By Daniel Vasquez
Boston Globe, January 6, 1999
See note below for missing facts
Four days after the city's new law cracking down on reckless bicyclemessengers took effect, delivery-company employee Darrin W. Linder, 23,pedaled down one-way Summer Street in the wrong direction on his bicycleMonday and struck a 54-year-old Lowell businessman.
The victim, John R. Falante, suffered massive head injuries and wasin intensive care at Massachusetts General Hospital yesterday.
Police are unsure whether Linder will be fined for failing to adhereto provisions of the new reckless biking law, because they don't know ifhe was working as a courier at the time of the crash.
Linder's company, Boston Express Delivery of Brookline, says the bicyclistwas off the clock when Monday's accident occurred. Boston Express officialsacknowledge that Linder had just dropped off a company van before the accident,police said, but they say he was doing a favor on his own time.
However, police sources say Linder told police at the scene that hewas working. It was not clear whether that meant he was delivering a package,said one police source.
''Our problem is determining if Linder regularly works as a courier,which would then lead us to charge him under the new law,'' said the source.
Boston Express Delivery did not return calls from the Globe.
Boston Express Delivery has yet to register its bike messengers in Boston- a requirement under the new law, said Police Sergeant Detective MargotHill, department spokeswoman.
Inconsistencies in the company's statement to police, combined withits failure to adhere to the new regulations, have led police to probeBoston Express Delivery, officials said.
''We are still investigating every aspect, not just whether he was actingas a courier, but why the company is operating without being in compliancewith the new bicycle messenger law,'' said Hill.
''The company will be fined for not being in compliance with the law,which has a fine of $100 a day,'' said Hill. ''Right now they're facingup to $500 for not complying.''
Falante had just emerged from behind a parked utility truck on SummerStreet, near Otis street, when he was struck about 1:30 p.m.
Boston Express Delivery officials have told investigators that Linderhad just delivered a company van in South Boston, Hill said. Officialsdeclined to say where in South Boston the van was left, said Hill.
The company advertises in Greater Boston and a company Web site advertisesits use of bicycle messengers.
Monday's crash came a year-and-a-half after William Spring, a FederalReserve Bank vice president and Boston School Committee member, was seriouslyinjured when struck by a courier on a Back Bay street in 1997.
Outrage over the crash that injured Spring led to the new city ordinance.
Police said yesterday that Monday's accident exposed the weakness oflaws governing bicyclists. If Linder had been driving a car the wrong waywhen he struck Falante, said Hill, he would have faced stiffer chargesof reckless driving, including manslaughter if Falante had died.
''Because he is a bicyclist, he is not subject to the same fines andcriminal penalties that motor vehicle operators are subject to,'' Hillsaid. ''There are no provisions under the law if a bicyclist recklesslykills a pedestrian.''
Since much of the reporting in this accident isselective when it comes to the facts, Messengerville has includedsome. These types of serious accidents involving bike couriers are extremelyrare. The Gladstone/Spring accident occurred when a pedestrian (WilliamSpring) ran across the street against a red light and collided with thecyclist (Gladstone) who was proceeding through a green light.
The bicycle messenger ordinance in effect at the time already requiredbicycle couriers to have licenses, wear visible identification numbers,and have license plates on their bikes. It also required messenger companiesto register with the city. Much to the dismay of the anti-bike types, theonly new requirement is insurance. Automobile couriers face no similarrequirements.
Since the accident took place at an intersection crosswalk Gladstonewas ticketed because, under the law vehicles must yield to pedestriansin the crosswalk - even if the pedestrian is jaywalking. The fines he receivedwere: "$100 for not wearing the vest required under a city ordinance;$100 for not being licensed, and $20 under the state law mandating deferenceto pedestrians in crosswalks. In other words $200 for bureaucratic violationsand $20 for traffic violations.
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