You are admitting on a public forum that you deliberately drive at vulnerable road users if their riding displeases you? Do you also throw bricks at speeding cars?
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Compensation Culture | Page 2 | Ducati Forum
That's a remarkable coincidence. Leaving the casual racism aside, it's another impact from the rear, another cyclist, and Alex claims the cyclist was on the phone. That was a year ago. Alex Mitchell is unlucky, or a sociopath.
i didn't know that the post above was in the context of the video that is becoming "famous" in cycling forums. here's my take on the matter
there are 2 traffic conditions in my city: really bad and really really bad. commuters here have to deal with it on a daily basis when going to work or just pick up some groceries. it is not uncommon that road rage is brewing about between road users resulting to altercations. other than a ducati owner, i am also a mountainbiker as well as road cyclist and i compete locally in both cycling disciplines so i take the perspective of both a cyclist and a motorist. during race season, i train mostly on public roads. many a times i've been cut off by motorists, primarily due to their bad driving. but i've never heard from the local cycling community of a motorist deliberately hitting a cyclist with his vehicle for whatever reason. what prompted such behavior is beyond me. was it vigilante attitude to punish erring(?) road users because the police is not doing their job? was it a bully on a big machine taking a swat at a much older, mild-mannered person on a tiny bicycle? a normal person's logic dictates that as motorist, you should steer clear and avoid someone on the road if you perceive them to be a potential road risk. this clearly was not the case with a member here who owns that video
my apologies but frankly as a human being, i'm appalled by the arrogance, vigilantism and total disregard for another human's well being: deliberately hitting a cyclist with his superior machine; filming it; posting the video on the internet, bragging about it; and, posting the comment above like it was just some funny anecdote (equating hurting other people with mistakenly reversing the polarity of his battery leads... just another day at the garage, funny enough to share)... and getting away with it to boot. equally repulsive is the cowardice exhibited with attempts to delete after the negative cyber-sensation the video received. as a cyclist, i'm horrified that there are people like these in the gene pool that i might get to encounter on the road one day and hurt me. and as a ducati owner, i'm deeply embarrassed that an unfortunate incident like this involves a fellow owner as the antagonist. i don't know the guy personally and i'm sure he is a good fellow in other instances that his friends can vouch for. but the video, his cyber correspondence and his subsequent actions on the matter speak volumes of his character
sorry for the rant
Joined Mar 2013
3K Posts | 161+
Naples, IT
Kindly object, Monstard. My take:
The rider was wearing full clothing and a helmet, so he had no idea it was an older gentlemen, as it's being posited he was targeting someone older and weaker. All he saw was a man on a phone, on a bike.
To me, it's obvious he was attempting to frighten the rider - I think he had a number of video's on his channel where he goosed the throttle to get a distracted driver's attention. Only in this instance, he misjudged and made contact. Would any of you really purposely sacrifice your exotic and prized motorcycle to make a point? His demeanor was calm leading up to the contact.
No, it's his handling of the matter post-contact that is shameful. My instinct would have been to help the rider and apologize, regardless of fault, and settle the blame once safely off to the shoulder so traffic could resume. Posting the video and bragging about it was obviously in poor taste but, hey, the web is a cold *****- sometimes she bites you.
I get the feeling the attacks on him are coming from a very dedicated group of cyclists; cyclists that probably hate all motorized traffic in their city. I bet they don't mind seeing video posted of bikers getting tickets or in accidents. Avid cyclists in the States can get such an attitude of entitlement on our roads that they sometimes taunt you to hit them. And I'm speaking about rural, single-lane county roads in heavy traffic.
Finally, the cell phone use should be singled out. Anyone else almost been killed by someone talking or texting? If no, I have plenty of close calls to loan you. I'm constantly getting people's attention and giving them signs to put the device down and pay attention, though I do it in much more gentlemanly fashion.
I think Phantom will have learned his lesson. But how far will the digital lynch mob take it? Posting pictures of his personal life and license plate have the trappings of a bad final outcome.
