Well, that didn’t go as planned for a Lycra-clad millionaire bicyclist who raged to police about a driver who got too close to him on the road and demanded police give him a ticket.
They did, but it was dropped later, and the bicyclist was fined $160 for disorderly conduct over the episode.
The case developed in Utah, but multiple Western states have laws requiring drivers to give bicyclists a clearance when they are on the road. The concept is safety, but it also allows, on narrow and winding mountain roads, for a bicyclist to insist on maintaining his or her travel, while long lines of vehicles are slowed to a bicycle pace, unable to get around because of oncoming traffic.
The fight also, by the millionaire’s own words, touch on the “entitlement” of drivers. Actually, for years in nearby Colorado, government officials would close down multiple roads, preventing taxpayers from using the routes they had funded, so bicycle clubs and competitions could have exclusive use of them.
This latest dispute is explained on video (Please be forewarned for offensive language):
The Daily Mail explained Gary Peacock, 73, was triggered when Pierce Kempton, 22, passed him on a road near Park City, Utah.
Peacock, “who lives in a $3.5 million Park City home,” confronted Kempton, repeatedly threatened the driver while he called police, and insisted, “I’m riding a bike. I have more rights than you!”
He later threatens, “If I have it my way, you’re going to jail. I’ll press charges against you.”
But, the report said, when police arrived they gave Peacock a $160 fine for disorderly conduct.
Kempton was fined $130 for passing too closely, but that citation was dropped shortly later when he gained access to video from his car’s video camera, and provided it to prosecutors, revealing that he indeed moved over for the biker.
The report confirmed, “Dashcam footage posted to Kempton’s TikTok page shows him driving along a narrow two-way road and veering slightly to the left to give the cyclist a wider berth.”
And, the report noted, at one point Peacock physically put his hand on the younger man, even while calling him a “very aggressive teenager.”
The report noted Peacock already had paid a fine, and Kempton reports if he wants to pursue further action against Peacock, his only option is a civil case.
