Road rage driver convcited of assaulting two cyclists who were off-duty police officers

[[[[[ No, the term "Road-rage" is a copout. It off-loads responsibility from the driver, and partially blames the "inevitable"---be it traffic, other road-users, delays, and so on. What causes fights outside pubs? Why, it's PUB-RAGE, of course...could happen to anyone, couldn't it? Get over it!
While walking, at age 17, I accidentally brushed shoulders with a geezer bigger than me, and 10 years older, and he chinned me hard enough to semi-KO me, and when my head cleared he'd disappeared. Was he entirely to blame? No! Clearly a simple case of PAVEMENT-RAGE, mitigated by the fact that "the walkway was very busy, m'lud", (or Your Honour, or whatever we're supposed to call ya), "and anyway my client had just lost 700 quid on the gee-gees and was in a bad bad mood that day, your Worship".
"Road-rage" attack? No---just unprovoked street violence, in 9 cases out of 10. The Press and courts need to start calling it what it is.
P.R.

"...not the most serious of incidents..." says the defence.

Well WHAT did he DO , that was MORE SERIOUS ?

Sounds like that was the 1st incident of many , for THAT DAY !

Knock a Cyclist OFF their bike with a passenger on board in Austria , then YOU have NO CHANCE ! They can even try to claim that the damage was done to their vehicle whilst trying to get their ID Docs to take to the Polizei !

Video Camera rolling ALL the time , is NOW the ONLY Solution for Cyclists !

Fully agree with this POV......... " Cars as weapons with bullies behind the wheel."

Tony at 18.08 says " So passing with only two or three feet to spare is now considered assault. That's great news for cyclists and bad news for lots of motorists." IN the EU it is generally understood that 1 1/2M ( 5ft ) , is the SAFE PASS LAW ! Of course there are some that consider scraping you off the Pavement as a Safe Pass ! That seems to be what the mongrels told the Polizei on the 10th August , B UT , they did not get out of their killing machine !

The CyclingRooster has expressed my sentiments , BUT , why should i be deprived of MY WAY of LIFE , because there are some that were spawned by their parents , BY Ooops !

The suggestion that the prosecution only occurred because police were victims a supposed to non-police has to be balanced against -
There were three witness/victims v one accused.
Two of those witnesses are (should be) better than the public at presenting their evidence and should be more confident witnesses in court.
Better evidence, less grey area = better chance of conviction. That's just how it is.

I totally agree with banzicyclist. Indeed I am beginning to think that as a veteran (69yr old) cyclist that I should give up quietly and be able to sleep at night - and occasionally during the day. My reasoning is so that motorists like the subject of this report can continue with their dangerous,stupid and totally selfish attitude towards others without feeling in the slightest bit guilty about downing a cyclist and especially if the cyclists are balmy enough to believe that the road is for everyone and not just for those with the biggest fists and or 'killing machine.

Unblemished driving record my arse! using a mobile phone, presumably while driving his truck. And with a disposition towards other people like an American pit bull if they dare to impinge on his absolute right, as a road tax paying motorist, to drive how the hell he likes!

Next he'll be interviewed on Top Gear for sympathy about how he has been victimised by the cycling mafia..... I'm starting to feel sorry for the bastard already.... NOT!

You couldn't make it up

What a nobber.

"also admitted assaulting Constable McMahon due to the fear of injury caused to the latter by passing him with only two or three feet to spare"

Hmm, this is interesting, using assault complaints against punishment passers. Would this work at all?

I was always told that one of the best ways of defusing a situation on the road, if it comes down to it, is just to look very serious and say "Is there a problem, sir?" in your best "dixon of dock green" style voice. People just have this moment, where they worry that maybe you *are* a policeman.

I've thought about this before, if officers actually lycra'ed up rode bikes, particularly in some of the more notorious areas of major cities, I am fairly positive they would experience some of the crap routinely doled out to cyclists by car drivers.

The flip side is that car drivers might get the message, that if you drive like an idiot with scant regard, you never know, that cyclist might just be an on duty police officer.

There are angry cyclists as shown in many comments on articles on road. There are angry car drivers, lorry drivers taxi drivers etc. The thing is the proportions of angry vehicle users is probably very similar across all vehicles. The difference is the size of the vehicle giving angry road users a 'weapon'.

Also there are many lorry drivers in northern Ireland who have done well during the recession, if his business went bust its his fault.

I've cycled many times with the bann wheelers. Their end of July sportive is well run and they are very welcoming on Sunday runs. I've never heard them called the pealers. Or for that matter seen them three abreast.

This just really does go to show that 'one should never judge a book by the cover'.
This actually applies in many many situations where an automotive aggressor has pre-judge a cyclist before setting about them with either or both - verbal abuse or a physical attack.

to quote "Mr McManus said: “This was a momentary outburst of bad temper and out of character,” adding that Warrington’s haulage firm had gone out of business due to the recession".

If this was his own business I wonder what his attitude towards his clients was and whether outbursts had contributed to a steady drain of clients,his income and eventually his business.

come on now, this was Fermanagh, Ulster, and 3 off duty cops cycling, had it been me and my chums i doubt they would have bothered even to ring the guy, this is my experience, that said, they are out there.. cycling peelers, many have taken advantage of a special PSNI ride to work type scheme where they are allowed to spend 2k, i know, i see their machines.. Some 90 mls away our local town club is jokingly called the Bann Peelers, not Wheelers, there being so many cops cycling, and when on a sunday i try to drive pass them on a local wide road they perhaps not having been schooled in peleton manners are often found 3 abreast.. Glad the offender met his match, had he met me or the guys he would have been seeking a dental visit.. he tripped officer!!

Trivialising the Holocaust ? Classy and tasteful.

What a wondeful precedent, passing cyclists with 2-3 feet to spare and acting in an agitated manner gets a 2 month ban and 400 quid fine.
We should now start to see some stronger punishments for more serious incidents of road rage.

So passing with only two or three feet to spare is now considered assault. That's great news for cyclists and bad news for lots of motorists.

Only two months ban?

The off-duty police officer described in the first paragraph must have been under cover as two cyclists

Cars as weapons with bullies behind the wheel.

"...and had an unblemished driving record other than receiving points on his licence for not wearing a seat belt and using a mobile phone."

So not an unblemished driving record then ?

Another fucking dangerous cunt still on the roads. The problem with driving bans is that the kind of people who are going to get them are also the kind of people who don't give a shit about driving bans...see many previous incidents for proof.

On a related but unconnected rant...why has the fuckwitometer suddenly risen today amongst pedestrians and drivers? Among a few other things this morning, I was nearly side swiped at a very open and clear junction in good light (I was fully traffic light-compliant) and almost hit a woman who stepped into a red-man-lit pedestrian crossing, looking away from the traffic whilst on her phone...some people...

Yeah I can accept that you can get away with killing people by driving too fast when you can't see, there should be no punishment for that of course, but pushing a policeman's arm is just going too far!

When are sentences for this kind of outrageous act going to get tougher?! I mean this guy PUSHED A POLICEMAN'S ARM AWAY and all he got was a little fine and a ban....

"...not the most serious of incidents..." says the defence. I wonder how he'd enjoy being buzzed at close range by a fast moving 4X4, and by a driver who then stopped and got out to threaten him. This kind of thing is enough to put 99% of people right off cycling, and that's the bigger picture.

It's true though, hard to imagine this conviction if they hadn't been policemen.