Did Bikers Beat This Guy For Running Them Over Or For Driving a Prius

According to the California Highway Patrol,  a driver was beaten witless by a group of motorcyclists after he veered into them – while he attempted to take  to video of them with his cell phone on a Northern California freeway.

The San Francisco Chronicle says the beatdown came some time around 8 a.m. Sunday on U.S. 101 near Belmont, California. CHP Officer Art Montiel said the 19-year-old San Jose resident was using a cell phone to record video of a group of bikers as they moved down the highway when his Prius veered into another lane. Montiel said the driver then overcorrected,  crossed back into the passing lane and struck the riders.

Montiel said the Toyota Prius struck one motorcycle, slammed into the dividing wall on the highway and then wiped out a second biker before coming to a stop. Witnesses said they saw the motorcyclists – and you can bet they were not pleased – giving the driver a sound (and if you’re asking my opinion, well-deserved) beating.

The driver later told investigators that he was threatened with a knife, and I can imagine what the riders would have offered to remove if they didn’t get control of their emotions at the time.

The driver and two bikers were treated at hospitals for minor injuries.

According to Montiel, the driver will be cited for distracted driving.

If it were up to me, I sentence him to an afternoon with the HA chapter in San Jose where he’d be required to describe what he did to each member, one-on-one, in a private room in their clubhouse.

Please people, put your damn cell phones down while you’re driving. Whatever you have to say can’t be so important that it can’t wait until you get out from behind the wheel.

If you don’t believe it’s dangerous to everyone on the road with you; consider the facts.
A recent study from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that truck drivers who were texting were 23 times more likely to be involved in a ‘crash or near crash event’ than ‘nondistracted’ drivers.  Talking on a cell phone is only slightly less dangerous as the same study found 1.3 times the risk of causing accidents.

The study found that there is “considerably more risk” associated with dialing while driving, and the Richard Hanowski of the VT Institute acknowledges that the numbers are likely to be different with car drivers.

A report by CNET’s Jennifer Guevin found that that “texting took a driver’s focus away from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds.” It may not sound like much time in the grand scheme of things, but that’s all the time it takes your vehicle to travel the length of a football field at 55 mph.

Yet another study, this one in December 2007 and done on a traffic simulator by Clemson University researchers, found that text messaging and using iPods caused drivers to leave their lanes 10 percent more often.

And it could also get your ass whipped by anyone you run over, if they’re lucky enough to survive your incredible stupidity.

Read the San Francisco Chronicle story here…