The rider was wearing full clothing and a helmet, so he had no idea it was an older gentlemen, as it's being posited he was targeting someone older and weaker. All he saw was a man on a phone, on a bike.
To me, it's obvious he was attempting to frighten the rider - I think he had a number of video's on his channel where he goosed the throttle to get a distracted driver's attention. Only in this instance, he misjudged and made contact. Would any of you really purposely sacrifice your exotic and prized motorcycle to make a point? His demeanor was calm leading up to the contact.
No, it's his handling of the matter post-contact that is shameful. My instinct would have been to help the rider and apologize, regardless of fault, and settle the blame once safely off to the shoulder so traffic could resume. Posting the video and bragging about it was obviously in poor taste but, hey, the web is a cold *****- sometimes she bites you.
I get the feeling the attacks on him are coming from a very dedicated group of cyclists; cyclists that probably hate all motorized traffic in their city. I bet they don't mind seeing video posted of bikers getting tickets or in accidents. Avid cyclists in the States can get such an attitude of entitlement on our roads that they sometimes taunt you to hit them. And I'm speaking about rural, single-lane county roads in heavy traffic.
Finally, the cell phone use should be singled out. Anyone else almost been killed by someone talking or texting? If no, I have plenty of close calls to loan you. I'm constantly getting people's attention and giving them signs to put the device down and pay attention, though I do it in much more gentlemanly fashion.
I think Phantom will have learned his lesson. But how far will the digital lynch mob take it? Posting pictures of his personal life and license plate have the trappings of a bad final outcome.
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First, yes, I'm a cyclist who has seen this video. I am also a car driver and an ex-motorcyclist (many years ago).
And even if not that, it can be frightening and spoil the enjoyment of a journey. Even if the cyclist has done something wrong (which this chap had not), that doesn't make it right to take retribution on the roads into your own hands.
It is not illegal for cyclists to use a mobile. Unwise, yes, but not illegal.
And surely you can see a difference between the driver of over a tonne of metal allowing themselves to be distracted by phone use, and the rider of a few kilograms of bike. In any accident resulting from mobile phone use* the cyclist is going to come off worst.
*the phone use was not the cause of this accident - the video clearly shows him cycling in a straight line until the point at which the motorcycle clipped him.
Are you trying to say that this is acceptable? Close passes and unexpected noises (like deliberate throttle blips, horns etc) can make a cyclist twitch - at the wrong moment this can cause them to swerve, fall off etc.
And even if not that, it can be frightening and spoil the enjoyment of a journey. Even if the cyclist has done something wrong (which this chap had not), that doesn't make it right to take retribution on the roads into your own hands.
Driver or cyclist? The effect of 'getting attention' in this way can be very different.
He should never be getting close enough to a cyclist (or any other vehicle) such that a misjudgement results in contact.
Thus removing any possible 'heat of the moment' excuse. This makes it worse, to my mind.
It is not illegal for cyclists to use a mobile. Unwise, yes, but not illegal.
And surely you can see a difference between the driver of over a tonne of metal allowing themselves to be distracted by phone use, and the rider of a few kilograms of bike. In any accident resulting from mobile phone use* the cyclist is going to come off worst.
*the phone use was not the cause of this accident - the video clearly shows him cycling in a straight line until the point at which the motorcycle clipped him.
I'm afraid that I have to disagree with you. He has admitted to two other aggressive acts. In one he bragged about using a cyclist to adjust his mirror and in the other he makes a racist defense of another incident with a cyclist. Considering his flawed morality displayed by posting this incriminating video and expecting support, I would have no doubt that he regularly engages in aggressive and threatening behaviour while on the road.
I'll be up front about my credentials. I joined this forum with the sole purpose of replying to this thread. I have had no previous affiliation. I ride a Honda Deauville and I cycle. I also drive a white van and a car. I don't believe that I am particularly biased towards any class of road user.
