been laid behind the front wheel.
The video is pretty grainy, but it also looked to me that that first left turn they took was against a red light.
Oh, forgive me! When you are on the side of righteousness, you are not subject to the laws the rest of us are.
Farm equipment sometimes does travel the roads. However, that is commerce, not recreation. The farmers LIVE here, most of the shellheads do not. The farm equipment operators UNDERSTAND that they are slow, that there are no shoulders and that while they MUST travel the roads to fields and orchards, they do so when there is less traffic on the roads. Stick to interstates? Yeah, the nearest interstate DOES not go to our town, once again, these are COUNTRY roads. You must travel the roads to get to an interstate.
Once again, you are not getting the argument. We are not amused that these people have so little regard for us and our safety, our way of life that they feel free to invade us on most weekends, display arrogance, put our lives and theirs at risk and generally make most people wish there was a law that kept them on bike paths and our of our area.
We have no choice but to “share the road”.
Your statement;
“If politeness on the road is a factor which merits any weight in determining who uses roadways, half of the drivers out there shouldn't’t be allowed to drive anymore.”, adds nothing to either side of the argument.
As someone who has to dodge these arrogant people, I am more than qualified. But whatever. Have a nice day!
Like YOU are the only person here who ever rode a bike on a public thoroughfare....???
Puhleeeze.
There’s PLENTY of jerks out there and the ones with the spandex hineys in flourescent colors raised up in celebration of their superiority are most DEFINITELY in the front of the line when it comes to rudeness.
There’s a HUGE difference between a kid weaving a bit because he’s not all that coordinated and the brain-damage-helmet group with their multi-thousand dollar magnesium joy rides cum license to irritate swerving about without a THOUGHT of who they might inconvenience.
Give it a rest.
If people drove their cars the way the snots ride their bikes there would be a WAVE of vehicular manslaughter deaths...!!!
Certainly there are arrogant cyclists, usually skinny yuppie types who enjoy waving their brightly colored spandexed rear ends in drivers' faces. I usually wonder if they are advertising their goods.
Then there are drivers with your "scummy shellheads don't belong on my road" attitude, who enjoy running cyclists off the road, or trying to clip the cyclists' left arms with their right hand mirrors, or just pulling in behind the cyclist and revving their engines and honking instead of passing when they could easily do so. I ride almost every day, and am entirely too familiar with the type. And no, I don't block traffic intentionally, and I don't even wear spandex.
Well goodie for you. I have never run a shellhead off the road, I have never even given the one-fingered salute.
However, I have been blocked on purpose by the brightly spandexed twits, and I have been given the finger for slowing down behind those same spandexed twits because I could not pass safely. Arrogant and stupid is a sure fire problem waiting to happen.
Some of my neighbors have had it with close calls, and I totally understand their frustration. Someone is going to get hurt by accident. Probably one of us trying to avoid them. Have a real nice day!
It would tighten them up quite nicely strung across the road between successive lamp posts at the bottom of a hill.
Amen to that. The bicycle faggots would be handed their special little heads, still strapped into their special little helmets.
Most cyclists would be quite happy to agree. I know I would. Except that there are few bike paths anywhere, and in most places none.
Historically speaking, roads were first paved for bicycle use, decades before cars were around in any quantity.
“Bicycling was so popular in the 1880s and 1890s that cyclists formed the League of American Wheelman (still in existence and now called the League of American Bicyclists). The League lobbied for better roads, literally paving the road for the automobile.”
“Historically speaking, roads were first paved for bicycle use, decades before cars were around in any quantity.
“Bicycling was so popular in the 1880s and 1890s that cyclists formed the League of American Wheelman (still in existence and now called the League of American Bicyclists). The League lobbied for better roads, literally paving the road for the automobile.””
......uh....right...
And, if YOU promise to ride an 1890’s bike, I’ll hire a boy to carry a lantern in front of my horseless carriage.......sheesh.....!!!
Show me a photo of a two-wheeled dump truck, road grader, or steam shovel......How LONG do you think it would have taken to build the interstate highway system with horse-drawn conveyances......????
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