by Pamela Cox, John Hechinger, John Maddock, Rhesa Versola, Rick Wartzmanand Gene Yasuda

Boston Globe, September 14, 1986
 

There's a stretch of road just north of Boston that David Gordon Wilson,coauthor of Bicycling Science, editor of Human Power magazine and a professorof mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,refers to as "Rambo Alley."

Wilson equates Route 99 in Somerville with the violence depicted inthe movie "Rambo" because "for a bicyclist, this road can be the end ofyou." The motorists, he said, "shout obscenities and leave you so littleroom to maneuver that it can be very frightening."

For Wilson, what has happened to him and other bicyclists on Massachusettsroads is symptomatic of "a dark side to our national character" that amountsto "traffic terrorism," often with bicyclists as the target of angry drivers.

He even talks about murder.

"About a thousand bicyclists are killed on US roads each year," Wilsonsaid. "A significant proportion of these are undoubtedly homicides."

Not all bicyclists have experienced the hostility that Wilson says hasbeen directed at him. Additionally, safety and law enforcement officialssay there is little hard evidence -- at least of the kind that producesarrests and prosecution -- that intentional attacks by motorists are animportant factor in the killing and injuring of bicyclists.

Still, interviews with motorists and bicyclists reveal animosity thatcould well trigger angry and sometimes violent confrontations. And whileboth sides agree that bicyclists often bring out the worst in drivers throughassertive behavior and failure to obey traffic laws, any contest betweena motor vehicle and bicycle is bound to be uneven.

Wilson, born in Britain and now an American citizen, graphically describeshis own experiences in an article he prepared for publication.

In his many years of riding bicycles in this country, he said, "driversor their passengers have spat at me, punched me, thrown bottles and othermissiles, lassoed me without success, made many attempts to knock me offmy bike, and two who hit me left me for dead in the road."

He added, "Virtually every bicyclist who has ridden for more than afew months has horror stories to tell. One young woman told of riding overthe BU Bridge when a car came alonsgide and drove sharply into the curb.She jumped off her bike to avoid being hit. Seeing that he had not hurther, the driver
put the car in reverse and accelerated toward her. She jumped out ofthe way and ran."

It is not difficult to find other bicyclists who say they have beenharassed by motorists, either verbally or physically.

Phillip Cross, a courier cyclist for Marathon Messengers of Boston,said most of the drivers who harass him while he is biking are white malesbetween the ages of 20 and 25.

"They're out to bust your chops," he said. "They usually drive old junkycars, like old Mustangs. It's very scary when a big car comes right upnext to you."

Phil Chin, a worker at The Bicycle Exchange in Cambridge, said, "Thedrivers don't realize they can create a homicide just by rubbing or bumpingyou."

Matthew Thompson of Cambridge, a former bike courier, said drivers oftencame within inches of him to scream obscenities at him.

An explanation for this, and for the tendency by some motorists to viewroads as places where bicycles do not belong, is offered by Ivan Gulas,a clinical psychologist and an instructor at Harvard Medical School.

He said that violent and aggressive acts usually stem from responsesto real or imagined attacks and repressed hostility.

"During rush-hour traffic the goal is to get somewhere fast," he said.''Motorists already see other cars as obstructions and it's frustratingto see others who are using their own power to get where they're goingfaster and with more freedom to move around the cars. There is alreadya lot of free- floating anger. And it's not too difficult to find reasonsto find targets."

Another clinical psychologist, Theoharis Seghorn, said male driversare ''more liable to the kinds of distorted and neurotic kinds of needsto dominate, prove oneself or act out the macho image." Women, in general,are not conditioned to ventilate their anger or frustration, he said, andare more likely to direct their frustration inward.

"Drivers who are predisposed to targeting a bicyclist," Seghorn said,respond "to perceived slights," and when a car or bicyclist cuts them offthey take it very personally. "Their natural reaction is to retaliate,"said Seghorn, a member of New England Forensic Associates, a group of psychologistsinvolved in issues relating to psychology and the law.

Another member of the group, Murray Cohen, a professor of psychologyat Boston University, said he believes some drivers may intentionally threatenbicyclists.

