“They Have to Do the Right Thing or Else They’re Going to Get Killed”

Mike Pintek
of Pittsburgh radio station KDKA. (Photo: KDKA)

Last year,
we posted a piece about a
couple of shock jocks in Detroit who thought it was funny to talk
about throwing things at bicyclists.

This year, the hateful talk is coming over the airwaves from
Pittsburgh.

Streetsblog Network member blog Reimagine
an Urban Paradise has been following the story of a Pittsburgh DJ,
Mike Pintek of KDKA, who made some ugly remarks about being "tempted" to
hit people on bikes with his car. The audio has been taken down, but
here's a partial transcript of what Pintek said from Reimagine's author,
Lolly:

"There are some bicyclists who are just these arrogant little
dorks that think they can do anything they want because they’re on a
bicycle and 'we’re being green and environmentally friendly'…

"I have been thoroughly tempted -- I haven’t done it 'cause I’m
not going to do it -- I’m not that kind of person…but I have been so
tempted to just bump 'em.

"I have been so tempted to pull up behind them when they’re doing
this -- you know spread out across the road -- put my car in neutral,
jam the accelerator down, race the engine and scare the living crap out
of them.

"They’ve got to stop being so arrogant about what they’re doing.
They’ve got to obey the rules. They have to do the right thing or else
they’re going to get killed."

This all is playing out in a city where several bicyclists have
been attacked in recent weeks by gangs of kids, as reported by Bike
PGH.

Reimagine's Lolly has this to say about what she thinks the
consequences should be for the DJ:

She also
notes that in the case of a San Francisco driver who allegedly did
target people on bikes and used
his vehicle as a weapon, the charges are felony attempted murder.

PGH
Is a City and WWVB
have more. Apparently Pintek is going to talk about what he said on his
show today. We'll keep an eye on it.

On another note entirely, we'd like to thank the folks at the Top
Online Engineering Degree blog for including Streetsblog.net on their
list of Top
50 Blogs for Civil Engineers to Read. It's a terrific list that
we're looking forward to digging into. You should definitely check it
out. And we're honored to be included.