Dr. Christopher Thompson is taken away in cuffs Monday. Photo: Los Angeles Times
Following a highly-publicized, intensely-followed trial, Christopher Thompson, the physician accused of using his car to seriously injure two cyclists in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles, is behind bars.
Thompson was convicted yesterday of six felony counts: two counts each, according to VeloNews, of assault with a deadly weapon, battery with serious bodily injury, and reckless driving causing specified injury and mayhem.
On July 4, 2008, Thompson passed cyclists Ron Peterson and Christian Stoehr as the pair rode through the emergency room surgeon's upscale neighborhood. Angry after a verbal exchange with the men, Thompson slammed on the brakes of his red Infiniti as Peterson and Stoehr rode behind. Stoehr ended up in front of the car, wounded with a separated shoulder. Peterson hit the rear window, suffering severe facial injuries. Thompson told police on the scene that he was tired of cyclists in his neighborhood and wanted to "teach them a lesson."
At trial, Thompson denied making that statement, claiming that he had been attempting to get photographs of the cyclists, who he said had frightened him. But the jury didn't buy it, possibly because of Thompson's history of hostility toward people on bikes. He was also convicted Monday of misdemeanor reckless driving, a charge stemming from a prior encounter with two other cyclists.
Prosecutor Mary Stone urged that Thompson be remanded to jail, saying: "In terms of public safety, there isn’t a cyclist in Los Angeles who would be comfortable if he were out on the streets." Judge Scott Millington apparently agreed, ordering Thompson held without bail. Sentencing is set for December 3. Thompson faces up to 10 years in prison.
How to minimize accidents between bicyclists and drivers? Educate the drivers.
Perhaps the planners at Leucadia need to meet the planners from St. Louis? A test run of reducing "four traffic lanes to three, changes the timing of traffic lights, adding curb “bulb-outs” to reduce the amount of yardage pedestrians need to cross from 56 to 40 feet, and increases lighting and landscaping." The results? Public feedback was about ten-to-one in favor.
Space Hogs - Streetsblog collected images from around the world of the space invaders; images of motor vehicles taking up public space.
I posted last month about Keegan Kyle's (Voice of San Diego) apparently negative impressions of the Critical Mass ride he went on. Some readers didn't find Kyle's take negative, others did. Well, Kyle is at it again, with a short bit about this month's upcoming ride. The headline and teaser this morning on the "This Just In" section on the main Voice page reads:
Watch for Bicyclists Friday Night: Hundreds of riders will hit the streets, break traffic laws, anger some motorists and be the primary duty of a few police officers.
The first problem here is that Kyle doesn't identify Critical Mass specifically. Just reading this, the problem becomes "bicyclists" who have to be watched for, like a hoard of roaming brain-hungry zombies. Get the shotgun Martha, those damn bicyclists are out again. Moving on, the first thing those bicyclists will be doing (after hitting the streets, which is their legal right), will be breaking traffic laws. Then, they'll be angering some motorists. Then, they'll be tying up police officers who might be protecting and serving elsewhere were it not for these nasty bicyclists. Not a word about the statement Critical Mass is trying to make, just the problems it causes. The brief entry that follows is the same.
The monthly cycling event in San Diego called Critical Mass is scheduled -- sort of -- for Friday. No one actually schedules the event, but it's become tradition for hundreds of residents. A cyclist herd rides through the city on the last Friday of every month without regard for its traffic laws or motorists. I reported last month's event and how police accompany the group.
The bicyclist herd moves with no specific leadership and its course changes every month. It starts at the large fountain in Balboa Park after dusk. It travels more than 20 miles, usually, riding through the downtown at some point.
I won't be covering this month's event, but I'd love to know how it goes. I would like to hear from all perspectives -- bicyclists, law enforcement, motorists, etc. Send an e-mail about your experience to keegan.kyle@voiceofsandiego.org. I hope to write a short blog post about reader responses next week.
Let's first point out that referring to the group as a "herd" is immediately dehumanizing and urges readers to disregard the legitimacy of the event and the people involved. This seems particularly dangerous since the afore-mentioned angry drivers may already regard these human protestors merely as roadway obstructions. The focus on disorganization highlights the unpredictable (read: dangerous) behavior of the group. And once again, Kyle emphasizes the disregard of traffic laws and inconveniencing of motorists. It's impossible to deny that these things take place during Critical Mass, but Kyle consistently fails to notice to what end all of this supposed anarchy is put.