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Joined Mar 2013
3K Posts | 161+
Naples, IT
At what point did I say it was acceptable? It's pretty clear that I, nor anyone else on this forum, did at any time endorsed this behavior. I just did my best to break it down for the most probable set of circumstances, instead of grabbing a pitch fork and jumping on the mob-mentality train.
Your mobile phone use comment is flawed. Using your logic, riding a motorcycle and using a cell would be smarter than doing so while driving a large automobile. But we don't (excluding hands-free users). Why? Because we know we have to be extra vigilant for all the distracted car/truck operators that could easily kill us. In a city like yours, as your gross tonnage goes down, the burden of responsibility increases. A bicycle is at the bottom of the urban vehicle food chain and because of this, in my opinion, has to worry about all the other vehicles trying to kill him. Occupying one riding arm, your scan and attention using a phone should be illegal, as it is certainly stupid.
Look what you guys have done to this forum. Can't you just crucify him privately or on another forum? We're just guys that like our Ducati's. You saw an almost immediate negative reaction from all that commented when he posted it. So, can you kindly take the fight somewhere else. We didn't condone or protect him in anyway.
It read as implied acceptance to me, glad to hear it is not.
Not smarter on a bike than in a car, just probably less damaging to other road users if it leads to you causing an accident. I did say cycling while phoning was unwise.
I'll leave it there.
Look at what we've done to this forum? PhantomFighter chose this forum, not any of us who have joined to comment, blame him. It's a single thread, for crying out loud. Ignore it.
hi, gatdammit. no worries from me here and thank you for your comment. i debated on just sending you a PM but i also wanted the rest to know that i do not favor the mob-mentality things are turning out to be nor my intention to tarnish this forum with my personal gripes concerning a misdeed. i do not wish to "fan the flame", so to speak. it was a fellow member's ignorance that did it, posting a detestable video and bragged about it here like he did something heroically funny, like it was "cool stuff". i believe some policing in the forum is in order, lest we (ducati owners) be stereotyped in the worst possible way. i understand moderators can not watch every single post 24/7 because they also have day jobs and their personal lives and watch the NBA or the NFL. but i hope this issue come to their attention and take necessary action if just to send a message that we are good guys and the action of one sick ducati owner is not representative of the rest of us. i also truly believe that this forum should ONLY be about the bike that we love. not about hateful stuff or anything else
i can see from both sides of the fence. all my cycling buddies are motorists too, some of them own fancy bikes and cars, still a handful are ducati owners and belong to groups such as bmw society, desmo owners club, land rover nuts, etc. we spend as much time cycling as much as riding our favorite motorized toys. so it is not true (at least for our part) that we wish ill against people in motorized transports. i hope this issue doesn't turn out to be an "us against them" kind of thing because that would really be unfortunate
i share your suspicion that most of the hateful stuff posted here (other than my own) are from people who just joined in just to be part of the mob. i admire one poster who even admitted it in his post (not the mob part). i can understand their grief because they could easily have been the victim. when not riding my bike, i take my wife and 2 teenage sons cycling on weekends. many a times we have to traverse public roads just to get to a park safe for cycling. while i impress on my boys the danger of celfons and getting distracted and doing wheelies on busy streets, teenage kids have a tendency to sneak one up on you. i cringe at the thought that there are bikers out there like our friend here, lurking and waiting to strike at first "target of opportunity" he sees. God forbid. cycling on our roads is sort of Darwin's theory of evolution in progress... dangerous enough even without our predator on a ducati
my apologies if i offended anyone with my posts. i recommend that we all go back to regular programming and put this behind us. from the cycling forums, i gather the police have already been notified of the incident so let's just allow justice take its due course. mods should close down this thread since the fellow who started this has already made it his business to shut down the links to all the videos that had him start this thread anyway. if not, then i think we should just let it die a natural death... this thread, i mean, not the guy who started this. to those who just joined in, you're welcome to stay as long as you buy a hyperstrada
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