CCTV cameras in Chicago have captured the moment a driver high-fived a friend shortly after dooring a cyclist.
According to Chicagoist, the incident happened on the city’s Milwaukee Avenue on Monday, but despite the footage, the Chicago Police Department failed to cite the driver.
While the CPD has no record of a report being filed, an officer did attend the scene according to attorney Jim Freeman, who is acting for the rider – although she did tell the cyclist “she could give him a ticket for not riding his bicycle in a bicycle lane.”
However, the lawyer added that there is not an fact a bike lane at the location in question, but ‘sharrows’ – painted arrows in the road that are designed to tell motorists they need to share the space with bike riders, but which are much criticised by cycling campaigners.
Yasmeen Schuller, who runs cycling forum The Chainlink, said:
“Hard to look at this and not be upset by so many aspects: the cyclist could have been run over after being doored.
“The driver high-fived knowing she just got away with something illegal that sent someone to the hospital.
“And the CPD supported it, not doing their job capturing all of the information.”
15 thoughts on “Video: Driver high-fives friend after dooring cyclist”
Nothing a bag of sugar in the
Nothing a bag of sugar in the tank won’t put right.
unconstituted wrote:
No, I’m feeling a bit more militant than that right now.
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/turnpike-lane-shooting-teenager-shot-in-the-head-after-argument-with-cyclist-a3333721.html
motorist argues with cyclist, motorist get shot in the fucking face, just to redress the balance a little bit.
Housecathst wrote:
Quite partial to shooting doorers in the face myself.
Like my gran used to say, ‘when life gives you lemons, run a fuckin’ drive-by on that bitch-ass lemon stall’.
@Legalfun You should see the state of cycle lanes in the States, and just inner city riding in general. It’s virtually impossible to ride around a door’s width from cars. People need to look before they open their doors. Has to be their responsibility entirely.
Housecathst wrote:
Now I’d never shot or hurt someone – and I’ve no clue of what happened in that case, but sometimes I’m feeling like this could be self-defense.
I had a few drivers pretty much trying to kill me on purpose by attempting to run me over for no good reason (generally they try to run over all the other cyclists, too). Shouldn’t I be able to shoot them? Isn’t it the same as someone pointing a gun at me?
I’m nearly certain most non-cyclists would argue its “an accident” and its not about “self-defense”. But that’s fucked up. It totally is self-defense.
Housecathst wrote:
If only this was a “cyclist” indulging in revenge… no, this was one of those twerps you see riding around London on a BMX that’s three sizes too small, bunnyhopping on and off the pavement and generally riding as though they’re immortal. Which they might well feel if they’re packing a shooter.
srchar wrote:
yeah, I was being flippant, I’m under no allusion that he was wearing Rapha kit and riding a dogma. (If thats what makes a ‘cyclist’)
But its still a person on a bike shooting a motorist in the face. Which a small part of me thinks redress the balance just a little with killers in cars seeing as the courts give us zero justice.
srchar wrote:
We are cyclists and our bikes are exactly the right size.
I don’t carry a gun though.
unconstituted wrote:
How would you know which police car to put it in?
Cyclist should have used the
Cyclist should have used the non-existant cycle lane… pathetic excuse.
The only thing the cyclist did wrong was to ride too close in the first place
Only in America…….or
Only in America…….or maybe everywhere.
American police do seem particulary stupid though, I can’t imagine many of them making the cut in the UK. I go on a mainly american forum and some of the stories I read about police abuse of power and stupidity would literally never happen over here.
Yorkshire wallet wrote:
Every town, county and even transport system and university have their own police forces. So some are really good, well funded, well trained etc, and others are mall cops with actual authority. Scary as heck
Yorkshire wallet wrote:
I was stopped in New Hampshire a few years ago and didn’t have my license/passport on me. This copy spent nearly an hour trying to get information on me from Interpol! He seemed most perturbed that they had no record of me! Eventually he got hold of my brother-in-law (who is a copy in the same State) who had to point out to this cretin that it was probably a good sign that Interpol had no record of me, not have committed any internationally recognised crimes and all that! He let me go.
Yorkshire wallet wrote:
American police do seem particulary stupid though, I can’t imagine many of them making the cut in the UK. — Yorkshire wallet
This was not driven by police stupidity, but by institutionalised paolice anti-cyclibng bias. We in the UK are “policed” primarily by cops who are easily the equal of their American cousins at this kind of crap. In many locations, UK police bike-hatred is the finest in the world.
Let’s see if they’re high
Let’s see if they’re high-fiving when the civil suit gets filed.
velo-nh wrote:
Civil case is an uphill trudge when the offender wasn’t even cited. Might have to try and get and get a judge to override the policeman’s mistake first – good luck with that.