So, you guys have probably noticed that I haven't been writing here as much lately.
It's a matter of circumstance - life gets in the way, as the saying goes. I have been busy settling into a new place and a new (sort of) job. All the while, I have been trying to train, and taking a trip home, and taking a real sweet staycation (vacation to the beach was impractical).
I am headed to the Tour of Washington County this weekend, which I have been looking forward to for a while. You can follow my live updating on the twitters, @nickvsgravity. Look for #localstagerace.
I am, as I told a buddy today, assembling a defense for the Reston GP - getting all my files together, subpoenaing the right witnesses, building a case theory, you know, that sort of thing.
I also have the wheels in the back of my head turning for some things later in the fall - CX season, taking full advantage of the winter in a way that I don't feel like I managed to last year, that sort of thing.
The point of this post, however, is actually not to fill you in on the minutiae of my life. There are things bigger than me to talk about today.
Namely, you should all read this account of a cyclist's partial victory over an aggressive driver, right now.
I'm serious, do it now.
Then show up for the sentencing on 8/19.
I really, really love rules. Including traffic laws, including the DC Code, including all of the things that lend to our society order. It colors my work (which I still won't discuss here), ultimately forming the basis for why I am trying to be a lawyer. The crime that this guy was convicted of reflects a disregard for law, for society, for community, for the important role of a police officer, and for the simple well-being of others. It takes a special kind of self-involvement to believe that your behavior should be excepted, I don't care who you are (the "chase down the hit-and-run vehicle no matter how nice it is" theorem).
Showing up to this blockhead's sentencing probably won't make that guy in the black Escalade on River Rd. any more aware of his obligation under Maryland law to give you 3 feet of space. It probably won't make that cabbie any less likely to turn in front of you because he genuinely does not give a damn. And it probably won't make that assbag on the cell phone turn his head and see you.
But you know what? Sometimes it is worth making a big deal out of something that otherwise wouldn't be. Because someone might notice.
And then remember - you need more than the tag number. You need a description of the car and of the driver, and the direction they were headed.