Cohen, who treats sexually violent and abusive patients, said some ofhis patients reveal their aggressive driving behavior during the courseof treatment. "They will describe the event and their sense of excitementwhen they conceive the fear of the toppling over of the bicyclist," Cohensaid. Most of his patients would not actually hit the rider, he said, "becausehe knows he could get himself into trouble."

"Sadists exist," he said, "and they don't need any special triggers.There is a joy and pleasure in the control, the threat and the assault."

How much aggressive behavior by motorists translates into injuries anddeaths of bicyclists is difficult to determine, several persons said, becauseof the problem of proving intent.

Carey Azzara, assistant director of injury research at the state Departmentof Public Health, said a study by his agency looked at nearly 250 injuriesresulting from bicycle-motor vehicle accidents in 14 communities in thestate
from 1979 to 1982.

Only four of the cases had a notation by the medical staff that theremight have been "intent" involved in the accident, he said. "We cannotreally give you any information to confirm or disconfirm" Wilson's contention,he added.

Azzara said that the projected number of injuries involving bicyclesand motor vehicles in Massachusetts for riders up to 19 years of age --the group that he said encompasses the majority of riders -- is 1,600 ayear.

Kathi Connelly, spokeswoman for the Registry of Motor Vehicles, saidthat 95 persons died in 1980-85 in accidents involving bicycles and motorvehicles. The highest number was 21, in 1980, and the lowest was 10 in1984.

"In none of these cases is there anything to suggest an offensive maneuverdirected against the bicyclist. There is nothing to suggest that the accidentwas anything but an accident," she said.

The executive director of the Bicycle Federation, a Washington-basedgroup that promotes the sport, said, however, that bicyclists do encounterproblems. ''There are a lot of motorists who don't know how to interactwith bicyclists," Katie Moran said. "There are some jerks who will makethem swerve. And undoubtedly, there are some maniacs. Hostility from motoristsis a concern."

But, of the 78 million bicyclists in the United States, she said, "avery small percentage" have experienced any of the murderous aggressionthat Wilson described.

Ralph Galen, leader of the 450-member Charles River Wheelmen, said hedidn't see the problem in such harsh terms as Wilson. "There are maliciouspeople on the road," he said. "I'm sure some of what Wilson says occurs.There is a lot of hostility on the road, especially in the city where you'recompeting for space. And all it takes is one little push of the poor bicyclist,and off he goes."

He added, "Our greatest enemy today is the drug and drinking scene."

A number of people mentioned, as did Wilson, other factors that contributeto bicycle-motor vehicle accidents -- such as visibility problems and bikers'disregard for the law.

Robert D. Eaton, director of communications and marketing at the MassachusettsSafety Council in Boston, said that nationally, in 80 percent of all suchaccidents, the bicyclist has violated some traffic law, even though driversalso violated a law in 50 percent of the cases. In addition, he said, one-halfof all such accidents occur at intersections.

"Quite often, there are visibility problems," he said. "The silhouetteof a bike can be hard to see."

A survey by the American Automobile Association made it clear that manydrivers regard bicyclists as annoyances, according to Caroline Hymoff,manager of safety services for the AAA in Massachusetts.

"About a year ago in our AAA World magazine we did a survey on motorists'pet peeves . . . and right up there with tailgating and leaving your directionalon were cyclists," she said.

Jurgen Leschner, a Cambridge resident who commutes to work in Burlingtonon his bicycle -- a 40-minute, 13-mile ride -- said he is "less scaredof loonies who are trying to hit me purposefully than of people who areignorant and don't know what they're doing."

Leschner, who lived and biked in Germany before moving to the UnitedStates, acknowledges being obstinate -- and breaking traffic laws at times-- as a matter, he said, of self-preservation. "I would rather ride inthe middle of the lane and block traffic," he said of riding on narrowroads, ''than let someone zoom past me with squealing wheels and leavingme only six inches of space."

Several bicyclists commented that roads in and around Boston weren'tdesigned to accommodate both cars and bicycles and that such space limitationsmay well be a factor that fosters hostility.

