Is it karma? A former Canadian government prosecutor, Micheal Bryant, was charged on Tuesday for killing a bike messenger during a road rage incident. While that is horrible and tragic, Bryant was also known for aggressively pushing for stronger traffic safety laws, including quite controversially in 2007 giving local Ontario cops the ability to seize and crush any vehicle modified for racing even if no charges were filed against the owner. That’s right, that AEM cold-air intake would have been enough for Bryant’s goons to crush your car. That made it way more insane than California’s controversial law about crushing street racers. Make the jump for more details on the highly ironic road rage incident that lead to Bryant’s arrest.

Bryant after arrest. Image courtesy New York Times.

It all started when a slight collision between Bryant, in a Saab convertible, collided with a bike messenger. A shouting match ensued, as is often the case, but what happened next is not typical – the messenger held onto the car, and Bryant drove wildly in an attempt to dislodge him, brushing his car up against various roadside objects and causing extensive damage to the Saab. Unfortunately, the messenger was flung from the car and fatally injured. Bryant is awaiting trial on charges of criminal negligence causing death and with dangerous driving causing death, which is presumably not what he wanted written into his legacy as an advocate for safer roads. Tragic and ironic.

[Source: NYT]