Monday morning, a high-speed chase took place in West Manhattan after a father in a black Range Rover accidentally rear-ended a motorcyclist, causing him to fall from his bike.
A group of 20 to 30 motorcyclists were harassing the Lien family as they were driving down a side highway. The bikers surrounded the SUV and decreased their speed, forcing Alexian Lien to slow his vehicle as a result. In the process, Lien hit one of the bikers, knocking them to the ground and his bike fell on top of him. The bikers came to a halt. The bikers hit the SUV with their helmets and slashed a back tire. Lien, nervous to get out of a bad situation, gunned his engine, running over the fallen biker and hitting three others.
A chase ensued and ended with Lien being stopped by traffic, then pulled out of his car and beaten in front of his wife and two-year-old child. Of course, all six minutes leading up to the abuse was caught on camera and uploaded to the internet and went viral.
There is one question buzzing around about the day’s event: Who is at fault? the bikers or Alexian Lien? I believe they are all at fault, but the motorcyclists are even more so.
Yes, Lien did rear-end a biker and then run over said biker when trying to escape. However, he was provoked by the chaos surrounding him and the gang did not react in any appropriate means to the events that unfolded in front of them.
The stereotypical motorcycle gang rides squad deep and looks to cause trouble and problems for the other drivers on the road. They think they’re above the law and can throw caution to the wind. And that is exactly what they did. They made Alexian Lien panic for his life, as well as his wife and child’s by encompassing his vehicle and forcing him to drastically decrease his speed below the speed limit. It is the motorcyclists who brought the accident upon themselves.
I’m not defending Lien’s actions. The probability of the gang doing anything more than superficial damage to his car was very high. If anything, his wife should have called the police as soon as the accident occurred. Gunning the engine and running over a person was the worst thing to do in the situation. But the gang didn’t call the police when a fellow motorcyclist was hit and then run over! They felt the need to take justice into their own hands and chase down the Range Rover and pummel the driver.
When watching the video, it starts before the biker was rear-ended and ends before the abuse. So they were videotaping their harassment of other drivers on the road. This was only situation that caused more than a little spike of anxiety in the heart of the drivers.
I know that a huge portion of people who have been following the story disagree with me that bikers are the culprits. Many have already started Facebook groups and webpages about wanting justice for the injured and arrested bikers. However, if it weren’t for them, the accident would have never happened. Lien wouldn’t have bothered the bikers and September would have ended peacefully for them all.
This incident is a cluster of one poor decision after another. Do I believe that Lien should be held accountable for the accident? Without a doubt. That cannot be overlooked. Nevertheless, the biker gang should not be looked at as vigilantes for taking matters into their own hands. Their anger is understandable but their actions are inexcusable.