Kyle says he wants to hear from bicyclists about the event. I urge all bicyclists to write to Kyle, whether they like Critical Mass or not, and urge him to consider that his words have an impact on the way every bicyclist is viewed in our city. With careless words and confrontational, dehumanizing language, Kyle is fueling the hate of motorists who see me and other bicyclists on the street every day and think "that's one of those Critical Mass assholes, I'm gonna teach 'em a lesson." I never like to ride the morning after Critical Mass because I wonder if some angry driver is going to run me down because he had to wait twenty minutes the night before. Now I'm starting to wonder if riding the day after a Keegan Kyle story comes out is safe either.
On a ride through University Heights a few weeks ago, I noticed what looked like two delivery bikes parked outside a small pizza restaurant on Park Boulevard right under the neighborhood sign. I made a mental note to investigate further, and when I finally emailed the owner of Pizza Gourmet Express to ask for an interview, I was pleased to find James Tuckwell to be extremely congenial and willing to submit to my battery of poorly-conceived questions.
Open for almost a year now, Pizza Gourmet Express inaugurated its free bicycle delivery program in May of this year. Two delivery riders handle about ten percent of the restaurant's business on single-speed cruiser-style bikes, outfitted with oversize delivery baskets mounted on front. The free bicycle delivery zone is limited to University Heights, but the restaurant also offers auto-driven delivery outside of this zone through Expressly Gourmet.
When I asked James about his decision to offer neighborhood bicycle delivery, I was pleased to learn that neither he nor his riders consider themselves “bike people,” per se, but that bicycles were the most cost-effective, convenient, and efficient way to deliver within the neighborhood. They are also a unique and attention-grabbing feature of the business. “After all,” said James during our interview, “I wouldn’t be talking to you now if it weren’t for the bikes.” He was right, of course.
One of Pizza Gourmet Express’s goals is to be University Heights’s neighborhood pizza place, and this means building on the already-strong bonds of community in the area. A fleet of cars emblazoned with the Pizza Gourmet Express logo didn’t seem like the right way to go in this compact and historic neighborhood, where parking is at a premium and many residents choose to travel by foot or bicycle.
To mesh with this atmosphere, James chose bicycles as both a low-impact and high-visibility means of delivery. James’s friendly and law-abiding riders are easily identifiable on their red and white delivery cruisers, and they present a visible reminder of Pizza Gourmet Express’s commitment to the community and its character every time they go out.
My wife and I visited Pizza Gourmet Express this past weekend, since any good reporter has to know what he’s writing about, right? The atmosphere is cozy, comfortable, and friendly, and the pizza is quite good. The menu is simple: one side has more traditional fare, the other side has fancier concoctions, but nothing outlandish or terribly expensive. We chose the pesto pizza with chicken on a thin crust, which was tremendous. I went with the on-tap root beer, while my wife had a bottle of mango soda. The panna cotta for dessert was, uh, I don’t really have words, actually. It was darn good, anyway, and made locally.
After dinner, we took a walk around the neighborhood, and wouldn’t you know, we saw one of James’s delivery riders coming back from a delivery. It was one of those moments, which are becoming more common in San Diego, when you begin to appreciate what a truly bike-friendly city could be like.
Pizza Gourmet Express is located on Park Boulevard in the heart of University Heights, right by the sign. They are open for lunch and dinner, and the free neighborhood bicycle delivery runs from 5pm to 9pm daily.
Special deal for Bike San Diego readers who made it all the way to the end of this article: mention Bike San Diego when you place your order at Pizza Gourmet Express through November 2009, and receive 20% off your pizza order.
On a ride through University Heights a few weeks ago, I noticed what looked like two delivery bikes parked outside a small pizza restaurant on Park Boulevard right under the neighborhood sign. I made a mental note to investigate further, and when I finally emailed the owner of Pizza Gourmet Express to ask for an interview, I was pleased to find James Tuckwell to be extremely congenial and willing to submit to my battery of poorly-conceived questions.