Bicyclist gets 12 years in rage incident

[Beren]

Bicyclist sentenced to 12 years for shooting motorist
http://post-gazette.com/pg/05130/501994.stm

Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Associated Press

A bicyclist convicted of shooting a pickup truck driver will spend at least 12 years in prison for the alleged road rage incident.

Allegheny County Judge Lawrence O'Toole yesterday cited the defendant's "casual approach to violence" in sentencing Robert Urick, 42, of Monroeville, to 12 years to 25 years, 10 months, in prison.

A jury in March acquitted Urick of attempted homicide but convicted him of aggravated assault and firearms violations in the February 2004 shooting of William Nicoletti.

Nicoletti testified that Urick made an obscene gesture at him, and when he drove back to confront the bicyclist, Urick opened fire into the pickup and one of the bullets struck Nicoletti in the chest.

 

[MikeIsaj]

Lesson taught again that use of force is not justified if you started the fight. He should have kept his finger AND his gun holstered.

 

[pythonguy]

Its stupidity like this that will cost us our right to keep firearms, this is the fodder the lib's use to enact legislation eroding our rights. Gun owners better get smart or they will be carrying bows and arrows in the future, till those are outlawed. :banghead:

 

[mete]

Two idiots .The truck driver should never gone back to confront him !

 

[HankB]

As a motorist, I KNEW there was a reason to dislike those %$#@ bicyclists!

Seriously, as one who is habitually carrying a concealed weapon, I know it is incumbent on me to NOT escalate somethng like a "road rage" incident. I don't respond to obscene gestures in kind, I won't continue a confrontation if I can avoid doing so, and I sure won't circle back to cuss out someone who flips me the bird . . . my weapon is only there to protect my safety, NOT to bolster my ego or pride.

 

[Blue Jays]

Hi All-

What we have here is a collection of mental midgets. As an enthusiastic bicyclist, motorcyclist, and car enthusiast, I see it from all points.

Out-of-shape, redneck motorists have harassed bicyclists for years. Is it the bright colors or the spandex that drives them crazy? Who knows, but when I've encountered this juvenile behavior, I have maintained my cool and not resorted to gestures or yelling. I ride to the extreme right (except when making left turns) and do everything in my power to assist faster vehicular traffic in getting past our group of riders.

On the other side of the coin, why would someone in a 4000-pound truck take the time to turn around and confront someone on a 19-pound bicycle over "the bird" being flipped at them? Both of these people need to seriously get a grip.

Be smart out there and just walk/ride/drive away from confrontation whenever you can...

~ Blue Jays ~

 

[HighVelocity]

One gets shot, one gets to be the freshest meat on the cell block.
Stupidity has its rewards.

 

[gunsmith]

umm

the driver was pointing a 3 ton weapon that kills far more people the guns do in this country.

I was a bike messenger for years and have ridden bikes all over this country,most car drivers do not have a clue.
I drive a pick up now and live in SF,CA we have tons & tons of bikers here.
I never have a problem because I look b4 I turn and I realize they have the same right to be in the road as I do.

I am willing to bet that the driver was driving like a jerk.
probably drives real slow in the fast lane.

the poor biker didn't get a "jury of his peers" because most folks don't know what it's like to ride a bike as your main form of transportation. he got a bunch of road rage car drivers who probably cant ride a bike.
Gun ownership is a right,cars are a privelege I don't think they should let people get a drivers license without a background check and they should qualify on a bike first for one year to see how the other side lives.
with all the car bombs in the middle east it's only a matter of time b4 it happens here.I think we shouldn't let people who can't own guns have a car.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

the poor biker didn't get a "jury of his peers" because most folks don't know what it's like to ride a bike as your main form of transportation. he got a bunch of road rage car drivers who probably cant ride a bike.
Gun ownership is a right,cars are a privelege I don't think they should let people get a drivers license without a background check and they should qualify on a bike first for one year to see how the other side lives.

WHOA!

Gun ownership is a right, but shooting someone who is upset because you just flipped him a single digit is NOT a right. You in your moral superiority may be convinced that the PU driver was driving like a jerk, but there is nothing in the article to support that belief. I agree that the PU driver was foolish to turn around because of the bird, but the biker was an idiot to open fire instead of just riding away into the sunset (or sunrise, as the case may be).

 

[El Tejon]

Those that enter into combat have already lost.

 

[cropcirclewalker]

I, like Mr. Gunsmith have ridden thousands of miles both urban and out in the country.

Based on the "concept" of a jury of peers, I have to conclude that the jury;

1) Got it right (the cyclist was a jerk) or
2) Did what they were told (The system is a jerk) or
3) Got it wrong (the driver was a jerk)

For my part, over the miles I have spent on the road I have the following conclusion.

There have been many, many more drivers who have flipped me off, shouted obsceneries and tried to run me off the road with that 3,000 lb deadly weapon than I have shot at. What is to learn here?

 

[Yowza]

You in your moral superiority may be convinced that the PU driver was driving like a jerk, but there is nothing in the article to support that belief.

Unless the cyclist was just prone to randomly flipping the bird to passing motorists, I'd say there was something in the article to support that.

Rick

 

[VARifleman]

Seriously fellas...if that truck made one move as a sign that that truck would run him off the road, killing him. He would be justified in shooting that darn truck driver. Yowza has it right, it's probably not the bicyclist that started this. I know when I've been riding I've almost been run off the road a few times and believe me, they are threating your life there, thus the justification to fire.

 

[pythonguy]

When you carry a gun you shouldn't be looking for the nearest excuse to use it. Two stupid people, one with a gun. If you can't control your temper, don't carry, period.

