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'I heard the roaring of the engine and turned around to see this homicidal maniac zig-zag ...'

Jonathan was among the bicyclists the driver of a gray Civic took aim at during last night's Critical Mass cork-up in Allston. He reports on the incident, notes he has the guy's license-plate number.

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*While I was wantonly disobeying traffic laws and running a red light.

I'm really wondering how something like this would play out in court. There's already a large group of assholes circling around and breaking the law, so you know they are there. Yet, the lights green and the car has the right of way.

If another car ran the light and was smashed into, it would be the one disobeying the laws fault. The rules are on them to stop and not hit, (or get hit) by the car with the right of way.

I'm not sure being on a bike changes that. Charges are not usually brought against car owners who hit cyclist when they ran out into red light.

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Yes, you had a bunch of people just riding around an intersection against the light.

But you also have somebody who was at a dead stop and then accelerated into those people. Unless he can somehow prove that, oops, this was really just a case of unintended sudden acceleration (darn, he was driving a Civic, not a Prius), he might have a hard time proving that he didn't realize that by hitting the gas pedal he was not going to do some damage to either bikes or people.

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If everyone who committed a crime here paid the proper fines for their illegal actions, this man can get a new bike and then some.

$1,200 from the illegal actions by the car driver. (plus $250 for the head injury fund) for Operating to endager and Assault with a dangerous weapon.

$5,000 from the illegal actions by by the cyclists (50 bikes comitting 5 violations amounting to $20 for each violation)

That's $6,200 for a nice new bike and a new helmet (if he was even wearing one)

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I'm just working through it hypothetically.

In reality, they should both be thrown in jail and have a day in court to cool them off and hopefully knock some of the Derp out of them.

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Here is a suggestion; try reading the report before launching into a "bikes-are-bad" rant, okay?

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Which report? Jonathon's?

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Go ahead. Read it. Then come back and explain why it was okay for someone to try and run down a cyclist despite the fact that he wasn't part of the corking incident.

I know, I know, getting your facts straight might take away part of the fun of trolling....

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You don't need a report when you have a video of the event.

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Breaking the law doesn't allow someone else to break the law. You can't run someone down just cause they're illegally in the street

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And call me a bad person, but I would feel much worse for a biker who is following the rules and gets hit by a car running a red light than a biker who is not following the rules and gets hit by a car running a green or red light.

But that's just me.

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And me too, Pete.
I'm a very aware driver and i know what a vehicle can do to a human body. I'd like to think I'd never use it to express my frustrations with another person in traffic.
I keep an I out for jaywalkers and cyclists and accommodate them.

But, honestly, the jackasses on bikes that I see illegally taking lefts or running red lights or otherwise just meandering around traffic laws makes me not take the "bike movements" (my quotes) agenda seriously.
All car drivers seem to be painted with a "no regard for bikes" brush stroke but honestly I don't know what kind of stunt a bike is going to pull in front of me.

So, while aware, I'm not extra courteous, as I am when i see a pedestrian legally waiting in a crosswalk to pass. Then i stop.

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I was just down the street spnning around on my Big Wheel with my bestest friend Tommy, who is also 6 years old. I almost got caught up in the moment because it sure did look like those adults were having a good time! I pointed my vintage plastic 3-wheeler toward the same intersection and was ready to start pedaling as fast as my little legs could carry me when suddenly I heard a voice in my head say "this could be a really bad decision."

The same inner-voice then asked "what if you get a head injury from some maniac swerving around in a car?" Well, duh, if get a head injury, I won't never pass the MCAS or get into the community college of my choice. Suddenly, I had a vision of my future years spent living at home (in the basement) with a perma-trail of drool rolling down my chin. That thought really scared me so I brought my Big Wheel to a screeching halt and decided just to watch this real-life version of Frogger unfold.

Mom and Dad, thanks, for giving me a brain that works.... I don't want to live in the basement.

Timmy, age 6

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When you knowingly break the law by blocking an intersection with your hipster friends you should not be surprised by bad things happening to you.

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I know I just posted in the other thread, but pretty sure the other thread is about to die off, I'm re-posting it here as I'm interested in the responses.

I haven't went to this since May, but I rode in Critical Mass. I don't really ride for the "activism" aspect, I just ride because it's pretty fun to ride with 500 other bikers and see Boston. I almost decided to go to yesterday's ride, but decided not for laziness and hang out with some friends at home.

That said, a few things I have seen.

