Bicyclists are fond of telling me that they should be taken seriously as a mode. I do take the mode seriously. But being taken seriously has a double-edge to it.

One of my wonderful PhD students sent this to me yesterday: Cyclist fractures pedestrian’s skull, gets $400 fine

So what is the right response? I suspect that the reason the fine is so light is that the jurisdiction has, in the past, the most experience with child bicyclists, who do little damage (usually hurting themselves, unfortunately). But this was 49 year old man behaving like an ass.