Got mad...Got JAIL!!

[denoose]

Well lads and lassies let me share today's excellent adventure if I may.. Today was a gorgeous day, i did all my yard work, had a power nap, and took the bike out for a tonk. On the ride home, I'm coming down a long grade, out it the hills of western Connecticut. I'm 200' from a stop sign, going 35, and slowing for the stop. A woman backs out of a driveway on my left, gets in my lane, and stops....no problem, beautiful day, riding is tooz mode, she heads to the stop sign, and turns right,(no signal), as do I. I've learned over the years to give women in Volvo wagons a wide berth, I'm calm, and in no hurry. All is well. For the next seven miles, I hang back, there are cars coming in the opposite direction, it's a 40 zone and the LEOs patrol often. I'm calm...did I say that? We are now almost to the center of a small town, and I now have two lanes to choose from. The Volvo starts a move to her right (no signal), so I signal my intentions, dip left, and as I am moving into the left lane, and she slides right over (no signal), in front of me- I AM STILL CALM. But I decide the hell with this, I need some relief, so I signal right, dip, and, you got it, she's slowing and moving right...mirror/ head check, signal left, move, and THE VOLVO IS SQUEEZING ME FROM THE RIGHT. I am now on the double yellow line, at maybe 15 mph, stopping as she is pushing me, and now we're stopped, I am looking right in her window, palm upraised, visor snaps up and I question her sanity in a rather vocal manor. I want to let it go, so I drop the bike into first, to gain back the lane, as I am on the double yellow, with cars going in the opposite direction. We're close to a traffic light so fortunately, opposing traffic is moving slowly. As I begin to let the clutch out, she very deliberately turns her wheels left, almost into me, as she is now asserting HER right to the lane. This jockeying continues for 4 or5 seconds, and i just lose it- she's still basically right next to me, and I have no where to go, she threatening me with her vehicle...I reach out a smack the mirror, and the glass shatters. Traffic in front of us has started to move, but I can't- she's tight next to me, cars are coming towards me...I know I'm wrong, I lost my calm, and the driver behind her is out, yelling at me, she snaps of photo of my plate, the Volvo driver is out now, screaming at ME!! I pull to the shoulder, take off my lid, the cops show up, he listens to my side of the story, strolls over to the women, more cops now, cop comes back, and says to me "put your hands behind your back", and as i reply "are you kidding me"?, his partner pulls out a Taser unit and offer me a blast. In short order, I am cuffed, and in the back seat of a cruiser. 45 Minutes later, my bike has been impounded, and I'm being booked for "criminal mischief", and "breach of peace"...2 hours, in a cell, I am released, bike being help overnight, out with no bail, and I have a court appearance July 7th...this is fair? I did break her mirror, yes, - no excuses. But where does the predicament she put me in come into play? I don't have the resources or the particular inclination to pursue this, as i cannot prove my side of the story, but the bias against me as a motorcyclist is painfully obvious.


Thanks for letting me vent-
denoose

[iceman]

Well thats life denoose - it often isnt the original infringement but the retaliation that gets the treatment (I am a sports referee)

Hopefully commonsense will prevail - say you're very sorry and offer to pay for the damage - and the charges will be dropped (hopefully).

Best of luck man.

Grant

[Calliway]

Ughhhhh..... That is pain in the butt. I don't see the criminal portion. I agree replace the mirror and move on. Hopefully that is where it ends.

[oldndumb]

Very unfortunate turn of events.

I think your options ought to be factored by how important a criminal mischief and/or breach of peace conviction would be to you and your personal circumstances.

If it had happened to me, I wouldn't care about the convictions and they would be a good story to laugh about.....later.

But, to other people, those convictions, minor as they are, could become significant in regards to other personal situations. If that is your case, money spent for representation might be money well spent, onerous as that might be.

[Tbirdnz]

Originally Posted by denoose

......... I've learned over the years to give women in Volvo wagons a wide berth...........

Road rage is all about cause and action, she was the cause and you took the action. As Iceman says it's the retaliatory action that gets punished. I'd state my case, offer to pay for the damage and take heed of your own experience, avoid women in Volvo's and any other car for that matter, mostly they are not concentrating on driving.

Work to the assumption that all drivers are out to get you and you'll get along fine. If it's any consolation we've all experienced something similar and wanted to do the same thing, some of us have.

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Ride on !

[BMWK100]

You know where she lives. Just saying.

[iceman]

Originally Posted by BMWK100

You know where she lives. Just saying.

.


...... errr I assume you mean he could drop by and get that mirror repaired?

[RolexBeav]

Totally sucks. Having someone threaten you with their 3000lb vehicle is like having a gun pointed at you when you are on a motorcycle.

I hate disrespectful drivers that are not willing to share the road. In the end though, it's not really about winning or loosing. I do agree with you that the bike always seems to loose. Here in Chicago we had a woman painting her nails hit a kill a mother on her bike. She was charged with something very minor (probably less than your charge).

I agree with the idea of apologizing, paying for the mirror and moving on. And maybe turning onto another road so you don't have to see the idiot driver next time .

I feel for you man.

[stinky93071]

Go to court, tell the judge it was the mirror you your life.. If you didn't brake the mirror she might of run you over. that was you only way to get her to stop what she was doing before she ran over you/ killed you.

If she has people there on her side ask if they saw what happen before the mirror or if all they saw was the mirror. it will not do her any good when you tell them yep i broke it, I will pay of it, small price to pay for my life.

and you can always drive by her place and toss out some roofing nails in the driveway, just a thought.

[steventhechef]

Sorry to hear denoose, tough luck