There was a time when I traveled 10,000 miles a year on my bike, commuting and traveling the Midwest and New England. In doing so I occasionally but repeatedly encountered a certain type of mentally sick motorist (car and truck drivers and sometimes their passengers too) whom I call bicycle predators. There is something about merely seeing a cyclist on THEIR road which incites these types to arrogantly and murderously--murderously because of the speed and weight differential between any motor vehicle and a person on a bike--try to frighten the cyclist in one way or another. In one case on Mentor Avenue in Mentor, Ohio, at night, the driver turned off his lights so as not to forewarn me of his approach and as he passed close by me the front-seat passenger leaned out the window an hit me across the back with an axe handle, baseball bat or similar object. On another occasion the passenger reached out and grabbed my handlebar in an attempt to steer me into the curb. However, the predator "trick" I encountered most often was simply driving by without slowing within inches of my bike while watching in the rear view mirror to see and enjoy whatever reaction they got. Usually, but by no means exclusively, predators play their tricks when there are few or no witnesses observing their behavior.
I do not mean to suggest that the truck driver who killed David Meek is a bicycle predator who intentionally tried to frighten him or run him off the road, but if that is the case, the charge against him should be second-degree murder. An analogy would be a hunter in the woods who came upon picnickers occupying his favorite hunting spot. Instead of asking them to move, he decides to frighten them off by shooting close to them with his high-powered rifle. But his aim is faulty and he kills one of them. In reality, a warning shot meant to frighten is probably less likely to go astray and kill than is a several-ton vehicle purposely passing within inches of a cyclist.
Because news media reports of David Meek's "accident" imply that the truck driver may have lied in saying he never saw Mr. Meek until after hitting him, it is incumbent upon the police and prosecutor to look into the possibility of malicious intent. Has the driver ever been involved in other incidents involving a cyclist? Has his employer ever received complaints about his driving from cyclists? Has he ever been cited for road rage? The family of Mr. Meek, his large circle of friends, and the Chattanooga bicycling community in general deserve answers to these and other questions. Publishing the driver's name and the name on the truck might help to bring any previous incidents involving the same driver or truck to light if other cyclists have had similar encounters and lived to tell about it.
Update: Cyclist Meek killed in early morning accident
There was a time when I traveled 10,000 miles a year on my bike, commuting and traveling the Midwest and New England. In doing so I occasionally but repeatedly encountered a certain type of mentally sick motorist (car and truck drivers and sometimes their passengers too) whom I call bicycle predators. There is something about merely seeing a cyclist on THEIR road which incites these types to arrogantly and murderously--murderously because of the speed and weight differential between any motor vehicle and a person on a bike--try to frighten the cyclist in one way or another. In one case on Mentor Avenue in Mentor, Ohio, at night, the driver turned off his lights so as not to forewarn me of his approach and as he passed close by me the front-seat passenger leaned out the window an hit me across the back with an axe handle, baseball bat or similar object. On another occasion the passenger reached out and grabbed my handlebar in an attempt to steer me into the curb. However, the predator "trick" I encountered most often was simply driving by without slowing within inches of my bike while watching in the rear view mirror to see and enjoy whatever reaction they got. Usually, but by no means exclusively, predators play their tricks when there are few or no witnesses observing their behavior.
I do not mean to suggest that the truck driver who killed David Meek is a bicycle predator who intentionally tried to frighten him or run him off the road, but if that is the case, the charge against him should be second-degree murder. An analogy would be a hunter in the woods who came upon picnickers occupying his favorite hunting spot. Instead of asking them to move, he decides to frighten them off by shooting close to them with his high-powered rifle. But his aim is faulty and he kills one of them. In reality, a warning shot meant to frighten is probably less likely to go astray and kill than is a several-ton vehicle purposely passing within inches of a cyclist.
Because news media reports of David Meek's "accident" imply that the truck driver may have lied in saying he never saw Mr. Meek until after hitting him, it is incumbent upon the police and prosecutor to look into the possibility of malicious intent. Has the driver ever been involved in other incidents involving a cyclist? Has his employer ever received complaints about his driving from cyclists? Has he ever been cited for road rage? The family of Mr. Meek, his large circle of friends, and the Chattanooga bicycling community in general deserve answers to these and other questions. Publishing the driver's name and the name on the truck might help to bring any previous incidents involving the same driver or truck to light if other cyclists have had similar encounters and lived to tell about it.