Cyclist assaulted by tour bus driver

A local cyclist wrote me this week about an incident that happened on Monday.

He was riding a bicycle in the Southeast direction on the Rock Creek Park Trail on the south side of the roadway circle at the John Ericsson National Memorial. A DC Trails Tour Bus was sitting bumper to bumper with another bus with its door swung open - blocking a portion of the trail. 

There were 2 men standing in front of the buses so I slowed and told them that they are in what is clearly marked for 10's of feet before their vehicles and directly in front of one of their doors, a 'NO PARKING OR STANDING AREA - TOW AWAY ZONE' and they they are further putting cyclists like me in danger by having the poorly lit and unmarked door open onto the trailway.  I do not know whether both those buses were DC Trails' but both men were dressed similarly - dark colored short sleeved shirts, dark pants, only one wore a leather vest.  They may have had name tags, but it was growing dark. 

They approached me quickly and as I was standing over my bike, facing them, they asked that I repeat myself.  I calmly began to and as I was repeating what I said, they spoke in loud voices using profanity (each was 4-5 inches taller and 40-60 pounds heavier than me - I'm 5'4" 140 lbs) and the man in the vest quickly took several steps towards me and bumped me hard with his shoulder, knocking me to the ground.  

He The victim stood up in a non-threatening manner, showing the palms of his hands, but

They continued to yell and I was lucky to see a female walker passing 5-7 feet from us on the trail.  I said "ma'am, would you please call the police and tell them they should come down here immediately?"  The man in the vest inched closer and closer to me, continuing his angry loud vocalizations and I could not back up without falling over my bicycle that was right at my heels.  The other man was standing just over my right shoulder and shouted encouragement for the man in the vest to 'just hit this fool.  PUNCH HIM!"

The woman quickly said "sir with the bicycle, take a breath and walk away."  I said "yes ma'am, I would like nothing more."  At this the man in the vest took a step back and as he and the other driver continued cursing I was able to pick up my bike.  I climbed on my bike and as I was about to begin to ride off they began to walk back to the buses and the driver in the vest, called over his shoulder like a child bullied on the playground, "next time, mess with someone YOUR OWN size!"

I rode the 10 or so minutes directly to my home and as soon as I was inside I called the US Park Police Washington DC 24 Hour Dispatch Number.

He's written DC Trails and NPS about the incident.

Comments

[TurbineBlade]

He bumped into the cyclist, then stood up with his palms up? What? So he was knocked down along with the cyclist?

[TurbineBlade]

Also - it's better to relay the story as accurately as possible. For example, when the cyclist says "I explained to them" I immediately being to translate this as "Hey, you guys are in the effin' way!". Just tell it like it is. It makes it more believable and doesn't in any way make them seem justified for assaulting you.

I honestly do believe that the cyclist was assuaulted, but the story is kind of fuzzy on details.

[washcycle]

I'm telling it to you as it was described to me. Why do you think he's lying?

[Wilbur]

(a) dont get into arguments on the road

(b) mount a contour camera on your handle bar if you are going to do things like this

(c) dont get into arguments on the road.

If there is a prob, and you care, take date, time, and bus number - and contact HQ. Any driver who does not care enough to drive correctly and safely, isnt gonna care enough to hear you mouthing off at them

[washcycle]

Also, you need to reread the part about standing up. I think it's obvious that the "He" being referred to is the one who got knocked to the ground. In reading you should always take the simplest explanation. But I think you know exactly what is going on and are just trying to waste my time. Thanks.

[charlie]

Again, if we had open carry, it wouldn't be a problem.

Sorry, Wash, that passage is a bit confusing and you have to read it twice to understand what happened.

Is he alleging assault or battery? I don't see assault. I do see battery, but the degree of bumping is of course open to interpretation. The "punch him" might be assault, I'd have to look up the DC law on point, but it might be confused by having two individuals.

Botton line: Don't be a dick and lecture your fellow road users.

[oboe]

Botton line: Don't be a dick and lecture your fellow road users.

I agree: let's all cower in silence and let the degenerates take over our society. Safer that way.

