"I applaud Boston's goal of becoming a first-rate biking metropolis, and the programs it has launched to broker peace: More bike lanes, bike racks, and commuter efforts such as Bike Friday. These initiatives add a veneer of "official" approval and encourage vehicles to give riders a break. I don't know if similar programs in Vermont would have spared Tischler any pain. But they might have kept him where he belongs: On two wheels.
The (bike) path of least resistance
By Chris Bohjalian, Globe, September 29, 2008
link
So here's the question: Under what circumstances did Marc Tischler have it coming to him?
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Just curious...
Any chance his wife remembers hearing or seeing a vehicle pass by?
Under what circumstance...
He didn't have it coming to him. So, under no circumstance does a driver get to threaten or hit a cyclist with their car.
Under no condition
Cyclist are vulnerable but drivers who don't bike don't realize it. Fines for laws that concern cyclist ought to be increased tenfold.
Hit & Run on Bikes
If you mean laws about drivers hitting cyclists... I'm all for it.
Sadly, the cases in the article involve hit & run, which is already a rather grievous crime AFAIK... so the penalty is irrelevant.
BIKING IN BOSTON???
You have got to be kidding right? Biking in Boston is just an accident waiting to happen. This is not the Netherlands where the people have been cycling FOREVER!!! They have rules for biking and laws for autos...Do we have anything like this is place BEFORE we try to promote our city as a metropolis for cycling? I live on the outskirts of Boston. Apparently, before I moved here cyclists found the scene stealing roads and NEVER LEFT!!! Medfield is NOT Boston BUT we do have narrow roads, no street lights AND the cyclists are not very considerate. On a typical Sunday morning no less that a group of 15 cycles are on the narrow road near my home. They are rude...they cycle in 2 & 3's across the road NOT ALLOWING autos to pass them. Then at the town square they FLY right through the red lights of a busy intersection. This is because NO RULES APPLY TO THEM. MAKE THE CYCLISTS PASS A TEST & GET A LICENSE IF THEY WANT TO CYCLE ON THE ROAD WITH CARS. IT WILL SAVE ALOT OF PEOPLE FROM GETTING HURT>
Biking in Boston
Two suggestions: the BostonBiker.org blog and the bostoncycling LiveJournal community.
oy vey
Do we have anything like this is place BEFORE we try to promote our city as a metropolis for cycling?<?I>
Yep, we already have rules for bikes and cars. www.massbike.org covers a bunch of 'em.
They are rude...they cycle in 2 & 3's across the road NOT ALLOWING autos to pass them
The groups I've rode with are good about this- yes, they'll occasionally ride 2 wide, but someone yells "car back!", and everyone quickly (within 2-3 seconds) is back to single-file.
Then at the town square they FLY right through the red lights of a busy intersection
Again, not in any group I've rode with. The head either waits (if it's a "fun ride") or you're expected to know the route, or someone sticks behind and waits for you until you get to that turn. Depends on the group.
This is because NO RULES APPLY TO THEM. MAKE THE CYCLISTS PASS A TEST & GET A LICENSE IF THEY WANT TO CYCLE ON THE ROAD WITH CARS. IT WILL SAVE ALOT OF PEOPLE FROM GETTING HURT
Rules do apply to them. The solution is to educate police departments on enforcement, and start enforcing the existing laws.
Cyclists are no different from drivers; both a groups are full of educated people who follow the rules, educated people who ignore the rules, and ignorant people.
That will not change based on requiring licenses; after all, look at how many people know damn well what the rules of the road are for cars, and don't give a shit? Run red lights, pass on the right, drive too fast for conditions/tailgate, get into road rage incidents, etc?
And really, why should there be licenses? Should we license pedestrians, too? Skateboarders? Runners? How about golfers, swinging those metal sticks around? One of them could hurt someone with one of those golf balls!
Thank you for taking the
Thank you for taking the time to give a thoughtful reply. If anything, Mass needs less licensing for its residents!
Bikers mostly take take the lane for safety. Drivers never seem to understand this.
And they would abide by the road laws if they were enforced against them. I visited Portland and never ran a light. In Boston everything is a Yield sign.
Licensed Cyclists
The vast majority of people cycling through the streets of Cambridge and Boston posess driver's licenses, if only to buy beer and board planes.
That's because the vast majority of people in the US over the age of 16 have driver's licenses.
I don't see how bike licenses would make any difference, save to force out younger riders who aren't old enough to drive and duicyclists and recent immigrants.
Licenses
It would do the same thing that the gun license laws serve to do - deter people from participating, either from time cost, money costs, or their failure to properly jump through the hoops.
And what would be the enforcement? You can't pull cars over solely to check driver's licenses, so you couldn't for bikes either. Therefore, most bikers would simply bike anyway, and we would have wasted time and energy crafting laws that aren't followed or enforced.
It was just a rant by a confused and angry driver; probably not deserving of this analysis.
Enforcing laws = treating cyclists as legitimate
"The solution is to educate police departments on enforcement, and start enforcing the existing laws."
Agree 100%. Nowadays I obey the traffic laws 98% of the time, and to be honest the other 2% I almost feel like the cars WANT me to break the law (e.g. I'm at a red light, the cars really want me to get out of the way by going ahead).
I want to see MORE tickets given to cyclists. We need to follow the same rules as cars and be treated as their equals. Being given special treatment -- by not having the law enforced on us -- is a problem. It's like how one way women were disrespected is by not having the law enforced against them. That meant they couldn't enter contracts -- and that meant they had no power in society. We are in the same bind now as cyclists.
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/anderkoo
wtf?