 

[SnWnMe]

I did the bike commuter gig for a few years until I moved 70 miles away from work. There are drivers out there who are jerks. Someone aimed and fired a cap gun at me once (that or he missed with all four shots). At 4:30 AM I've lost track of the times folks mouthed off at me or cut me off.

There are also cyclists who ride like hooligans. They blow through traffic lights/signs or INSIST on right of way. Like that is somehow a magic shield that will deflect that F250 behind them.

For drivers: Cyclists are supposed to behave just like cars. Subject to the same rules. Oh and they pay taxes for road upkeep as well. Every cyclist out there is one less car you have to share the road with or fight over parking spots with.

For cyclists: Obey the rules. The more you behave like a car the safer you are. It makes you predictable. Also, while it is true that you too are entitled to all the privileges that drivers enjoy, remember that the bottom line on the road is : Tonnage.

Can't we all just get along?

 

[cropcirclewalker]

Mr. Pythonguy, among others, is on to something. Both were stupid jerks.

Trouble is, the sample size is too small. If one was to do an accurate evaluation using appropriate sample sizes, I am of the opinion that There are lots more stupid jerks out there on 4 wheels than there are on 2.

Yes, Tonnage.

You four wheelers may not know of what I speak, but you cyclists do. When I ride, I keep my eye in the mirror (unless real rural where you can hear the car coming from miles away) and when I see a fast moving one coming up behind, I pull over to the right as far as is prudent.

Then I watch. If the vehicle looks like it's drifting over to the left, I think he sees me. I relax a little.

If it looks like he is drifting toward the right or doing nothing, I sort of drift out to the left a little to see if I get a reaction. Usually the vehicle will respond by slightly wandering to the left. That is good.

Then I move back over to the right.

If it is apparent that the driver is not seeing me, aiming for me, on the phone, eating a whopper, inserting a cd, bopping out to some good ol' country rocker, tuning the radio, doing their hair or make up or whatever, then I do a "front wheel wobble" and move slightly more to the left. For some reason, it seems to wake them up. They think I am about to spill. They move left.

Some of my friends say that the drivers are more concerned about the paint job on their car than they are about my safety.

 

[SnWnMe]

You have a mirror?

Bike geek! Bike geek!

 

[dev_null]

"gunsmith," you're doing a lot of assuming and projecting. For every stupid driver story you've got, others have an equal number of stupid cyclist stories, like the @$$hat who ran a red light while I was making a legal right turn, then kicked in my front fender after I had stopped to let him go first. Or the... well, you get the idea. I've had friends who were couriers in DC. It's not an easy job. None of that has anything to do with this story. The guy who pulls a gun and shoots an unarmed man because he loses his temper is in the wrong. The law says so, the jury said so, and the judge agreed.

 

[cropcirclewalker]

Mr. _null, sorry, I have ridden thousands of miles and I have driven (4 wheels) a geometric factor more.

It is incontravertable. There are geometrically more stupid drivers than there are stupid cyclists.

Logically speaking and using the law of natural selection.....

1) when a stupid cyclist collides with a non stupic motorist, who wins?
non stupid motorist....natural selection
2) when a stupid motorist collides with a non stupid cyclist, who wins?
stupid motorist.....violation of the law of natural selection.

It thusly follows... stupid motorists violate the law of natural selection.

We can only hope that in order to thin them out, that they take their previous success with a cyclist and put it to use against a freight train.

Yes, tonnage.

 

[KAR120C]

I have biked many miles, and driven many more. I drove a delivery van for years. My vote is that there are far more idiots in cars than on bikes.

The first documented case of a defensive gun use in Minnesota (after the shall issue law was passed), involved a biker. Guy in car pisses biker off. Biker (stupidly) goes back and confronts the guy in the car as he waits at stop light. Window gets rolled down, biker starts choking driver, driver fends him off with concealed weapon.

The biker went down for this. He was an idiot, and shouldn't have touched the other guy, but what do you suppose pissed him off so much to make him do that. The media did their usual pathetic job at covering this, but when I read between the lines I see a guy (the biker) who was threatened with a deadly weapon (the car) and blew his top.

Of course the witnesses only saw the last half of the incident (like the guy retaliating in a hockey fight), and the car driver won the race to the cops.

Doesn't make me feel very good as a gun owner or a bike rider. I wish we'd had a much better example as our first.

 

[pythonguy]

Just to add, if a driver or car occupant pulls a gun, real or fake, and fires on an armed bycyclist who is unaware of the guns authenticity, all bets are off. Gunsmith is being emotional and that type should not carry a pea shooter, much less a gun. Carrying a firearm is a HUGE responsibility, it can not be carried along with a chip on your shoulder.

 

[Don Gwinn]

Why are we arguing over which guy was "driving like a jerk?" It's irrelevant.

You can't shoot people for driving like jerks. Period.

 

[cropcirclewalker]

Mr. Gwinn,
If the motorist hits me the first time and as I lay in the road bleeding and covered with road rash he turns to make another run at it. It is OK to shoot the jerk then?

If not, when?

 

[pythonguy]

You guys are watching too many Stephen King Movies Like the one with the possesed truck that tries to run everyone over. Lighten up guys, the world isn't out to kill you, there are no black helicoptors overhead. Have a beer, watch some baseball and enjoy life, you're gonna give yourselves heart attacks.

 

[DRZinn]

If it happened as written (ie he went back to confront the cyclist):Two idiots.

If the driver was trying to run down the cyclist (pretty common in my experience): justified shooting.