Srcsmgrl

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Bikers Gone Bad?

I have only recently started biking again, but I used to commute that way a lot. I am getting older now (mid 30's! Yuck!) and I get new aches and pains with different types of exercises. It is frustrating, but I am trying not to let it stop me.

There was an altercation during Seattle's Critical Mass this month. If you haven't heard of them, here is their What and Why:

on the last Friday of every month in over 100 cities around the world cyclists congregate together to ride in demonstration and in celebration. critical mass has no leaders and no set agenda and people come together to ride for many different reasons.
just a few of those reasons are...
to assert cyclists right to the road, to promote bikes as a fun, healthy, viable alternative to cars, to build a greater sense of community, to get more folks on bikes, or simply to celebrate bike love and ride in solidarity with other like minded individuals and have some fun!
overall the ride is what you make it!


Critical Mass's route took them to Capitol Hill on Friday where they swarmed the streets. They ride en mass, on both sides of the street, blocking traffic, going through lights and basically stopping everything for 30 seconds to 5 minutes. Some riders are creative and will circle back to cause the delay to be longer. On Friday, a man was in the process of backing out of a parking spot when Critical Mass swarmed around his car. The bikers sat on his car and pounded on the hood. The man tried to go back into the spot, but bumped a biker while doing so. He also stepped on the gas at some point, whether on accident or in panic or anger, and bumped a couple more bikers. The bikers broke out his windows and when he tried to get away, they spit at him and assaulted his car further. He got out of the car and was hit on the back of the head, causing a gash. His girlfriend was in the car and rumors report (comment rumors I haven't been able to verify) that she is pregnant and it was her birthday. Happy Birthday! That must have been a lovely day, first the car you are in is attacked, then you get to spend the rest of the day with the police.

I try my best to be both a conscientious biker and driver. I have and will make mistakes. I see a lot of stupid riding and driving behavior when I am out there. Cars not signaling, being aggressive, bikers riding on the sidewalk, not wearing helmets and disobeying traffic laws. With all these miles of bike lanes the Mayor is having put in and the rise of gas prices encouraging more riders to hit the streets, perhaps we should be having a little more in the way of public education about sharing the road.

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8 Comments:

  • Side of the story No. 1: "a man was in the process of backing out of a parking spot when Critical Mass swarmed around his car. The bikers sat on his car and pounded on the hood. The man tried to go back into the spot, but bumped a biker while doing so. He also stepped on the gas at some point, whether on accident or in panic or anger, and bumped a couple more bikers. The bikers broke out his windows and when he tried to get away, they spit at him and assaulted his car further. He got out of the car and was hit on the back of the head, causing a gash."

    Side of the story No. 2: An impatient motorist abruptly lurched his car into a large group of cyclists, hitting at least one of them badly enough to require an ER visit, and then sped away. A small group of cyclists chased him down and beat the shit out of his car.

    The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. From what I can ascertain the driver was an aggressive asshole and so were a handful of cyclists. I don't want to defend these cyclists but I have a really hard time believing that this incident was entirely unprovoked by the driver. My two cents.

    By Blogger Unknown, at 12:51 AM  

  • There are two sides, but it seems a little strange that Critical Mass couldn't give a comment or talk about "their side" apart from a forum where they were all talking to each other.

    I personally think it was an emotionally charged situation where both made mistakes. The driver did lurch into the bikers twice, which I am sure did not make them happy--but no one was hurt. Assault on the driver and wreaking a car is a bit extreme.

    By Blogger srcsmgrl, at 9:32 AM  

  • Tom Braun went to the ER after being hit by the car. As he told the PI he was not part of the group holding up the Subaru; he was simply riding past.

    By Blogger Unknown, at 10:50 AM  

  • Could you provide a link to the article? I read the couple this weekend, but didn't see that information.

    He might not have been a part of the fray, but he was in it non the less. How was the driver to know whether he was part of it or not? And who knows that he meant to hit any riders at all? He might have panicked.

    But maybe not. Perhaps he deserved everything that happened to him. Vigilante justice, all the way. Anarchy! wOOt.

    By Blogger srcsmgrl, at 10:55 AM  

  • I don't understand why any citizen would think it's their right to enforce justice. That's what I was saying the other day. I know I pay taxes to ensure there are law enforcement officials available for just that. At least this wasn't as tragic as the traffic circle incident in Seattle last month.

    By Blogger Allucas, at 2:13 PM  

  • I agree. This type of thing just promotes fear and anger between the two groups and shame in the rational souls in between. We are not in a batman movie and there is no "right side" between bikers and drivers. Critical Mass might have good intentions, but the wreck havoc on society and their strong arm tactics have injured several people here.

    Does anyone honestly think that the driver hit someone purposely? Maybe he thought "oh, it is those d*** Critical Mass riders, I think I will bust some of their soft carcasses with my thousand pound car. See how they like that!" ?!?

    Let the police handle it. That is what they are there for.

    By Blogger srcsmgrl, at 3:12 PM  

  • srcsmgrl.. it was the times sorry. Here's the link: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008075512_reading27.html

    If I came off sounding like I support the type of behavior these cyclists exhibited then let me say now that I don't. Not in any way, shape or form.

    I am a cyclist and I do participate in Critical Mass but if I had been there when this was happening I would have stepped in on this driver's behalf. The fact that this man was assaulted is completely inexcusable. The fact that the driver drove his car into a group of cyclists intentionally or unintentionally and then tried to flee is also completely inexcusable.

    As I understand it this happened at the tail end of the mass which makes sense, this guy had been waiting for a few minutes and was getting impatient. Most of the mass had passed. I think very few riders were even aware that this occurred until they saw it on the news. Critical Mass is designed to be unorganized so finding someone to comment on behalf of the mass after the fact is obviously going to be difficult.

    What I don't like about the situation is how quickly the media was willing to put out a completely one sided story that makes critical mass riders sound like a bunch of hyper aggressive Neanderthals. In reality Mass is one of the friendliest regular events I've been a part of in the city.

    Take a look at this video from the July Mass and tell me that these people look angry or violent: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7xjc4kCXiE/

    I concede that Mass does very little in the way of actual cycling activism but it is the one time a month when you can ride around downtown for fun and enjoy it without feeling like you're going to get hit by a car if you stop paying attention for split second. And finally if having to unexpectedly wait in you car for 5 minutes once a month is a serious problem in your life, you have it pretty damn good.

    By Blogger Unknown, at 6:24 PM  

  • Then all I have left is that I am sorry it happened at all, because it has caused a rift between riders and drivers to widen. It has given commenters like "openseasononbikers" on the myballard blog a lever to use in defense of their positions of non-tolerance.

    And I still think that the Mayor should push for further education of both bikers and drivers.

    By Blogger srcsmgrl, at 6:44 PM  

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