businestoday.com
Wednesday, November 12, 1997
By Tim Cornell and Tony Munroe
Sparked by a tragic accident involving a prominent Boston educator andbanker,some local business leaders are calling for new curbs on bike messengersand are launching a boycott in the meantime.
``A lot of people are upset, and rightfully so,'' said Fleet Bank ofMassachusetts President John Hammill. ``Clearly a lot of incidents havehappened.''
Until tighter rules are in place, one of Boston's most influential publicistsGeorge K. Regan Jr. says businesses should hit bicycle couriers where ithurts most.
``Until sanity prevails and measures are put into place to avoid anothersuch accident as befell Bill Spring, we are no longer going to accept packagesdelivered by bicycle couriers,'' said Regan, president of Regan Communications.He has asked other businesses to do the same.
A run-in with a bike messenger that left William Spring, 62, an admiredmember of the Boston School Committee and a vice-president at the FederalReserve Bank of Boston, in a coma led to the latest round of outrage attwo-wheeled outlaws.
Spring was struck by an unlicensed bike courier while crossing ClarendonStreet at Commonwealth Avenue on Nov. 4. Spring, under care at Beth IsraelHospital, is not expected to recover, officials said. Alarmed, a numberof businesses are calling for a crackdown on bicycle outlaws.
Hammill has called for the executive board of the Boston Area Chamberof Commerce to discuss the issue tomorrow. In the past week, he has metwith Police Commissioner Paul Evans and a number of business leaders.
``We're working to determine if we can make changes in the way the regulationsapply,'' Hammill said. ``If we cannot we need to find a different way todeliver our packages in the city.''
But even before Spring's accident, a task force has been busily craftingnew regulations aimed at cracking down on bicycle outlaws.
``They engage in their own form of bicycle road rage,'' said Bostonpolice spokeswoman Det. Sgt. Margot Hill. ``Banging on car doors, screamingat pedestrians.''
Laws in place since 1991 require bike messengers to wear a large numberas they pedal through the city, making it easy to report a pedaling roadwarrior.
But since then, the number of couriers has exploded from 150 to over500, and many of them don't wear their numbers.
``If a person is violated by one of these couriers and can't reportit, it's almost impossible to enforce the law against these people,'' Hillsaid.
Until the new ordinance is in place, Hill suggested businesses takea careful look at the couriers they use. They should check out whethertheir couriers are registered with the city, and how many complaints havebeen lodged against them.
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