1. Most of the riders ride for the sake of riding with such a large crowd. I guess it is the sense of a parade type of thing.
2. I have noticed the face of the various drivers and pedestrians reacting. Most seems indifferent, some are amused, a few cheered, and the rest are pissed. A very few are pissed enough to try step on the gas a little. This is the first I heard of stepping on the gas and not stopping.
3. Some of the bikers had act in ways I disagree. I find it reasonable to block the street while the fellow riders ride past. I disagree when riders would ride ahead or run a car that is stopped at a stop light and one of us would go and block that singular car. I find it more reasonable to give the car a chance to drive out ahead rather than force it to get behind us. I find this is when we find cars least amused.
4. A few of us, especially at the start of the ride have tried to reform this. I seen a few riders have tried to pass flyers about such etiquette and plenty of times where we would yell at the rider with "let them pass!" Unfortunately, it only takes a few riders to ignore such calls to make a good number of cars quite unhappy.

Now read as many of the comments, I want to write a few things in response to a few arguments I seen.

1. I think we should drop the "Fight the Power" argument here. The previous times I rode, I wasn't there for activism and I believe many are not there for it either.
2. Bikes and Cars are both Massholes. Pretty much no one is an angel. Let's not try and justify by saying "but, but _______ the ride/drive like this!"
3. The counter argument to it "only delays traffic by 2 minutes!" with it can "keep a guy in a medical emergency from the hospital!" as reaching and unlikely. The bikers had always immediately hit the sidelines whenever we hear an ambulance or police siren. If you talking about the possibility of a guy carrying a friend to the hospital, while possible, but very unlikely and looks like a disingenuous attempt with reaching for any reason to counter the argument of a short delay. I mean that line of reasoning could easily be used for any type of delay.
4. Personally, I think a 3-4 minutes of delay in traffic once a month on a Friday isn't that unreasonable. Isn't the extra wait time really that bad (obviously excluding the counter-argument of point 3). That video shows that the bikes circled and left after 34 seconds. It was probably 3 minutes at the longest assuming the time for all the bikers to gather up. Is it that unreasonable (keep in mind also that unreasonable and unlawful are different, I read the other thread now where it says that bikes should only be 2 breasted)?

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It is the illegality of the act, the unfairness of the act, and the disgusting arrogance of the bikers that makes drivers want to exit their cars and beat a biker with a ten inch Maglite.

The short duration is not the point. The principle of some fellow citizen telling me what I can or can't do (go through an intersection where I have the right of way) IS the point.

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Amen! /thread

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Now you understand how cyclists feel.

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This entire thread makes me so sad, and seriously worried about my safety. As someone who bikes to work everyday, I have seen my fair share of near misses. I've had cars make a right turn directly in front of me (thank god I recently got new brake pads), try to pull into a parking space directly in front of me (and damn near pin me between their car and a parked car), drivers change lanes without signaling and almost careen me, bus drivers pass me only to pull over immediately (less than 10 ft) in front of me to a bus stop, trucks ignore the painted lines and basically drive in the bike lane, cars run red lights and almost kill me, pedestrians step into the road without looking directly in front of me (pedestrians: even if you don't hear a car coming, LOOK UP before you walk into the street)... the list goes on and on and on. And unlike the lists of complaints that I hear from drivers about cyclists, any one of the above incidences could have killed, maimed, or seriously injured me. My crime? Riding legally and carefully in the bike lane (when there is one) to and from work each day.

The Critical Mass riders piss me off too, okay? Because they make all of us cyclists, activists or not, into a target. But any of you who crassly joke about bikers having it coming... FUCK YOU. I should not have to risk life and limb to get to work. And I should not have to stop riding my bike because of you. I can't afford a car, and I have not been back on the T since getting stuck on the red line for 3 hours and having to be evacuated through the tunnel by emergency personnel (yes, I was on that damn train). Before that happened, I rode my bike to work about 2 days a week... now I do it everyday, and plan to as long as temps remain above freezing. And, amazingly, I actually like my commute now. I get exercise, I get to be in the sun and see people and not be trapped in dark tunnel packed into a subway car like sardines. I can stop at the market on the way home, through groceries in my bike basket. Wave to friends on the street... cycling is so liberating... but lately, also really scary.

We all need to step back, take a deep breath, and give eachother the benefit of the doubt. Car drivers can't lump all cyclists into one big box labelled: ENEMY. And vice versa. Everyone (cars, bikes, pedestrians) needs to be aware of their surroundings, obey rules of the road, and have common courtesy. It's not about asking for special privileges... all of us just want to get where we are going safely.

Critical Mass is just a means of protesting the status quo, and while we may not agree with their methods, I think we can all agree with the intent: which is to make the roads safe for cyclists.

If this had been a protest on foot, would anyone have dared dart into the intersection? Would anyone be joking about people deserving it?

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I'm totally with you. When I say goodbye to my wife and 9-month-old daughter each morning before getting on my bike, there's always a flicker of a thought wondering if one of the sociopaths on this comment thread is going to try to injure or kill me for sport.

And if someone does injure me, can I expect the police to be fair minded? Can I expect the courts to be impartial? Any cyclist who has been injured or had their bike trashed because of someone else's homicidal tendencies already knows the answer to that one.

