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Bicycle Safety

L.A. Doc Takes Out Road Rage on Cyclists, Injuring Two

12:52 PM EDT on July 9, 2008

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Via Streetsblog LA, a story of motorist anger run amok this past holiday weekend:

A motor vehicle driver, outraged that he was being asked to Share the Road, sped past some cyclists and slammed on his brakes; using his car as a weapon to critically injure the cyclists.  Ron Peterson had no time to swerve and ended up with his face slamming into the car’s rear windshield.  The other cyclist, Christian Stoehr, had more time to maneuver and escaped with an assortment of cuts and bruises.  Both cyclists are accomplished racers who know how to safely maneuver on the road.

When a third cyclist attempted to stop the doctor from leaving the scene the driver laid into him with curse words and threatened to drive over his bike.

The LAPD arrested and charged Dr. Christopher Thompson who was released on $30,000 bail.  No trial date has been set, but the Chief of Staff for Councilman Bill Rosendahl, the councilman in the area where the crash took place, assured LAist readers that, "The investigation will be handled by [West Los Angeles division] Detectives, who are seeking a criminal filing. When LAPD updates us on the progress, I will be sure to share that information here."

Images of the crash's aftermath (caution: fairly graphic) after the jump.

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Images: LAist

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