Civic leader still in coma after being struck
By Beth Daley, Boston Globe Staff and Jason Pring GlobeCorrespondent, 11/07/97
As Boston School Committee member William Spring crossed the streeton his nightly walk home from work last Thursday, tragedy struck. A bicyclecourier slammed into him.
Spring, 62, a Federal Reserve Bank vice president who is nationallyknown for his education efforts, remains in a coma at Beth Israel DeaconessMedical Center.
The accident stunned family and friends, who have responded with outpouringsof public support, and private bewilderment that a simple walk home couldturn so disastrous. The episode has also sparked renewed outrage at thescores of bicycle couriers who race past pedestrians to deliver mail thatpays by the package.
''There is almost no one who doesn't have a story about couriers,''said Boston attorney Carmen Durso, who was hit last year as he tried tocross Bromfield Street downtown. ''That messenger said to me, `If I wasgoing faster, I would have really hurt you.' ... They have no concern.''
But bicycle couriers say pedestrians often appear out of nowhere onstreets, and expect to have the right of way.
Yesterday, Fleet Bank president John Hamill said in an interview thathe views couriers as a hazard to pedestrians and that he intends to meetwith other Boston business leaders about the issue. ''We have to find asolution,'' Hamill said. ''And if we cannot come to an agreement, the businesscommunity should seek alternative ways to have these messages deliveredto our place of business.''
Spring was hit only yards from his front door on Commonwealth Avenueby bike messenger Jonathan Gladstone, 28, of Somerville, a courier withBrattle Courier of Cambridge, Boston police said. Spring was crossing CommonwealthAvenue at Clarendon Street when Gladstone hit him, said Margot Hill, asergeant detective with the Boston Police Department. The accident is stillunder investigation.
Gladstone, who suffered head injuries and was hospitalized, was notregistered as a courier in Boston as required, Hill said.
Gladstone declined comment yesterday about the accident. But he saidin an interview that he has applied for a courier's license in Boston sincethe accident. Brattle Courier did not return phone calls. Cambridge doesnot require couriers to have courier licenses.
Yesterday, dozens of people stopped by Beth Israel or called Spring'swife, Micho Spring, a well-known political strategist who is presidentof the Boston office of Bozell Sawyer Miller Group and was chief policyadviser to former Mayor Kevin White. Spring has three adult children froma previous marriage, and two teenage children with Micho, ages 13 and 16.Spring suffered serious facial and head injuries and his condition yesterdaywas critical. ''The enormous outpouring of love and affection for Billhas provided great support to our family and we are very grateful,'' MichoSpring said in a prepared statement yesterday.
Spring, a 1959 Harvard graduate, is a former member of President JimmyCarter's domestic policy staff and is considered a specialist in job training.He spearheaded the Boston Compact in 1982, an agreement between businesses- which pledged jobs for students - and the Boston public schools, whichpledged to lower dropout rates and improve students' performance in return.
Spring has also been a tireless champion for decades of school-to-careerinitiatives for Boston youth. He is co-chair of MassJobs Council and recentlywas appointed to head a high school restructuring task force in the schoolsystem.
Boston police, who say some couriers are clearly out of control, havean ongoing task force looking at better ways to police couriers[sic]. BrendanFlynn, assistant to the police commissioner, said he estimates that thereare more than two courier accidents a month involving cars, and more involvingpedestrians. Precise numbers were not available.
Since 1992, Boston couriers have been required to have a $20 license,and wear orange reflective vests and helmets when riding. Flynn says thereare 300 registered couriers but ''it is our guess there are five timesthat number operating'' in Boston.
In the last year, police have handed out hundreds of $20 to $100 finesranging from infractions of the rules of the road to not having a license,Flynn said. Police, pedestrians, drivers and even some courier servicemanagers said yesterday the subculture of the bike messenger business canbe confrontational.
''Not all bike messengers do this, but a minority do,'' said officerKenneth Westhaver, who patrols Beacon Hill by bike. ''I've seen a couriergo through a red light, almost get hit by the car, and the bike messengerstarted spitting on the car, yelling at the driver. People get hit withbike locks.''
