Critical Mass Attack in Brazil

[steve]

The footage captures the moment a motorist decides to mow down dozens of cyclists, it is extremely fortunate that no cyclists or bystanders were killed.

Has anyone here experienced similar acts of aggression while on a group ride or CM event?

 

[steve]

Apparently no deaths, 2 riders are in a critical condition.

 

[swampy1970]

Run red lights all night like a herd of retarded leemings and **** everyone off by seemingly being above the law and hogging the road - it was only a matter of time before this happened right? I'm surprised it didn't happen in the US first.

Shocker. Next on Channel 7 evening news, a village located halfway up an active volcano gets wiped out by a pyroclastic flow.

 

[steve]

Originally Posted by swampy1970 .

Run red lights all night like a herd of retarded leemings and **** everyone off by seemingly being above the law and hogging the road - it was only a matter of time before this happened right? I'm surprised it didn't happen in the US first.

Shocker. Next on Channel 7 evening news, a village located halfway up an active volcano gets wiped out by a pyroclastic flow.

I don't agree with the way they choose to protest. Just because you see a fool (or group) acting like an idiot, doesn't give you the right to try to kill them. The driver should have taken a deep breath then completed a u-turn and proceed to go around the block. He could have even called in a cheeky complaint to the cops while he was detouring around the block /img/vbsmilies/smilies/ROTF.gif

Respect is a two way street IMO.

 

[swampy1970]

Originally Posted by steve .



I don't agree with the way they choose to protest. Just because you see a fool (or group) acting like an idiot, doesn't give you the right to try to kill them. The driver should have taken a deep breath then completed a u-turn and proceed to go around the block. He could have even called in a cheeky complaint to the cops while he was detouring around the block /img/vbsmilies/smilies/ROTF.gif

Respect is a two way street IMO.

Critical Mass rides are not really protests and started out as rides to "assert" cyclists rights. Go take a look at what goes on - it's basically just a "jolly" where they chose to ride anywhere they like. The cops in SF just stand there looking powerless to do anything as the just bring traffic to a grinding halt as the completely ignore stop signs and traffic lights en masse... That's not asserting rights, that's just breaking the law.

Respect? These folks do nothing to earn respect for cyclists. In the general San Francisco Bay Area, there used to be a CM ride in Sacramento the first Friday of the month, one in Berekeley the second Friday, two more - one in Oakland and one in Marin on the third Friday and the final one of the month in San Francisco itself on the 4th Friday of each month. Given than the rides for the last 3 weeks of each month are within about 15 miles of each other it gets a little "overkill" and ends up just irking a mass of motorists in a very short space of time. A constant rotation of fun every Friday night and it wasn't uncommon to see fashionably dumpy looking bikes on the back of equally trendy smog poluting cars cutting up everyone on the freeway so they could go "riding."

I'm not saying that I agree with what that driver did, I don't but I was just saying I wasn't surprised that it happened. Poke a big man with a big stick and don't be too surprised if he lashes out and hands out a whooping from time to time. Well, that was one big whooping. The law is one thing - a bike Vs 3,000+lb car is another.

 

[InfinityMPG]

That is fauking horrible. That wasn't even just a couple nudges, that was death mobile. What I find particularly disturbing is that this car did not even use a horn. They just floored it. That says a lot. This person continued to speed through people even as they were on the hood of the car. That can be seen as real malice. Still, sadly, I agree that it is not at all surprising. Critical Mass is not the way to assert the rights of cyclists. It would be nice if CM could be more organized, with demonstrators who actually followed the laws while claiming the roads, but I don't think that will happen within its mob nature. It would be a different animal altogether. It does go without saying that plowing into a crowd - whatever the circumstance - is an unjustified and unacceptable act. People can get away with criminal acts in high stress situations, but I don't think that any judicial body would see the driver as being reasonably frustrated into violence, even with mention of CM's undertone of intentional disruption. http://www.theonion.com/articles/nation-somehow-shocked-by-human-nature-again,19170/

 

[steve]

Originally Posted by swampy1970 .

Respect? These folks do nothing to earn respect for cyclists.

Exactly - I'm just saying them breaking laws and pissing people off, doesn't give someone the right to decide plowing through 30-40 cyclists in his car is a reasonable thing to do.

 

[jpr95]

I've come across rude cyclists before. I was using a country road (in a vehicle), but a fairly busy one, as it was the only road straight south out of the small town I lived in at the time. On my way into town, I saw a moderate group of cyclists ahead of me, maybe a dozen, going the same direction, so of course I slowed down. The road does not have lanes marked, but it is a full two lanes wide (just no more than that). The cyclists were taking up all of the right lane, and enough of the oncoming lane that I couldn't get around. They didn't even budge after I honked several times. I had to drop a couple wheels off the road just to get around them. I don't know what came of it, but I reported them to the cops--as much for their sake as anything else. As evidenced by the video above, not everyone is as nice as I am. Jason

 

[swampy1970]

 
Exactly - I'm just saying them breaking laws and pissing people off, doesn't give someone the right to decide plowing through 30-40 cyclists in his car is a reasonable thing to do. 

Your right - There's nothing that justifies what that driver did, even the fact that there's nothing that justifies what Critical Mass rides get upto with regards to blatant disregards for the law when they ride. That it took so long for someone to do something like this against a Critical Mass ride is the only thing that surprises me. I've had run ins with riders on the San Francisco Critical Mass in the past... Ass hats the f**king lot of them.

 

[InfinityMPG]

Here are some updates on the attack:
http://www.baikbike.com/critical-mass-carnage-in-brazil/
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/03/07/brazil-critical-mass-bicycle-event-accident-or-homicide/


The short is that the driver, Ricardo Jose Neis (pictured), is facing attempted murder charges with intent. His attorney will argue that his actions were in self-defense following off-camera damage to his car, though witnesses will testify that Neis initiated contact.

The first link also quotes an expatriate who believes that nothing will come of this because of the endemic lawlessness of Brazil. If it were just another petty crime I might agree, but publicity changes things. I also don't agree with this expat saying that the cyclists were "wrong" because they were not "adult" enough to know that their demonstration could incite road rage. Even though we've discussed Critical Mass as not being the most organized form of petition for change, the initiating idea that a person should have to avoid a scenario altogether because someone could get mad is backwards thinking. Critical Mass certainly takes this risk and the danger is real, but saying that these riders are flat wrong for trying seems sensationalist to me. More updates expected as it has a big audience.

 

[ambal]

Originally Posted by InfinityMPG .

Here are some updates on the attack:



The short is that the driver, Ricardo Jose Neis (pictured), is facing attempted murder charges with intent. His attorney will argue that his actions were in self-defense following off-camera damage to his car, though witnesses will testify that Neis initiated contact.

Here is proof that you can't pick a psycho by his looks, he looks more like an accountant than someone who would purposefully drive through a bunch of cyclists.

 

[Aussie_Al]

that was shocking - its a miracle there was no deaths

 

[coneofsilence]

Originally Posted by InfinityMPG .