[charlie]

"I agree: let's all cower in silence and let the degenerates take over our society."

Hey, isn't Zimmerman back in jail. Who gave him an internet connection.

[Tom]

Charlie, are you saying he deserved this treatment because he was a "dick"?

If no one speaks up nothing gets done. Reporting this to the authorities is unfortunately not likely to produce any results.

[Jonathan Krall]

Wow. I see a lot of victim-blaming here. There was nothing in the report to indicate that the cyclist lost his temper or was being angry.

[gunny]

If we had open-carry, someone might be dead over a minor dispute about bus doors.

I agree with the right of self-defense and to carry a gun. But this is not a good incident to bring that up.

[Read Scott Martin]

The real indignity is the reason bus drivers think they are owed parking on the Mall. Why they aren't made to park at RFK stadium all day while their charges get around on public transit is beyond me.

[Greenbelt]

Every driver thinks society owes him or her a parking place, often for free, wherever they want to store their vehicles.

It's why we have socialized parking requirements for virtually all our buildings, and the expectation of socialized car storage lanes has essentially become an entitlement on urban and suburban streets.

[Spray]

This type of thing is why I've started to carry OC/pepper spray with me. Jackasses who think they own the road, and don't want to share, then get belligerent when you try to explain the danger.

[RyanB]

Glad to know the park police are protecting us from those dastardly illegally parked pedicabs instead of making sure those 10 ton buses follow clearly marked ordinances.

[TurbineBlade]

Whoa -- I'm definitely not trying to waste anyone's time! I meant this as a criticism to the OP. Not the messenger (Washcycle).

I don't think anyone is lying, reread my post. It just sounds like the OP has withheld some of the "conversation" between the parties out of fear that we may not fully believe him. Conversely, I find it much more believable when the details are as accurate as possible. That's all. Carry on.

Regardless, no one has the right to assault you regardless of what was said.

[deanna]

greenbelt is right on... although this is not that complicated a subject: transportation bigotry is alive and well...as well as socialism for cars. we should have socialism for peds and bikes.

bicyclists will, like any other pansy, get kicked around. learn how to take your phone out, put it on record (video or audio) speak clearly to the offender..and do not allow yourself to be hit or bullied. if they even try to hit you, you're legally entitled to defend yourself (but that's all -- no offense).

[jmarcusse]

According to their website,
"DC Trails operates with
authority from the
WMATC #789".
Our friend could file a complaint with the DC area tour bus regulator here:

http://www.wmatc.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=62&Itemid=90

I imagine having a reputation for hostile drivers doesn't help with a company's bus license renewal.

[SJE]

According to GGW, a cyclist was assaulted by a Metro Bus.

[MB]

"Botton line: Don't be a dick and lecture your fellow road users."

Oh, Charlie, if only you would apply this to the information superhighway.

[Kathy]

Irrespective of whether the cyclist was belligerent in lecturing the drivers (for the record, I doubt that he was) that does not excuse physically assaulting someone for expressing a viewpoint. I hope the drivers are held accountable.

[jeffB]

My pitiful 2 cents,

I'm in total agreement with Wilbur on this one. I've been there and I've learned my lesson. No one is going to accept taking "instruction" from a passer by. While their response was totally outrageous I think the OP has to take stock of what is it was that he expected to happen.

Did he expect the bus drivers to fall all over themselves and thank him for pointing out they were illegally parked? Did he expect them to immediately move their buses?

When I'm out on the road I take a live and let live attitude. I don't go looking for confrontations and I try to ride so as to not create one.

So long as someone's actions are not endangering me I take no heed. And if I do feel endangered my response is to just get the h*ll away and out of danger as quickly as possible. There are just too many crazy people out there.

PS - I have fantasized about making up "warning tickets" to hand out to drivers who park in the bike lane, talk on the cell phone or perform some other annoying action. But I appreciate the present shape of my nose too much to ever actually do this :)

[Mike]

Well, it looks like NPS has an excellent opportunity to show that they actually care about enforcing all LAWS, and that they haven't just been targeting cyclists for petty reasons.

[IMGoph]

Would love to know if there's any follow-up on this.