Bicycle couriers defended their work yesterday and said the job createstense situations. Bicycle courier Adam Ford, 27, says his job can be ''themost exhilarating single experience you can have downtown, but it can alsobe the most frustrating and galling,'' because of jaywalkers who squeezebetween cars to cross a street.
This story ran on page A01 of the Boston Globe on 11/07/97.© Copyright 1997 Globe Newspaper Company.
It's misguided to blame Boston bicycle couriers
By Tanja Foulds Dorchester, 11/08/97
I am writing in response to the article ''Outcry over bicycle couriers,''(Page 1, Nov. 7).
I also was saddened to read about the accident that seriously injuredWilliam Spring. My thoughts and sympathy go out to his family.
My husband is a bike courier who works harder than anyone I know. Thejob is demanding, Boston weather is far from ideal, potholes and constructioncause hazards every day, and Bostonians are world known for their erraticdriving.
The article suggests that the city may seek alternative ways to havemessages delivered. By car? By cab? These seem to be the only alternatives,and I can only guess that using these modes of transportation would causemore accidents and deaths.
Bike couriers provide a service that businesses depend upon and value.People in downtown Boston must all be more aware of the people and vehiclesaround them. This includes couriers, drivers, and pedestrians. All groupsmust try to understand each other's needs.
This story ran on page A A16 16 of the Boston Globe on11/08/97. c Copyright 1997 Globe Newspaper Company.
Re: Bill Spring accident
Milton Trimitsis (miltont@world.std.com) Thu, 6 Nov 1997 20:59:37 -0500(EST)
On Thu, 6 Nov 1997, Betsy Johnson wrote:
> Does anyone know more about the circumstances surrounding BillSpring, Fed. Bank executive and Boston school committee member's beinghit by a bicyclist recently on Commonwealth Ave.? Was the accident at anintersection? Was there a red or green light?
the cyclist who was involved in the accident is a customer and friendfrom the shop at which i work. he described the circumstances of the accidentto me thusly:
he was traveling on commonwealth ave toward the intersection of clarendon.he slowed for a red light, then the light turned green and he accelleratedthrough it. after the light changed, a pedestrian stepped out from betweenparked cars just beyond the intersection, directly into my friend's path.the top of my friend's head hit the pedestrian's face, knocking the pedestrianto the ground.
my friend indicated that the police report accurately reflected thenature of the incident. he also said that he was pleasantly surprised atthe respectful treatment he got from the police investigator.
my friend is recovering from his injuries, but has not yet been ableto return to work. the reports he has gotten of the pedestrian's conditionare cautiously optimistic.
milton trimitsis
Fwd: bike msgr
From: Andy Hong (Go Speed Racer!) <sracer@media.mit.edu> Date:Fri, 7 Nov 1997 18:42:17 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: bike msgr
[...stuff about pedestrian crossing against the light...] Jonathan,the bike messenger, is friend of mine. Some interesting stuff that wasleft out of the above description: The pedestrian was running across thestreet, trying to beat the traffic as the light had just changed. Afterthe impact, when Jonathan realized he was bleeding profusely from his head(no helmet!!!), he reached up and felt what seemed like shards of crackedskull. At the hospital, two of the pedestrian's teeth were pulled out ofJonathan's head. Jonathan tried everything he could to help the fallenpedestrian... and only noticed his own injury after he'd checked on thepedestrian and called for help. When the reporter called him, the reporterexplicitly answered Jonathan's question about the article tone with a YES,the article would be anti-bike.
- -- andyhong
Re: massbike-digest V1 #473 - Mess/Ped Accident
Jonathan M. Gladstone (stooge@shore.net) Sat, 8 Nov 1997 10:29:51 -0500
>> If the messenger says that he went through a green lightand that Spring was jaywalking (as claimed by Milton Trimitsis on thismailing list yesterday), it's very unfortunate that he did not choose totell this to the Globe reporters. How do we know that he did not?
in fact, the reporter had that information from the police report(she told me briefly what she understood to be the facts, which were accurate).
She chose not to print them.
If you have comments or suggestions, email me at messvilleto@yahoo.com