Cyclist and Bob Marley fan feud in parking lot
A cyclist told police that an unknown woman wearing a Bob Marley shirt in a silver BMW injured his nose with her car door after a road rage incident in a convenience store parking lot in Nicholson last week.
The cyclist said he was attempting to make a left turn out of the parking lot using all the proper signals to alert other motorists of his turn, when a silver BMW tried to leave the driveway of the parking lot almost hitting him, a Jackson County Sheriff’s Office incident report states.
The complainant said aloud, “You’re lucky that you didn’t hit me,” to which the female driver of the BMW allegedly said something along the lines of… “get out of the (expletive) way” and drove off.
The complainant stayed in the parking lot, leaning his bicycle along the outside wall at the front of the business. He said the silver BMW left, but then returned several moments later. The driver rolled down the window and then said, “Let me tell you something, you bicyclists need to have respect for other people on the road.”
The complainant said that in response that he walked up to her car, explaining to her that by law, he has every right to ride his bike and that he knows the laws on such and he was following them at the same time, the report states. He said that he was leaning on her door and he was telling her to read the laws on bicycles when she opened her car door abruptly, causing it to hit the complainant on the nose.
The deputy taking the report wrote that the complainant’s nose “was beginning to swell and turn purple on the bridge of his nose and around his right eye.”
The female left the scene heading toward Jefferson on Brockton Road. She was described as approximately 45-50 years of age with blond hair.
The complainant took down her tag number and the deputy traced it to a 2002 silver BMW returning to a Banks County woman. The deputy notified Jefferson and Commerce police departments to be on the lookout for the vehicle.
The complainant additionally requested an ambulance fearing his nose may be broken, but after it arrived, he refused treatment and called for a family member to drive him home.
The complainant said aloud, “You’re lucky that you didn’t hit me,” to which the female driver of the BMW allegedly said something along the lines of… “get out of the (expletive) way” and drove off.
The complainant stayed in the parking lot, leaning his bicycle along the outside wall at the front of the business. He said the silver BMW left, but then returned several moments later. The driver rolled down the window and then said, “Let me tell you something, you bicyclists need to have respect for other people on the road.”
The complainant said that in response that he walked up to her car, explaining to her that by law, he has every right to ride his bike and that he knows the laws on such and he was following them at the same time, the report states. He said that he was leaning on her door and he was telling her to read the laws on bicycles when she opened her car door abruptly, causing it to hit the complainant on the nose.
The deputy taking the report wrote that the complainant’s nose “was beginning to swell and turn purple on the bridge of his nose and around his right eye.”
The female left the scene heading toward Jefferson on Brockton Road. She was described as approximately 45-50 years of age with blond hair.
The complainant took down her tag number and the deputy traced it to a 2002 silver BMW returning to a Banks County woman. The deputy notified Jefferson and Commerce police departments to be on the lookout for the vehicle.
The complainant additionally requested an ambulance fearing his nose may be broken, but after it arrived, he refused treatment and called for a family member to drive him home.
I ride my road bike on the road ......duh
i ride my harley to work and etc ....duh
its not like this guy was on the interstate , he was on a side street in the country .....
People are too busy talking on the phone and texting and a hurry too get home .....
Life is too short , when you are riding people pull right out in front of you , pass on hills , pass on double lines , they act like you do not exist .
radical has nothing to do with it .
Violence against cyclists and pedestrians is rampant in Georgia. Cyclists have the same rights as any other vehicle and motorists are obligated by law to treat them the same. I'll never understand why some people are so offended and disgusted by cyclists. Maybe it's because we look better in spandex than they do.
Bicyclists come from many different disciplines, but anyone of a good fitness level who goes on a ride 20-100 miles will quickly discover the need for the specific shorts because regular ones will literally "rub you the wrong way".
The form fitting (and padded inside) shorts are for comfort, not an attempt at a fashion statement. The bright tops are so one can be seen by drivers like this crazy woman in the article.
It's no different than a deer hunter wearing the appropriate gear for his sport.
I happen to be both an avid road bicyclist, and an avid deer hunter - and I am far from alone.
I imagine that fact probably blows quite a few closed/narrow minds, but to an all-around outdoors man like me it is simply a matter of using the right tools for the trade.
My Harley is Loud .......because if you do not see me maybe for the sake of God you will hear me.......
I know the cyclist. He's a good guy who grew up here. She made direct threats to his life and to all cyclists on the roads. She should be behind bars, or really in a mental institution.
It is sickening to know people with road rage like this woman are out on public streets amongst good, decent people.
As far as the politics of bicycles and cars: The roads are paid for by gasoline taxes. Bicycles should be regulated like cars and taxed and bicycle lanes built for them. They don't belong on the road together. It's simple physics. They're too slow.
Further to the person who is complaining about "cyclists bringing it on themselves". Sure, there are a few cyclists out there who practice bad judgement, or who don't follow the laws. But for every one of those people there are plenty of cyclists who always do follow the law. Nothing in the article suggests that the victim broke any laws or was cycling irresponsibly. Everyone pays taxes to use the road; that includes cyclists. They have as much right by law to share the road as motorists. And just FYI, look up the law - cyclists can legally ride two to a lane. It is perfectly legal. They don't have to get over for a motorist. You are supposed to treat them just like any other vehicle.
I find it appalling that you would suggest that someone "brings it on themselves" to be assaulted just because they dared to get on a bike and ride it. People like you two are what is wrong with the world.