k4z00
New Member
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XL3g4vPK30
No gore. Everyone survived from what I've read. This is crazy.
No gore. Everyone survived from what I've read. This is crazy.
Car Races Through Critical Mass Ride.
- Thread starter k4z00
- Start date
k4z00
New Member
The driver was apparently a Brazilian banker "with a mental illness" and is excused from this behavior.
Apparently this group is known for having a ton of radicals on their rides, blocking traffic (which is against what their "policies" say) and to not harass drivers.
There are many videos of the group doing both, but running them over with a car isn't the way to handle it.
Apparently this group is known for having a ton of radicals on their rides, blocking traffic (which is against what their "policies" say) and to not harass drivers.
There are many videos of the group doing both, but running them over with a car isn't the way to handle it.
RonC
ZGOZZ Macman
People have no right hurting others.
But at the same time they have no right doing things against law.
RonC
ZGOZZ Macman
Sorry still he could of backed up and got out of there, to plow threw like that.
What were they going to do, beat them up with tubes...😡
RonC
ZGOZZ Macman
http://www.grist.org/article/2011-02-28-car-plows-through-critical-mass-ride-in-brazil
Last week I wrote a post asking the question, "Why do people in cars hate people on bikes so much?"
On Friday night in Porto Alegre, Brazil, there was a horrific manifestation of the type of rage I was referring to.
During a peaceful Critical Mass ride on the city's streets, a driver suddenly accelerated through the middle of the crowd at high speed. Riders piled up on the car's hood before being thrown to the pavement. Amazingly, no one was killed. Eight people were taken to the hospital.
If you choose to do so, you can watch graphic video of the incident and its aftermath here, with English subtitles. But PLEASE BE WARNED, it is very upsetting. That's why we decided not to embed the video here. I watched it so you don't have to.
According to the blog of the ride's organizers, which I am reading with the help of Google Translate, the driver is claiming he felt threatened by the group and was acting in self-defense.
From the Going Going Bike blog:
The driver has been named locally as Richard Neis, a 47-year-old resident of Porte Alegre. A statement made by Mr Neis' lawyer, Luis Fernando Coimbra Albino, contends that Mr Neis ploughed through the cyclists after being threatened by riders at the back of the ride.
Mr Neis was travelling with his 15-year-old son in his car and Mr Albino said the instinct to protect his son may have motivated Mr Neis' actions.
According to reports in Brazilian newspaper Zero Hour, Mr Neis' son said that a number of cyclists had been banging on the sides of the Golf and his father had driven away at speed to get away from those people.
Mr Albino said Mr Neis would fully cooperate with any police investigation on the incident.
It is hard to imagine a situation in which a driver would have no option but to take the kind of action seen in the video. Dozens of clearly peaceful, unsuspecting riders are mowed down from behind. Some riders had noted the driver's license plate number before he accelerated through the crowd, because he was already driving aggressively.
This is the kind of incident that everyone who has regularly ridden a bike fears -- that a driver, agitated because they can't get where they're going at top speed, will some day choose to use their car as a deadly weapon.
It happened in Los Angeles back in 2008, when a doctor named Christopher Thompson, driving his car, got into an argument with a pair of cyclists on Mandeville Canyon Road because they were blocking his way. After honking at them and exchanging words, Thompson accelerated to get in front of them, then braked suddenly, causing one of the riders to go through his rear windshield. The other crashed. Again, amazingly, no one was killed, although the rider who went through the window had severe facial injuries. In what was seen as a victory for bicyclists' right to share the road, Thompson got a five-year sentence.
We'll continue to follow developments in the Brazilian Critical Mass case. It will be interesting to see what kind of a reception the "self-defense" approach gets, especially because the video is so terribly compelling.
Last week I wrote a post asking the question, "Why do people in cars hate people on bikes so much?"
On Friday night in Porto Alegre, Brazil, there was a horrific manifestation of the type of rage I was referring to.
During a peaceful Critical Mass ride on the city's streets, a driver suddenly accelerated through the middle of the crowd at high speed. Riders piled up on the car's hood before being thrown to the pavement. Amazingly, no one was killed. Eight people were taken to the hospital.
If you choose to do so, you can watch graphic video of the incident and its aftermath here, with English subtitles. But PLEASE BE WARNED, it is very upsetting. That's why we decided not to embed the video here. I watched it so you don't have to.
According to the blog of the ride's organizers, which I am reading with the help of Google Translate, the driver is claiming he felt threatened by the group and was acting in self-defense.
From the Going Going Bike blog:
The driver has been named locally as Richard Neis, a 47-year-old resident of Porte Alegre. A statement made by Mr Neis' lawyer, Luis Fernando Coimbra Albino, contends that Mr Neis ploughed through the cyclists after being threatened by riders at the back of the ride.
