A video on Youtube of a bunch of motorcyclists chasing and eventually assaulting a man driving a Range Rover in New York City is already well over 1 million views. That doesn’t include the number of people who have viewed the video on various news organizations’ websites or seen portions of it on national television.
In other words, bad publicity has gone viral.
Let’s face it, there’s nothing good about this for anyone. The man driving the Range Rover was beaten and slashed in front of his wife and baby girl. One rider is in the hospital with broken legs, according to police, but his family says his injuries are much worse than that.
It’s hard to tell exactly what started the altercation. It should be shocking how quickly it escalated into a brutal display of mob mentality. But unfortunately it really isn’t that surprising to me.
Aside from whatever may have happened on the road before the video starts, two other factors undoubtedly contributed to the escalation. First, the ride coincided with an unauthorized event in which hundreds of riders attempt to “take over” Times Square, so the mindset going in was one of anarchy and defiance. Secondly, just about anyone who rides much has a long list of experiences of drivers nearly plastering us due to inattention, lousy driving or lack of concern. The sane among us may briefly fantasize about retaliating, but we control that urge. This time, dozens of motorcyclists, far outnumbering one SUV driver, slipped over that line into mob-style retaliation.
That’s not excusing the behavior, however. In fact, one of the interesting things to me is reading the reactions to the incident on motorcycle forums. In the dozens of times I’ve read online discussions of car-motorcycle conflicts on the road, this is the first time I’ve seen nobody come to the defense of the riders’ actions. And remember, this is a sample of people who are enthusiastic riders, not non-motorcyclists who probably see the video and wonder why the government hasn’t banned those things yet.
Yes, this is bad publicity indeed, and it will affect us all because the majority sees us as one monolithic group. Most don’t detect any differences between the guy wearing full safety gear and riding his touring motorcycle across country and the guy smashing in a Range Rover’s window with his helmet. They’re all just “bikers.” They should probably be banned.
The other reason the escalation captured in this video doesn’t surprise me is the fact that it fits perfectly in the deteriorating social mood that permeates our lives these days. The intransigence in Washington that has shut down the federal government, the way the comments section on news stories turn into ugly, slur-laced attacks about gun control or some other hot-button issue, and a guy on a $5,000 motorcycle flying off in a murderous rage against the owner of a $90,000 SUV in the age of ever-greater inequality, all are part of the same frayed fabric, in my view.
Whatever level you look at this, no, there’s nothing good here. Nothing good at all.
