Driver who targeted cyclists gets probationary sentence

I don’t have a good way to kick off an article like this. Words like “psycho”, “wacky”, or “ridiculous” don’t seem to do it justice.

A Bayfield man who used his pickup to run bicyclists off the road was given probation Thursday after pleading guilty to reckless endangerment and felony menacing.

Todd Grooms, 41, wasn’t facing any jail time after signing a plea agreement with the 6th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

But he faces up to three years in prison if he violates the terms of his probation.

Grooms was arrested Aug. 1 on suspicion of using his white Dodge pickup to run cyclists off the road on Florida Road (County Road 240) and County Road 501, near Lemon Reservoir and Vallecito Dam.

Grooms apparently became upset that cyclists were taking up too much of the road, so he yelled at them, drove within 6 inches of them and gunned his truck toward them.

In one instance, Grooms stopped his truck in the middle of the road, exited his vehicle and confronted a group of cyclists. He had a sidearm holstered to his waist.
See durangoherald.com.

When I read about a man who behaves in this fashion, the only conclusion I can reach is that he is extremely disturbed. Lets hope he keeps it on the straight and narrow in the future. He quite possibly could end someone’s life.

The article goes on to say:

A courtesy bicycle law went into effect Aug. 5 that requires drivers in Colorado to give bicyclists 3 feet of space when passing.

Drivers can pull halfway into the oncoming lane to pass a cyclist, even if there is a solid yellow line, as long as there is no oncoming traffic.

The bill requires bicyclists to keep right unless they are passing or avoiding a road hazard. Cyclists can switch to a left turn lane if they are turning left, or ride on the left side of a right turn lane if they are not turning.

Cyclists can ride two abreast as long as they aren’t slowing traffic or taking up more than one lane.
Id.

About big jonny

The man, the legend. The guy who started it all back in the Year of Our Lord Beer, 2000, with a couple of pages worth of idiotic ranting hardcoded on some random porn site that would host anything you uploaded, a book called HTML for Dummies (which was completely appropriate), a bad attitude (which hasn’t much changed), and a Dell desktop running Win95 with 64 mgs of ram and a six gig hard drive. Those were the days. Then he went to law school. Go figure. Flagstaff, Arizona, USA

8 Replies to “Driver who targeted cyclists gets probationary sentence”

  1. “Grooms suffers from a mental condition that requires medication, but he was not on the medication at the time of the incident, Stewart said.”

    That has always been a major ball buster with me.

    My late Bro was like that. Back in the 80’s. Needed “whatever” to be straight but kept flushing them and ending up time after time back in the local ward. Greystone in NJ on 2 occasions. Scary ass place that was.

    He finally killed self in ’86.

    What do you do with people who need meds but refuse to take them ?

    To this day I can not answer that question. And it pains me that I can’t.

  2. Colonel— in the U.S.A. we seem to have the right to be crazy in public. This is why (crazy) little old ladies freeze to death on the streets every winter. A tough issue, especially with the dangerously crazy ones.

  3. Mikey, let some cocksucker pull that shit with a truck on me. I’ll fucking SHOW you ‘dangerously crazy”.

    And I’m as pro-Second Amendment as they come, but the fucker needed meds AND had a gun?

  4. dave— to be sure. I am a staunch believer in U-lock justice. I wonder how much an Esacalade side mirror and taillight lens cost? Wait, never mind, I don’t give a fuck.

    And refer to my previous (extensive) comments on handgun ownership in the U.S.

    You know, up here in Washington state, with six cops shot dead in the last month or two, the police aren’t taking much crap off handgun-wielding asshats these days. And I salute them for it.

  5. And here I was thinking that those ‘courtesy laws’ were already on the books. Ca. has those, but i’m an idiot for thinking they were in effect everywhere.

    fuck an escalade.

  6. Pingback: News Cycle: Facebook Protest Ride, Reckless endangerment, a $290,000 traffic ticket & more « Bike Intelligencer

  7. I’m from durango and this is news to me, i’ve never cycled anywhere as bike friendly as durango. sucks to hear about this though, especially since the college team is riding all over the place all the time, and they’re the heart and soul of the college and town.