The Boston Public Garden is off-limits to cyclists. Since at least 1941, when Robert McCloskey wrote the charming Make Way for Ducklings there has been a perception of Boston cyclists as dangerous and rude.
A car vs. cyclist article yesterday in the Boston Globe had me angry all last night. Angry at the cars who can't see the bigger picture. Angry at the cyclists with the same problem. Why can't we see that everything we do affects people around us? When selfish cyclists flout the rules I, by virtue of simply being on my bike, end up at risk of being targeted for felony criminal assault, through no fault of my own.The comments following that Globe article are sobering. I'd hate to see cycling outlawed on the streets of Boston. What a step backwards that would be for everyone. I'm too angry to write any more, I'm going to leave it at that.
3 comments:
I got all steamed up about some of the comments on the article too. I've been commuting for 2 years and have been really lucky not to have many issues with aggressive motorists in Cambridge/ Boston. Sounds like a lot of the ugly comments come from the burbs where the car is king. Didn't help to see this today http://www.streetsblog.org/2008/07/09/la-doc-takes-out-road-rage-on-cyclists/
Please fellow cyclists think twice about running red lights! It pisses off drivers and makes them more likely to be mean to other cyclists (me for instance)!
Be safe, ride chic, we'll get there.
We're getting a lot of that here in DC. The Post had an pro-car article on Sunday (!!) where they clearly interviewed crazy suburbanites unwilling to ride the metro And while I agree wiht some critics that the proposed changes should be a part of a larger citywide traffic plan (which it isn't) -- Megan McArdle's comment on her Atlantic blog was nice to read in this atmosphere of hyperbole(http://meganmcardle.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/07/drivers_or_bikers_who_sucks_mo.php) (I haven't owned a car in 12 years so I can only comment on walking, biking and metro)
- Alex in DC
Continuing on my post ... hmmmm, shouldn't of had that glass of wine tonight ... I think the tension between bikes and cars is just going to get worse in the coming months as more people take to their bikes to avoide high gas prices and crowded metro cars.
Hopefully - all of this will lead to a real dialogue in cities and across the country about how we build roads (for cars not people or bikes) and our public transit system (which is degraded to a shocking level)
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