The morning was rainy, Berlin-style. But the day promised to be warm. A tasty morning coffee, a light breakfast, a shower. And Claudia, in a light mood with plans for the evening on her mind, left the house. The way to work took about thirty minutes of moderate pedaling, and the bicycle was the ideal way to commute. It was also a great substitute for a morning workout. The route was familiar after years of riding it. Traffic at that hour usually runs alongside car jams. You can breathe deeply and enjoy the feel of air on your face, your muscles working, and even breathing. But that even breathing was suddenly disrupted.
What a Meeting!
Claudia was riding at her usual pace along the dedicated bike lane up to the entrance of a shopping and office center. At that point the roadway narrows, and drivers either have to turn toward the offices or merge into another lane. But whatever maneuver a car makes, cyclists retain priority and must be allowed to pass. That morning, though, things didn't go as expected. A BMW X5 suddenly stopped right across Claudia's path. The cyclist hit both brakes and barely avoided colliding with the car. To get around the obstacle she had to swerve into the car lane — a genuinely dangerous situation. Back on the bike lane, Claudia knocked on the driver's window: "Watch out! This lane is for cyclists!" You never know what effect your attempts at educating someone will have.
The driver's-side window rolled down, and out came, swelling with the drizzling rain: "Whore! Are you tired of living? Whore! Whore!" Claudia froze for a few seconds. Realizing she was dealing with someone whose mental state could hardly be called normal, she shook her head reproachfully and pushed on the pedals. Her mood was ruined. But then the principle behind American theatrical performance — repetition — kicked in, which made Claudia reconsider not just her plans for the evening, but for the near future as well. About a hundred meters further, Claudia's wheel collided with the now-familiar BMW X5. The driver, apparently not having satisfied his aggression the first time, quickly drove along the parking lot and, at the next exit, suddenly cut in front of Claudia's bike again.
Class Struggle
According to statistical services, Germany, with a population of eighty million, has around seventy million bicycles. Cars number almost half that. Of course, not every bicycle is out on the road every day, but the share of people in big cities who prefer to use a bicycle as their daily transport keeps growing — largely because it's cheaper, and often faster. Fortunately, Germany has every condition in place for cycling infrastructure in its cities. Still, the ratio of road space allotted to cyclists versus cars is about 1:19. That may sound minor, but it creates real discomfort for drivers, who are forced to crane their necks constantly checking for a cyclist to the left or right. Ideally, car and bicycle traffic would be separated like railway tracks, but that isn't possible. Perhaps, then, today's version of the class struggle plays out in the conflict between drivers and cyclists.
But there's also a theory of a more fundamental social conflict — the one between psychopaths and people with a normal psyche. The value placed on human life, refracted through social status, property, and power, cannot help but grow the ranks of those who discard all of it to conform to such cultural standards — a kind of social-biological selection. The defining trait of a psychopath is the absence of empathy, of compassion for another person, of the ability to feel what someone else feels. That's why psychopaths don't yawn in response to someone else's yawn — that reflex is purely empathic in nature. And when the class struggle between psychopaths and ordinary people combines with class hatred toward cyclists, very unpleasant things happen. Around five hundred cyclists die on German roads every year, and there's no way to statistically determine in how many of those cases the collision was, in fact, an act of hatred. Fortunately, Claudia's story ended without tragedy.
Getting Better Acquainted
This time, having hit the wheel of a car that had suddenly appeared, Claudia was genuinely frightened. This time the driver didn't stop at rolling down his window. He got out of the car and kept insulting Claudia. As she later told our firm's attorney, she was completely certain her interlocutor — if that's the right word — was about to hit her: there was that much hatred in his eyes. And indeed, at one point he raised his arm. Claudia instinctively raised her hands to protect her face. The stranger grabbed her by the arms, gripped her wrists, pulled her toward him, and began shaking her while continuing to threaten her. Claudia screamed, wrenched her arms free, and started waving them, calling for help. A group of police officers was working on the other side of the road. They glanced toward Claudia as she called for help — and went on with their work. But the cries for help had a sobering effect on the BMW's owner. The man got into his car and drove off.
Instead of going to work, Claudia went to the hospital to get a medical report documenting her injuries. Her wrists bore bruises from the stranger's rough grip. But before that, she had called our law firm and received advice on the next steps. Claudia had no intention of letting the boor get away with it. Fortunately, even in that stressful moment she had the presence of mind to photograph the offender's car and license plate before calling her lawyer — otherwise identifying the psychopath would have been extremely difficult.
The Proceedings: Identification and Charges Under Two Statutes
Claudia filed a police report. It wasn't a given that the car's owner had actually been behind the wheel, so our client was asked to identify the offender. She was shown six photographs, one of which was the car owner's. Claudia identified him. The police then brought charges, requiring the suspect to give a written statement. The BMW driver didn't deny being at that location that morning, but denied all accusations of insulting the cyclist or using physical force against her. The case went to trial. But we still had to prove Claudia's account was true in a situation with no outside witnesses to the ugly scene.
The defendant faced charges under two statutes: §223 of the German Criminal Code (causing bodily harm), carrying a maximum sentence of up to five years' imprisonment, and §185 (insult), carrying a maximum sentence of up to two years' imprisonment. Under the applicable rules, a plaintiff who has suffered bodily harm has the right to appear in court not merely as a witness but as a co-plaintiff — meaning she may be present throughout the proceedings and file motions alongside the public prosecutor. On our lawyer's advice, Claudia made use of this right.
The Attorney's Work: Cross-Checking the Timeline as a Lie Detector
In Claudia's case, justice could only be restored through the questioning of both parties. If someone has genuinely lived through a given situation, they can usually recount it in any order without difficulty. If the story is invented, however, breaking the chronological sequence during questioning tends to trip the storyteller up. This was exactly the tactic chosen by our firm's attorney, who represented Claudia in court and who had Claudia step outside the courtroom while the defendant gave his testimony. According to the defendant, he had become angry because Claudia had kicked his car and then insulted him.
Our attorney asked: "You were in a noisy place — did you only hear your car get kicked, or did you also see it?" The defendant quickly answered that he had both heard and seen it. He was then asked: "Which side was hit?" Again, a quick answer: "The right side!" "But how could you have seen that, if the right side of your car was jutting into the roadway, while the cyclist's path was on the left side of the car?" the attorney continued. "Ah, right, the left side," the defendant quickly corrected his testimony.
He was similarly inconsistent about pinpointing exactly where the confrontation happened. Against the backdrop of our client's clear, detailed account of the location, the situation, and her own emotions, the defendant came across as thoroughly unconvincing. In the end he admitted that he had done something stupid — but no one in the courtroom heard a single word of remorse or apology.
Outcome: 40 Daily Fine Units and Payment of Costs
The judge proposed closing the case on grounds of minor harm. But given the situation, Claudia was not willing to let the insult go unpunished, and our attorney petitioned for the defendant to be sentenced. The public prosecutor supported the motion. In the end, the man who had "done something stupid" received forty daily fine units of thirty euros each, plus payment of the investigation costs and Claudia's legal fees. That is not a small sum, and we hope it will deter this driver from acting aggressively toward other road users again. For Claudia and our firm's attorneys, the outcome brought moral satisfaction: wrongdoing had been punished.
All rights reserved. Copying or republishing this article requires a link to the original source.
