[NMCycling] WTF is wrong with this world????
ROBERT CIPOLETTI
rdcipoletti at comcast.net
Wed Mar 19 15:18:20 MDT 2025
I got creamed by an F150 several years ago. One second I was tooling along in a dedicated bike lane in a 25mph zone, then next second I had a truck grill in my face. Old guy (like so many of us) was too preoccupied with beating a couple of oncoming cars while turning onto his street to watch where he was going. He got me good, broke the bike in several places, but at least he slammed the brake when he saw me so I lived to tell about it. I was hurt and furious, but nothing like I was after seeing the Sheriff's incident report. In spite of the obvious, they did all they could to absolve the driver and shift the blame to me. Didn't work though.
So, there's that, careless driving - everywhere, uncaring cops who think you're a nuisance even when you're doing everything you can to adhere to safe cycling. But this isn't about any of that. This about hate. Hate for anything that isn't just exactly like you and yours. Like the woman in my neighborhood, I used to think she was just a confused old bat. She had some property in the Manzanos and would often bitch about the cyclists. Then one day she said, "As far as I'm concerned, if one of those bikers are riding on the wrong side of that white line, then they deserve whatever they get." I was like, WTF? That was one of the turning points when I realized what this person was actually all about. Hate. Hate for anything different.
We live in a society filled with hate. Not that there are 10's of millions of people in this country that would deliberately run down a cyclist or anyone else, but they probably wouldn't give a damn if someone else did, because they figure you have it coming since you were there, and they wouldn't have been. You're not going to fix hating everything that's different by holding an incident like this up as an example of why we need stricter safety laws and better enforcement. We do need more of those, but what we really need is a whole hell of a lot less hate, and right now we are most certainly going in the opposite direction.
RDC
> On 03/19/2025 12:41 PM MDT Bob Perls via Bike-racers <bike-racers at mailman.swcp.com> wrote:
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> Yes, I have thoughts. I’m not a lawyer, but I’m a former New Mexico State representative and I still race bikes with 505 cycling It all gets down to how we define negligence. In Europe, you have to prove gross negligence on the part of the pedestrian or cyclist. Otherwise the driver is always liable. That’s how we need to shift the burden of proof in the United States. It all goes back to legislation. And then the corollary is to find Cyclists who will run for office to highlight these law and order issues.
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> Bob Perls
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> Sent from my iPhone
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> > On Mar 19, 2025, at 12:13 PM, Paula Hensley via Bike-racers <bike-racers at mailman.swcp.com> wrote:
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> > This story is getting national attention, and I wonder how we as a bicycling community can speak out to call for tougher laws and prosecution for all manner of car vs bike interactions. I feel like so many drivers get a slap on the wrist with even the most egregious injuries and deaths. Any thoughts?
> >
> > On Wed, Mar 19, 2025 at 10:24 AM Nono Yobiz via Bike-racers <bike-racers at mailman.swcp.com mailto:bike-racers at mailman.swcp.com> wrote:
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> > > Digging around a little, the 13 year old driver had been reported as missing February 18 2023, when he was 11.
> > >
> > > On Wed, Mar 19, 2025 at 8:09 AM Craig Doolittle via Bike-racers <bike-racers at mailman.swcp.com mailto:bike-racers at mailman.swcp.com> wrote:
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> > > > Not sure I fully understand what you meant. Not sure if you meant the teens caused harm in several generations of the Habermehl family? Or in several generations of the teens’ families.
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> > > > However, I’m suspect those 3 teens probably were doomed from the get-go, probably had a horrible upbringing, raised by parents who had no right to be parents, drugs, alcohol, violence, homeless, etc. The fact that the police cannot locate two of them (not at home with their parents) is telling. My daughter is a teacher at a Tier 1 school and tells me all kinds of horror stories. Some people should just not have kids. But, that doesn’t mean the teens didn’t know that killing a person was wrong, or that they didn’t understand the choice they were making. So, they are now like your pet that has become a rabid dog. It is a complete and horrible tragedy, but they must now be prevented from ever causing society harm again. If that means life in prison without parole, then so be it.
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> > > > Inola has refused for several years to ride on anything but a dedicated bike path. Instances like this just reinforce that. It feels like we are no longer safe riding on a public road. Which means no more Slick 50, no more Algodones, Tijeras canyon, etc.
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> > > > Thanks for reaching out, wish we had the opportunity to spend some more time together, I don’t think I have seen you in person in several years.
