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Doc Thompson guilty. On all counts. Held without bail.
“Thompson, a former emergency room doctor, was found guilty of six felonies and one misdemeanor and could face as much as five years in prison. He was remanded and ordered held without bail until sentencing. He was handcuffed in the courtroom after the verdict was read.”
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Held without bail. Hells yea. Because if I was Doc T, I’d be like “donde esta la frontera?!”
bike people too happy, car people too mad. we were like, “we won! we won!”
Six felonies? That’s gonna leave a mark.
GOOD news.
Sometimes the system works…
…now & again justice needs be served in order that an example be set…
…& unfortunately, in car & cycling confrontations there seems to be an inordinate amount of favoritism as regards the drivers of motor vehicles no matter how egregious their actions…
The cheering goes around the world.
5 years huh? Plenty of time for this guy to be rear ended again. The family care packages had better include soap on a rope..
All I can say is wow…
That said, I’ll say something else, something that might not be very “popular” on this blog but I’ll say it nonetheless cause you guys/gals seem to respect it. When I raced/trained in FLA in the late 80’s, I’d get “knucklebrushed” all the time…got hit with a 2×4 in the kidneys once too…swung at, not just by happenstance. FLA was a great place (lonely two lane, rolling hill roads forever) and shitty place (horrible drivers) to ride that way.
Flipping off drivers and saying fuck you may make you feel good but it just doesn’t do anything but make the situation worse. I’m not saying turn the other cheek…I’m just saying fuck it, chalk it up to ignorance and live to ride another day.
Let the lambasting begin….
Mike,
Actually totally agree with you. I am so tired of being mad all the time, I have resolved to just let it slide. I came to this conclusion after kicking the side panel of a minivan driving in the bikelane, who’d just nearly run over another cyclist. The guy began chasing me down the street, revving his engine. Where I finally just pulled over and got my u-lock out. He literally left his car in the intersection and came at me with a bat. Thank Christ an off-duty cop came out of the corner store there and put a stop to it before we started swinging. Before either of us could get the plates, the psycho just drove off. Then all I wanted to do was make my train.
It’s just not worth it. However, that kind of behavior certainly doesn’t warrant being run down in the street either. 99 times out of 100, it is merely more disrespect being returned to the source.
Finally some justice.
…i’d have to agree w/ you also, mike but the dichotomy lies in the fact that, as a cyclist, it’s likely you’re pumped up from riding & if you get ‘buzzed’ by a motor vehicle, it’s somewhat instinctual to react w/ a flipping of the bird (held high, in my case) & a loud fuck you…
…& you’re right, it generally serves to escalate the situation but it’s also a tension release because let’s face it, that ‘buzz’ from the vehicle you just got might have seriously hurt you, if not outright killed you & you know damned good & well the driver didn’t “get” that fact whatsoever…nor would they care 99% of the time…
…i had an interesting incident recently while out on a ride…i was being passed by an older woman in a twisty section that’s a bit tight but w/ enough room for her to safely pass by…my front wheel clipped a stone at such an angle that it ricocheted out & hit her side panel which she obviously heard…
…she drove well ahead, chose a safe spot to pull over & as i rode up, she waved me over & very worriedly inquired if she had hit or grazed me…
…i stopped & explained to her what had happened & she never once showed concern about her own car but expressed great relief that she hadn’t endangered me…
…needless to say i was profuse in my thanks simply to have her understand that her concern for the welfare of a cyclist was enlightened…
…a road incident w/ a decent ending for a change…
we’re gettin’ off-topic here, but I agree with some of the guys here, just blow it off. When some asshole tries to brush me with their mirror, I just ignore them and immediately forget about it. Small people, negative people, life is too short.
Ha ha ha… while this verdict is sweet, just wait ’til the civil trial(s) for damages. Doctor is gonna be out several million $$$
brian, bikesgonewild and mikey….thanks for the input/comments. looks like there are still some riders out there with “the sense god gave a goat”. with any luck, maybe we’ll all get to meet up one day and ride.
Mikey,
If you have never been hit by a car, you would not understand why your first instinct when “brushed” is to fuck some shit up….
May he end up in Federal ” pound you in the ass” prison. It will prob get appealed and he won’t serve a day, but if he is going…I suggest Dr. T starts practicing stretching the corn hole. Maybe start with a pencil, then work your way up to say, a fire hydrant…
A sociopath who will now spend some time with his own kind.
HUMPTY— I have been hit, and narrowly missed. If someone hit me on purpose (as is the specific case here) I would mash his fucking nose up into his skull.
Sadly, I’ll bet you’re right… the “doctor” will hire lots of expensive attorneys and get his sentence deferred. If not, I hope his roommate likes it rough. Hopefully his insurance will not cover his civil liability, which ought to be a slam-dunk after racking up six felonies. Hopefully his friends will stop returning his phone calls.
But as for the angry pencil-dicks in the “luxury SUVs” that like to try and graze me with their mirror… fuck ’em. I don’t have time for negative people and negative energy. Life is too short and there are too many good folks. Me? I got thirty miles today, pretty day but chilly. Froze my feet again. Keep the rubber side down y’all.
As a good friend told me probably 20 years ago. In these instances you are likely dealing with someone who has a shitty low paying job that they hate, a mortgage they can’t afford, kids they didn’t want, credit card debt beyond their means, in general he or she is totally out of control of their life. Then they see you and you are out having fun on your bike while their life sucks. And even though I have lost my temper plenty of times and flipped the bird and screamed FUCK YOU. Remember they have the right of weight. We would all regret it forever if that flipping the bird resulted in anyones death or permanent disability. Please lets all be safe out there, cause they don’t really give a shit about us
I was assaulted with a pickup truck while on my bike, spent 13 days in hospital and months learning how to walk again. I lost count of the number of times I got “buzzed” and knocked into but not hard enough to get knocked down, had objects ranging from a Happy Meal with half the drink and fries remaining plus the toy (why get the Happy Meal if you’re just going to throw away the toy?) to a steel pipe thrown at me and hit me. I can’t do anything about any of that, now or ever, but I can celebrate that at least one asshole is going to get seriously fucked up in prison because he seriously fucked up a cyclist.
The thing that walks like a man with a medical degree will walk a lot less like a man soon, if he can walk at all. Someone is finally getting punished for using their motor vehicle as a deadly weapon, so why can’t I feel any joy? I feel vindication but no joy. I want some joy, damnit!
Opus,
If CDC gave you “conjugal visits” to Dr. Thompson with a broomhandle, would that help?
Ever see the ‘Farside’ cartoon where a dog is a defendant in court and EVERYONE else in the courtroom is a cat??!! We cyclists often feel that way in court, where EVERYONE in the courtroom is a motorist. It’s good to know there can be limits to the arrogant behavior of the “rulers of the road”. Even fellow motorists couldn’t stomach the ‘good’ doctor’s bullshit.