Wilson terms the attitude of motorists toward cyclists as "at best tenuous"and at worst "downright hostile."

"Drivers," he said, "remind me of terrorists. They know that in a head-to-head battle, the cyclist has little hope against a motor vehicle travelingat 40 or 50 miles an hour."

Wilson, a Cambridge resident, rides a recumbent bike of his own designvirtually everywhere he goes. Because he spends so much time on a bicycle,he has more than his share of horror stories to tell.

But he has not often found a willing audience, he said, in his effortsto kindle an interest in the problem of "cycling terrorism" among motorists,police departments, departments of public works, bicycling magazines, andeven bicyclists themselves.

Wilson recalls the time he proposed to do a series on the dangers createdby motorists for Cycling Magazine. "The editor accepted only one of thethree parts I initially offered," Wilson said. "He told me that any morethan that would be giving too much attention to a negative aspect of cycling."

Wilson also has written to various public agencies but hasn't receiveda reply. "I had to call them several times, and then I was just brushedaside."

For one thing, Wilson said, traffic laws regarding bicycles should bepublicized. "Bicyclists are frequently told, even by police, that theyhave no right to be on the road," he said.

As for cyclists, Wilson acknowledges that many don't obey the rulesof the road and are resistant to changing their habits. "General bicyclingbehavior in the Boston area is at least as lawless as that of drivers,"he said.

Bikers are especially prone to drive against traffic, rather than withit, he said. But he quickly added, "I understand them wanting to see whatmight be coming toward them. Can you blame them? A Fuji is no match fora Ford."

Wilson has been hit by motorists on three occasions, twice by hit-and-rundrivers.

It is this hit-and-run syndrome that especially infuriates him. "It'sbad enough to drive carelessly around a cyclist, but then to ignore thefact that you've hit someone, well . . ."

He mentioned, as an example, the case of 26-year-old Steven Krutt ofNewton, who was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver while ridinghis bicycle on the Broadway Bridge in South Boston in June. Krutt apparentlylay on the bridge for 15 minutes without anyone stopping to help him, policesaid.

In spite of his bad experiences, Wilson says he harbors no hatred towardmotorists. But he says that other bicyclists aren't so patient or forgiving.

He mentions a Dorchester man who strapped a rifle to the crossbar ofhis bike and sent a picture of it to a bicycling magazine, describing therifle as one of his "commuting accessories."

EXPERT ON BICYCLE SAFETY OFFERS SEVERAL LIFE-SAVING SUGGESTIONS

An expert on bicycle safety offers several suggestions to bicyclistsin the event they are threatened by motorists.

First, she said, remain calm, don't yell and don't try to fight back.

"In those situations, the motorist is beyond reason and the motoristcan do more damage," said Diana Lewiston, a consultant for the Palo Alto,Calif., Police Department who teaches a class on proper riding technique.

Some other tips:

- Get on a sidewalk.

- Turn onto another road.

- Get a license number. Lewiston said when she was harassed by a motoristwho was driving close beside her, yelling the car's license plate numberwas an effective deterrent.

Additionally, Lewiston said, bicyclists can take a number of measuresto help ease tensions between motorists and bikers.

First, she said, follow the rules of the road.

"I use my bicycle exactly as I would use a car," she said, adding thatbicyclists should avoid quick motions that confuse drivers, always stopat
lights and stop signs and signal when turning.

Other suggestions:

- Buy a rear-view mirror. A mirror serves the same function as in acar. The kind that attach to helmet or glasses are the best and cost onlya few
dollars.

- Wear a helmet. If the worst happens, it could save your life.

- Use lights at night. Reflectors aren't enough. Lights attached bya strap to legs are the most noticeable.

TRAFFIC LAWS FOR CYCLISTS

Traffic laws for bicyclists are generally the same as they are for motorvehicle operators, according to Kathi Connelly, a spokeswoman for the Registryof Motor Vehicles.

Of course, some differences do exist. Bicycle riders should ride singlefile, pass on the right and are not allowed to have passengers -- exceptin a baby seat.

At night, bicycle riders must have a light on the front and reflectorson the back and pedals.

"Basically," said Connelly, "the rules are common sense."