Earlier this week in Bill Torpy at Large, we brought you the story of a cyclist who, threatened by a drunk driver, punched out his aggressor and held him until the cops could get there.
It doesn’t always work out that way in the on-and-off war of cyclists vs. motorists. Where Mike Smith, the guy in the earlier story, said he did nothing to provoke the driver, Daniel Banks concedes that he shouted an unwise epithet at a driver who came up too close behind him and then blew his horn. First somebody threw a bottle at Banks. Then the driver stopped, got out and punched the cyclist so hard in the face that he was out cold for 10 minutes.
It’s dangerous out there for bike riders. Ask Mick Chong, who was in a coma for three weeks after a collision with a car.
And the attitudes are often a little scary. This was fairly typical of the comments that accompanied the first article:
“Put a little spandex on a guy and he gets all tough. One day these idiots on bicycles are going to learn a lesson. Share the road and obey the rules or wind up a hood ornament.”
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