Mr Neis was travelling with his 15-year-old son in his car and Mr Albino said the instinct to protect his son may have motivated Mr Neis' actions.
According to reports in Brazilian newspaper Zero Hour, Mr Neis' son said that a number of cyclists had been banging on the sides of the Golf and his father had driven away at speed to get away from those people.
Mr Albino said Mr Neis would fully cooperate with any police investigation on the incident.
It is hard to imagine a situation in which a driver would have no option but to take the kind of action seen in the video. Dozens of clearly peaceful, unsuspecting riders are mowed down from behind. Some riders had noted the driver's license plate number before he accelerated through the crowd, because he was already driving aggressively.
This is the kind of incident that everyone who has regularly ridden a bike fears -- that a driver, agitated because they can't get where they're going at top speed, will some day choose to use their car as a deadly weapon.
It happened in Los Angeles back in 2008, when a doctor named Christopher Thompson, driving his car, got into an argument with a pair of cyclists on Mandeville Canyon Road because they were blocking his way. After honking at them and exchanging words, Thompson accelerated to get in front of them, then braked suddenly, causing one of the riders to go through his rear windshield. The other crashed. Again, amazingly, no one was killed, although the rider who went through the window had severe facial injuries. In what was seen as a victory for bicyclists' right to share the road, Thompson got a five-year sentence.
We'll continue to follow developments in the Brazilian Critical Mass case. It will be interesting to see what kind of a reception the "self-defense" approach gets, especially because the video is so terribly compelling.
BiknBen
Well-Known Member
Yep. These rides occasionally balance on a fine line between peaceful demonstration and lawless display of defiance. One pissed off driver, one overreacting cyclist, and the event goes into a downward spiral.
These rides take place in cities all over the world so this is the exception. OTOH, as Soundz points out, you can find plenty of examples of Crit-Mass gone bad.
The one thing that has always turned me off about Crit-Mass is that you have a collective group of cyclist that are all there for different reasons. The organizer is genuinely trying promote cycling awareness. OTOH, there are always a number of riders that show up that are ready to start trouble. They may claim that they are not looking for trouble but when it arrives they sure do act prepared. 🙄
So in this incident in Brazil, the riders at the back get into it with a motorist. That motorist feels threatened and decides his only course of action is to step on the gas and get out of there. If I was there, I'd find those riders and kick their asses.
Keroberos
Member
I hate Critical Mass with a passion, but that was abit excess.
MST.ESQ
New Member
Per Yahoo News...
Driver accused of hitting Brazil cyclists jailed
ShareretweetEmailPrint– Wed Mar 2, 10:16 am ET
SAO PAULO – The motorist accused of running down dozens of bike-riding activists in southern Brazil, injuring at least 40 people, has been detained, police said Wednesday.
A police statement says Ricardo Jose Neis was arrested in the city of Porto Alegre after a judge ordered his preventive detention. Prosecutors say they are considering charges of attempted homicide.
Under Brazilian law, suspects are not charged until police finish their investigation, which could take up to 30 days.
Neis is accused of speeding through a pack of more than 100 cyclists taking part in a Critical Mass ride Friday in Porto Alegre. Authorities say 40 riders suffered injuries including cuts and broken bones, though nobody was killed.
Neis' attorney, Luis Fernando Coimbra, has said that the cyclists were beating on his client's car and threatening him, and he acted in self defense.
However, people who took part in the ride deny anyone threatened Neis, and the lead police investigator in the case, Gilberto Montenegro, has called the suspect's story "fanciful."
Critical Mass is a movement that promotes bicycles as a means of transportation.
Driver accused of hitting Brazil cyclists jailed
ShareretweetEmailPrint– Wed Mar 2, 10:16 am ET
SAO PAULO – The motorist accused of running down dozens of bike-riding activists in southern Brazil, injuring at least 40 people, has been detained, police said Wednesday.
A police statement says Ricardo Jose Neis was arrested in the city of Porto Alegre after a judge ordered his preventive detention. Prosecutors say they are considering charges of attempted homicide.
Under Brazilian law, suspects are not charged until police finish their investigation, which could take up to 30 days.
Neis is accused of speeding through a pack of more than 100 cyclists taking part in a Critical Mass ride Friday in Porto Alegre. Authorities say 40 riders suffered injuries including cuts and broken bones, though nobody was killed.
Neis' attorney, Luis Fernando Coimbra, has said that the cyclists were beating on his client's car and threatening him, and he acted in self defense.
However, people who took part in the ride deny anyone threatened Neis, and the lead police investigator in the case, Gilberto Montenegro, has called the suspect's story "fanciful."
Critical Mass is a movement that promotes bicycles as a means of transportation.