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And everytime the bike-vs-car-vs-pedestrian debate rears is ugly head just refer everyone back to this well articulated analysis of the situation?

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Section 11B. Every person operating a bicycle upon a way…shall be subject to the traffic laws and regulations of the commonwealth and the special regulations contained in this section…

Operators of bicycles shall be subject to the following regulations:

(1) Bicyclists riding together shall not ride more than 2 abreast but, on a roadway with more than 1 lane in the direction of travel, bicyclists shall ride within a single lane.

MALegislature.gov

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Please see my reply in the rest of the comments. I agree that laws should be obeyed. However, this law does NOT permit physical violence, such as the assault and battery that did occur. Please read your criminal law statute books for when violence is justified.

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Now that is what I am talking about! I wish I could staple the traffic laws for bikes to every Lance Armstrong acting em-effering who runs a red light and nearly slams into my pushing my baby across the street.

All joking aside, if my wife were there, she'd have taken out half of the bikers. She's from a country where they don't tolerate that shit. ;)

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All,

Regardless of your opinions on the lawfulness of critical mass or otherwise disobeying traffic laws (including, pedestrians, jay walking), there is NO EXCUSE FOR PHYSICAL VIOLENCE and what occurred here was unlawful assault and battery (personal frustration and inconvenience is no excuse).

What happened here was an attempt to undermine a very sincere expression of how our world should look - through very violent means. In a civilized society, it is absolutely unacceptable - and unlawful - to engage in a literal mowing-down of people whose actions/opinions you don't like.

I would advocate that any one, in any circumstance, who uses the threat of bodily harm be appropriately punished.

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Depending on the circumstances there are lawfull reasons for physical violence.

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Know, I do not condone violence in any situation. But I do understand why it happens. By blocking the right of way for car drivers, you, yes you, are creating a possible violent situation. Humans, being human, will react differently. Some will fume silently; others violently and will act out. Some will be scared and take off and, yes, knock riders over. I have watched YouTube videos of Critical Mass riders being aggressive with cars as in getting off their bikes and standing right in front of the car at an intersection, cutting off cars that have already proceeded through the intersection, hitting the cars with their fists and one shows a guy actually sitting on the the driver's hood. When you engage in that sort of behavior, you will be inviting violence towards you.

If you want to be sincere about changing the world, than by all means keep riding your bike, obey the traffic laws, and treat all with respect.

It is ok to have your beliefs but you do not have the right to force your beliefs on anyone and say, "I am in the right, do as I say, do as we do."

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...when car drivers block other car drivers? It happens every day on Comm Ave, I can personally attest, and no doubt all over the city. Is that an excuse too, for "acting out violently?" Why is it that bicycle riders are held to such an impossibly high standard in this city, while automobile drivers expect and demand the right to act wildly while cops look the other way?

Right-of-way is not a human right, it is just a turn of phrase. In the city, automobiles are subordinate to people. If you want a place to drive fast and without interference, there's plenty of opportunity out in the boonies, with nary a bicycle in sight.

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is that a lot of bikers drive in an illegal manner.

The other part of the problem is that a lot of drivers simply believe that that bikes don't belong on the roads, and their cars make them feel powerful.

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the problem is that a lot of drivers simply believe that that bikes don't belong on the roads, and their cars make them feel powerful.

In a city where an extremely high proportion of all road users violate the law with impunity, you cannot single out cyclists. You might say "part of the problem is that a lot of Massholes use the roads in an illegal manner," and then follow with your second statement. That works.

Just the same, it's really the second part that matters most here. Have you ever seen a car try to ram into cars blocking an intersection after the light has changed? Of course not.

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"Corking" used to be about blocking the intersection to let all of the bikes through together. Early riders would hold traffic and then follow at the back. This held up traffic but it made sense as it kept the event parade-like.

What happened here? Did the poor bikers not have enough participants to even span a single light cycle? Did it seem like too many drivers began accepting the delay for the bikes to stay together?

This was a "screw you" to the rest of traffic present regardless of what mode they might be. It takes the perfectly good "we're here, we pedal, get used to it" message and craps on it. Pointing to the hit-and-run driver doesn't excuse Critical Mass's own poor behavior or justify it. I've even seen videos where Critical Mass riders taunt car drivers, trying to goad them into doing something stupid. When, as a group, you challenge others to do something stupid, eventually you're going to find someone willing to fulfill your prophecy.

Critical Mass originated as a road bike awareness movement. However, it's essentially just PETA of the transportation world. I have never met someone convinced to go vegan because someone threw paint on a fur coat and I've never met someone who gave up their car because their commute was ruined by a bunch of assholes on their bikes.

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some of my friends and I use and it applies to those cyclists:

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

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