The Wall
WTF!?
From the SLOG:
Mark says he rolled over two bicycles when his car lurched forward, before a crowd of cyclists swarmed him. One rider tried to punch him through his open car window, but missed, and others were clinging to his car as he sped off.
Although a number of reports have indicated that riders slashed the car’s tires, forcing it to stop, Mark says he heard a rider shout “someone’s really hurt” and slammed on his brakes. “I thought I just knocked 2 bikes over,” Mark says.
The cyclists who reacted by slashing his tires spent the night in jail. The driver who ran over two living, breathing people with his car went home without even being cited.
What does it take for the police to press charges in this town?
---
I'm glad I wasn't there, for many reasons.
I've noticed a few drivers ready to snap in the last few critical masses I've attended. More and more, they will inch their cars into corkers.
I try to speak kindly, with a calm voice, when I am corking. But there are those who use CM rides to say 'In Your Face' to drivers. Groupthink amplifies this behavior.
To me, Critical Mass should be a celebration of bicycle community, and an example to people on sidewalks and in cars that bikes can be fun, friendly transportation too.
This incident shows that we are not setting that example.
The news reports and comments on SLOG posts are overwhelmingly in the tone of "Critical Massers are assholes" and "Of course they deserved it".
What the driver did was clearly wrong. Critical Mass put him in the same situation in which they place many drivers, and he snapped. Riders were hurt, beloved bicycles crumpled, and, wait for it...
Nothing happened.
No public outrage against the driver. No charges against the driver. No good will towards cyclists.
Is this getting us anywhere? No.
I think the wall between 'everyday people' and bicyclists just got a little higher.
---
Is it worth my energy to try to change the Mass? Or should I seek out other ways to volunteer, and to help people realize they can happily, peacefully, safely ride a bike to work?
That's all I want.
From the SLOG:
Mark says he rolled over two bicycles when his car lurched forward, before a crowd of cyclists swarmed him. One rider tried to punch him through his open car window, but missed, and others were clinging to his car as he sped off.
Although a number of reports have indicated that riders slashed the car’s tires, forcing it to stop, Mark says he heard a rider shout “someone’s really hurt” and slammed on his brakes. “I thought I just knocked 2 bikes over,” Mark says.
The cyclists who reacted by slashing his tires spent the night in jail. The driver who ran over two living, breathing people with his car went home without even being cited.
What does it take for the police to press charges in this town?
---
I'm glad I wasn't there, for many reasons.
I've noticed a few drivers ready to snap in the last few critical masses I've attended. More and more, they will inch their cars into corkers.
I try to speak kindly, with a calm voice, when I am corking. But there are those who use CM rides to say 'In Your Face' to drivers. Groupthink amplifies this behavior.
To me, Critical Mass should be a celebration of bicycle community, and an example to people on sidewalks and in cars that bikes can be fun, friendly transportation too.
This incident shows that we are not setting that example.
The news reports and comments on SLOG posts are overwhelmingly in the tone of "Critical Massers are assholes" and "Of course they deserved it".
What the driver did was clearly wrong. Critical Mass put him in the same situation in which they place many drivers, and he snapped. Riders were hurt, beloved bicycles crumpled, and, wait for it...
Nothing happened.
No public outrage against the driver. No charges against the driver. No good will towards cyclists.
Is this getting us anywhere? No.
I think the wall between 'everyday people' and bicyclists just got a little higher.
---
Is it worth my energy to try to change the Mass? Or should I seek out other ways to volunteer, and to help people realize they can happily, peacefully, safely ride a bike to work?
That's all I want.