Boston's Bicycle/Car Showdown Heats Up

When The Boston Phoenix hit newsstands on Thursday, a month and a day had passed since Kelly Wallace was killed at the intersection of Cambridge Street and Harvard Avenue in Allston. Wallace was riding her bicycle when the accident occurred on May 6 - her death marked the second Boston bicycle fatality in about a month. Two lives, two scenes, two ghost bicycles.

According to the Phoenix story that ran late last month, Wallace wrote a now-eerie blog on her myspace page when her friend Gordon Riker was killed in the other accident, which occurred on April 4. She urged her friends to take extra precautions: "to all of my friends, across the country, riding bikes ... please be careful."

Wallace's death was the subject of two letters to the editor in the latest Phoenix, both printed beneath the headline "Two Sides to Every Story." In one, a Somerville resident chronicles the difficulty bicyclists face each day as they attempt to travel the streets.

In the other, a Brookline man endeavors to take a different approach: the less-common point of view of drivers and pedestrians. He starts out well enough, describing what he sees of the metro area's unsafe bicycle behavior.

Unfortunately, the argument veers into an act of applying condescending stereotypes. The man writes "Perhaps they should stop caring so much about 'global warming' and start being more courteous to their fellow human beings." He then takes it a step further (and way over the line): "Unless and until cyclists start obeying current laws (for instance, by using reflectors and lights at night, and by discontinuing to ride without the use of hands) they shouldn't be surprised if 'dooring' becomes a fine - and widely practiced - art."

Needless to say, bicyclists (particularly those who knew Wallace, Riker or both) aren't responding kindly to what many could view as a threat. There are now bulletins flying around on MySpace to alert Boston's bicycling crowd to the letter, and the angry posters have added a twist.

Someone did a little Internet research and included his home address and telephone number in the post.

Do we think that bicyclists should be angry that someone said that motorists might be dooring them with increased frequency? Yes. Do we think that the Wallace's friends are justifiably upset that someone questioned whether Wallace's death was a result of her own reckless behavior? Sure - that's only natural.

Do we think that a man frustrated with bicyclist behavior is right to speak out about what he sees? Yes. Do we think he lost track of his point in the passion of the letter-writing? Absolutely.

Do we think that the letter writer is going to have a good weekend if he sticks around his Brookline locale? For some reason, we're going to go with no.

Photo of ghost bikes from flickr user velo_city.