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> > > > Craig
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> > > > From: Jennifer Buntz <bikefunsafe at gmail.com mailto:bikefunsafe at gmail.com>
> > > > Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 5:01 PM
> > > > To: Craig Doolittle <cdoolittle at ara.com mailto:cdoolittle at ara.com>
> > > > Cc: bike-racers at swcp.com mailto:bike-racers at swcp.com
> > > > Subject: Re: [NMCycling] WTF is wrong with this world????
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> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Based on back stories I have learned through the ghost bike efforts I think the trauma those children wrought on the Habermehl family goes through them, back one or more generation. It is so sad in every aspect. Jennifer On Tue, Mar 18, 2025,
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> > > > Based on back stories I have learned through the ghost bike efforts I think the trauma those children wrought on the Habermehl family goes through them, back one or more generation.
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> > > > It is so sad in every aspect.
> > > >
> > > > Jennifer
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> > > > On Tue, Mar 18, 2025, 4:10 PM Craig Doolittle via Bike-racers <bike-racers at mailman.swcp.com mailto:bike-racers at mailman.swcp.com> wrote:
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> > > > >
> > > > > https://www.kob.com/news/top-news/police-arrest-13-year-old-with-murder-for-deadly-hit-and-run-with-stolen-car/ https://urldefense.us/v3/__https:/www.kob.com/news/top-news/police-arrest-13-year-old-with-murder-for-deadly-hit-and-run-with-stolen-car/__;!!MWKTFZLPJvMV!Z-1ee6xg6wqu98nohnS168SwUPTaIlTWJlcCvAzu-UdK_cuFb8u8e5IzGAZomTcL_sJSYNcAKrX1LDaVgRY$
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> > > > > https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/crime/murder-hit-run-albuquerque-scott-habermehl-b2717242.html https://urldefense.us/v3/__https:/www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/crime/murder-hit-run-albuquerque-scott-habermehl-b2717242.html__;!!MWKTFZLPJvMV!Z-1ee6xg6wqu98nohnS168SwUPTaIlTWJlcCvAzu-UdK_cuFb8u8e5IzGAZomTcL_sJSYNcAKrX1PIRUnsE$
> > > > >
> > > > > https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/03/18/man-killed-bike-teens-charged-murder-albuquerque-nm/82514544007/ https://urldefense.us/v3/__https:/www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/03/18/man-killed-bike-teens-charged-murder-albuquerque-nm/82514544007/__;!!MWKTFZLPJvMV!Z-1ee6xg6wqu98nohnS168SwUPTaIlTWJlcCvAzu-UdK_cuFb8u8e5IzGAZomTcL_sJSYNcAKrX1p0GUtas$
> > > > >
> > > > > https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/teens-charged-murder-fatal-hit-run-bicyclist-captured-119900609 https://urldefense.us/v3/__https:/abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/teens-charged-murder-fatal-hit-run-bicyclist-captured-119900609__;!!MWKTFZLPJvMV!Z-1ee6xg6wqu98nohnS168SwUPTaIlTWJlcCvAzu-UdK_cuFb8u8e5IzGAZomTcL_sJSYNcAKrX1PhKPamY$
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> > > > > These three punks used a stolen car to PURPOSELY hit a man riding his bicycle to work at Sandia National Labs (so, somebody that had worked hard on an education and did important work for the country, he was about 11 months older than me and had a PhD in physics).
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> > > > > They were 15, 13, and 11 years old (13yo driving)
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> > > > > The 11yo was “waving a gun and laughing during the crash”, but he is “too young to be charged with murder” (in NM you have to be at least 14). I say if you are old enough to kill and carry a gun, then you are old enough to die.
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> > > > > Luckily these geniuses were smart enough to video and post their crime.
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> > > > > And they can’t find the 11yo and the 15yo?!?!?!?! I guess they aren’t at home with their parents????
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> > > > > I really like Albuquerque and do not want to leave the weather, mountains, bike trails, etc. But, we need a good tidal wave to clean out all the human feces that have been allowed to waste perfectly good oxygen here. I absolutely can’t believe this! Why aren’t we all rising up and crashing the courts, demanding these little pricks be executed? Why do we have to be nice and follow the law? If we don’t fight back, these prick will continue to ruin lives and cities!
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> > > > > Craig, soon to be an ex New Mexican.
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> > > > >
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