By Robert Davis
Chicago Tribune, September 12, 1990
Free-wheeling bicycle messengers dodged a set of legal roadblocks, atleast temporarily, on Tuesday when a City Council committee postponed actionon proposed guidelines that would require them to be licensed, insuredand labeled as they rush through Chicago`s downtown streets.
The proposed legislation was drawn up by Ald. John Madrzyk (13th), whohas publicly complained that the burgeoning number of bike messengers terrorizepedestrians and constitute traffic hazards as they pedal their 10-speedtwo-wheelers on sidewalks or swerve, often in the wrong direction, throughtraffic lanes.
But Madrzyk agreed to hold off action on the proposal after representativesof the messenger industry appeared before the Committee on Traffic Controland Safety and promised to work with the city to voluntarily enforce thoserestrictions that the Southwest Side alderman wants to make law.
Madrzyk said Tuesday that his main goals are to see that the companiesthat employ bicycle messengers are licensed with the city, thereby givingthe government some controls over their business practices, and to seethat the bicyclists are insured in case they cause injury to themselvesor others involved in collisions with them.
And, the alderman said, he will continue to press for a requirementthat the messengers and their bicycles bear company labels so that theywill be more easily identified in case they are involved in accidents orthey are in clear violation of existing laws governing bicycle use on citystreets and sidewalks.
``I agree with the industry spokesmen that their services are needed,but not at the expense of others, especially when it concerns personalsafety,`` Madrzyk said.
Jack Rozran, president of Cannonball Courier Services, one of the largestand oldest messenger services in Chicago, said his company does carry insuranceon its employees and does require the bicyclists to wear reflective vests.Other, smaller firms may not be so careful with their employees, Rozransaid.
Rozran suggested that executives from the industry continue to meetwith various city departments, such as the Chicago Police Department, todevelop safety awareness programs for bicyclists.
Phyllis Apelbaum, a spokesman for the Arrow Messenger Service, alsoargued for self-policing within the industry and offered her cooperationfor a less stringent ordinance.
Ald. Burton Natarus (42nd), whose Near North Side ward provides a primetraffic grid for the messengers whose stock in trade is speedy deliveryservice, complained that many of the bicyclists use speed for thrill purposesrather than to provide prompt delivery of packages.
Natarus said many bicyclists are afflicted with a ``whee`` obsessionunder which they cut through busy downtown traffic simply for personalpleasure.
``The messengers get a thrill out of it. They`re analagous to hot--rodders,``the alderman observed. ``It`s a big fun thing.``
Natarus also had complaints about the dress of some of the messengers,who don tight bicycle pants, elastic shirts and crash helmets in theirdaily deliveries.
``Let`s get them out of short pants, so they don`t look like they`reriding a race in Colorado,`` said Natarus.
The committee members decided Tuesday to call in the heads of city departmentsthat might be involved in bicycle messenger regulation to see if they haveany suggestions on how to redraw the proposed ordinance to make it moreeffective and enforceable, Madrzyk said.
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