I almost feel like the cars WANT me to break the law (e.g. I'm at a red light, the cars really want me to get out of the way by going ahead).
So, you're a Harvard Law student, and you actually have this kind of thought process?
"But officer, I know I shouldn't have stolen that TV set, but the people around me WANTED me to smash the window!"
Son? Are you on the dope?
:o\
And yet neither experience
And yet neither experience disturbs me as much as the time a pickup passed him, honked, and pulled over. The driver emerged from the truck with a tire iron. He wanted to make it clear that he was the alpha male and any guy in Lycra bike shorts is - and let's not mince words - a weenie. Tischler had to apologize for commandeering a slender strip of the road's shoulder.
After that experience, I wouldn't stop biking- if I lived in Vermont, I'd probably buy and register a handgun (or better yet, a can of bear spray), and the next time someone came at me with a tire iron, I'd pull it out and suggest they get back in their truck and learn to share the road and respect other people's clothing choices.
Freedom
You don't need to register your guns in Vermont (or get a training certificate, or join a gun club, or write a letter to the chief of police, or get two reference letters from friends, or take a shooting target test, or pay hundreds of dollars to do all this and apply for a license)
Having grown up and done
Having grown up and done some biking in Vermont, one of the biggest issues is the lack of a decent shoulder. Couple that with harsh winters which buckle and generally ruin the pavement and you've got an accident waiting to happen. Many paved roads in the state are already quite narrow and lack any sort of space to put in a shoulder, thus forcing cyclist and auto into a nasty confrontation situation. And, many of the back roads are dirt with no shoulder. The sections that are the nicest to ride on are also where a car's tires go.
Unfortunately for Tischler and others, Vermont also has its share of woodchucks who get all weirded out about bikes and the accompanying attire. And I would have bear spray too - to deal with an undisciplined dog who considers the road part of their territory.
First rate biking
First rate biking metropolis? Tell that to the D-bags driving up my ass this evening as I tried biking down Mass. Ave. from Boylston to Huntington, who honked at me and gunned their engines the whole time til I finally pulled off the street out of fear for my safety. Maybe the city needs to launch a program to educate drivers on how to act around bicycles instead of just focusing on the people riding the bikes. I know the rules that apply to me, but apparently a lot of people in cars don't know the rules that apply to either of us.
Specifically: a bicycle is not allowed to ride on the sidewalk; a bicycle is allowed to occupy whatever part of the lane they feel safest in, and cars may pass only when safe to do so.
Well said Sup3rmark
Maybe MA should adopt the "driving school" program that other states have. And in those classes they should stress laws that apply to cyclists.
Assault
Yeah, that, or bikers should file civil suits for being assaulted by drivers being reckless and unsafe with their cars.
Bike ARE allowed on
Bike ARE allowed on sidewalks, except in the business district or if a sign specifically says no bikes
A bike is not a car, nor a pedestrian, and so can travel in whichever place they feel safest.
depends on the town, chief
The rule you cited is STATE law. For example, Cambridge can decree bikes off all sidewalks if it wants to (I don't recall if it has.)
A bike is not a car, nor a pedestrian, and so can travel in whichever place they feel safest.
Wrong again. Bikes are legally considered "vehicles", and must obey the rules of the road. I'm not sure whether it is a legal requirement or not, but most sites like massbike say you need to keep to the right at all times.
I bike down mass ave all the time; in numerous places it is plenty wide enough for you to ride to the side and not be dangerously close to traffic, nor have I ever had a problem with people "gunning" their engine" If you're not comfortable riding on mass ave, get off Mass Ave. Seriously, it's a major thoroughfare. One of the secrets to enjoyably biking around Boston is finding the very easy ways to follow roads that aren't major, but go the same way.
bikes and sidewalks
In Cambridge and Somerville, you are not supposed to ride your bicycle on the sidewalk in business districts. I find this to be quite sensible. It's unnnerving to amble down a sidewalk at 2-3 mph and suddenly find a wheeled vehicle silently approaching you at 10-12 mph.
Bicycles do not need to stay on the right at all times. If you are passing slower or stopped traffic, you can pass it on either side. If you are about to make a left turn, it's much better to do that from the left lane than from the right.
business districts
This is correct - there are designated areas where you can't ride on the sidewalk. So even in certain cities, it isn't a completely black and white issue, as they have zoned certain areas to address the Ped concerns (and safety I guess:)
Cambridge Biz Districts:
http://www.cambridgema.gov/cdd/et/bike/bike_ban.html
Somerville bike map (including banned areas)
http://www.ci.somerville.ma.us/CoS_Content/documents/somervillebybicycle.pdf
Scary
What a scary article... as someone who considers everything a Yield sign and takes lanes regularly for safety, and only usually wears a helmet, I might reconsider my biking style ;)
allowing cyclists to use the roads
The mentality that causes a driver to loose their temper at a cyclist is similar to the road rage that we see in car v. car matchups.
It used to be that the left lane on a twoor three lane highway was for passing only. Now even in light traffic, drivers line-up in the left lane caravan style and don't allow cars to pass. If cars want to pass and so pass on the right, the cars in the left lanes speed up and obstruct the passing cars.
The problem is not with bicyclists. The problem is with hot-headed people who take someone else's driving or cycling personally. Civility, at a very fundamental level, means allowing other cars to pass and allowing cyclists to use the roads without risking life or injury.
Road Rage
That's great - got me thinking about my recent trips on the highway. The left lane is always packed with people trying to go faster than the rest, and the far right lane is always wide open, with most slow pokes in the middle.
So, when I'm in aggressive-mode, I usually floor it over to the right lane and pass handfulls of cars.
It struck me as a bit ironic.