Yep, he's guilty

While I doubt the case will have as much national effect as I would like, and while I'm sure there will be an assortment of appeals before it's all over, Dr. Thompson, of Mandeville Canyon Road in the Los Angeles area, has been found guilty on all counts he was facing.

In other words, at least in that area, it's not a good idea to pass cyclists then slam on your brakes to cause them to tail-end you. It's especially a bad idea to do so and then tell the responding safety officers (whether they be Deputies or Police Officers or whatever) that you wanted to teach said cyclists a lesson about riding on "your" road.

When I'm in traffic, I'm pretty sensitive to tailgaters. When I'm on a bike, I get REALLY antsy if a car crowds me from behind, giving me no room to slow down suddenly if road conditions require my doing so. I'll wave my stop signal glove at someone I feel is too close to me--sometimes the driver even gets the message.

When I'm in the car, I am often tempted to "brake check" people who follow me too closely. If I cannot see below the grille of the car behind me, I figure it's too dratted close to my rear bumper, and any impact damage is on the driver's nickel. I could use a new set of bumper mounts, anyway, since I never had them replaced when a teenager hit me from behind at a stop light a few years ago (yes, it was his fault, as I was not even moving and didn't have reason to "brake check" him--the light turned green, and the car in front of me had not yet started moving when I felt the slam from behind).

On the bike, though, I am a bit more vulnerable, and not as likely to slam on my own brakes.

I had a woman crowd me on Westport Road a week or two back, but when I started waving my hand (with the Glo Glove red side facing her), she seemed to get the idea and backed off a bit. I doubt she could see the look I gave her as she eventually passed me (more or less legally), though.