Given America's worrisome headlines about road rage, including the weekend's

in Hillsboro, I was left stunned this morning by the relatively light sentence handed down to a North Carolina firefighter who shot a bicyclist in the head last summer.

Charles Alexander Diez has been sentenced to four months in jail.

From

:

Never mind that the July 26 roadside confrontation happened in front of the bicyclist's 3-year-old child. Never mind that Diez fired his .38 caliber pistol as Alan Simons walked away after the two exchanged words, striking Simons' bike helmet, narrowly missing his skull.

Diez's jail time is less than a quarter of

that a PDX baggage supervisor -- a first time offender -- got last month for stealing luggage.

Actually, I would be just as outraged if the case involved another motorist, pedestrian or bus driver. But this case adds validity to the safety and fairness concerns of bicycle commuters.

It appears they are vulnerable on yet another road -- the one leading to a little justice. At least he was ordered to get anger-management counseling.

Given the bicycle's growing prominence in Oregon's 21st century culture, you have to wonder if the same case would end differently here. I suspect it would. I hope it would.

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