Boston Globe Editorial, November 8, 1997
The recent tragic accident in which School Committee member WilliamSpring was seriously injured by a bicycle courier has touched a nerve inBoston, where bike messengers have become a menace as well as a conveniencefor residents and workers downtown.
Couriers operate in a high-pressure business where speed is at a premium,working for commissions as independent contractors with no benefits. Thiscan encourage reckless riding, and indeed, a culture of risk-taking hasdeveloped that attracts thrill-loving bikers to these jobs. Hundreds offines have been levied for infractions of the rules of the road, but policereport that the number of accidents involving cyclists remains high.
New approaches are needed. First, though Boston has taken some stepsto regulate the industry by requiring licenses for cyclists, little hasbeen done to ensure that messenger services are providing the trainingin safe cycling that the law requires. If the companies were held accountablefor their employees, perhaps through a system of progressive fines foreach infraction, they might ease up on their demands for speed. Also, thecurrent license requirement that messengers sign a declaration of familiaritywith the rules of the road should be replaced by a written test.
Even more promising is the reaction by John Hamill, president of FleetBank, who plans to bring business leaders together to discuss the problem.As the heads of the corporations that fuel the messenger business, theyhave the power first to refuse to hire unlicensed messengers, and secondto pressure the services to provide working conditions that will reducethe premium for recklessness. Treating messengers as employees insteadof independent contractors would help.
No array of measures will eliminate all collisions, and those that addressthe messenger services will not reduce the hazards experienced by recreationalcyclists or pedestrians. But better regulation, more responsibility bythe companies, and continued vigilance by police may save Boston's streetsfrom descending into anarchy.
This story ran on page A16 of the Boston Globe on 11/08/97.© Copyright 1997 Globe Newspaper Company.
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