Bostonist: The Last Cyclist You Want to Hit Is the Mayor

Nora Rocket

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 09:18:45 -0500

You're durn right, HarmyG.

Kerry Skemp

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:54:44 -0500

wow, i'm impressed that the bike safety rules actually say "Do not blast your horn in close proximity to cyclists and look for cyclists when opening doors." i might print this out and flyer cars with it. sadly, nothing persuades me to be an asshole biker more than asshole drivers. it's a vicious cycle.

HarmyG

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:13:35 -0500

"The same laws that apply to motorists apply to cyclists. Obey all traffic control devices and use hand signals to indicate stops and turns."

Nora Rocket

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:43:10 -0500

So the mayor "told the flustered motorist to 'just get going, and don't be late for work,'" This gives the message that cars are more important than bikes, the people who drive the cars are more important than those of us who bike, and the roads are not to be shared by human transport other than automobiles. Menino's just done cycling in Boston a huge disservice. Contrast this with what Daley's done for Chicago, bike-wise, after (IIRC) he was hit. Yes, Pat, most drivers would have kept on driving, like the one that hit me in Oct. 2006. Drivers need to be taught that bikes belong on the road and if the Mayor's messaging that it's more important for a driver to get to work than for a cyclist to, I dunno, not get fucking creamed in the street, more drivers will drive with entitlement and more bikers will get yelled at, glared at, hit, or killed. Before anyone gets all "teh bik0rz is MEAN and payz no attenshun to road rulz," I feel that some bikers do the community a similar disservice when they ride on the sidewalk (which encourages drivers to think bikers can and should bike there) or do not bike like traffic (which encourages drivers to hate bikers). It needs to be a partnership: everytime a biker rides well in the street, drivers intuit that we belong there; and everytime a very public official treats biking like it matters, drivers get that message too. Geez, Menino, thanks for nothing.

Pawtucket Pat

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:47:37 -0500

"most cyclists we know would have keyed her car and would have spewed expletives as she headed down the street." That's probably because most motorists would've kept on driving by without so much as a wave. You get the feeling this one only cared when she realized she'd buzzed the mayor.