HERALD'S TYPICALLY ONE-SIDED VIEWPOINT OF COURIERS
November 14, 1997
Goerge Regan and other three-pieced jaywalkers are foolish hypocriteswho blame their own clarelessness on the easiest target -- bike couriers.These raving crusaders (who stand in the middle of some busy downtown streetshaking a fist) are exceeded in their luncacy only by the Herald's typicallyone-sided viewpoint.
Bike messengers must be one of the hardest-working, under-appreciatedgroups in the Boston work force. Yet businessmen habitually waltz out oftheir downtown towers and meander across the street without regard forpedestrian regulations or common courtesy. Downtown, the majority of motoristsand bicyclists obey traffic rules. The majority of pedestrians don't.
Only a cynic would wonder if Regan and the kangaroo task force wouldhave reacted in a similar manner had the victim been a homeless black man.Maybe next time he could just open his eyes, pay attention, and shut hiswhining trap.
Dale Lake
South Boston
MUTUAL RESPECT NEEDED FROM ALL CITY TRAVELERS
November 15, 1997
I have been commuting to the financial district on a bicycle from myhome for well over three years, and have been subjected daily to a lackof respect for bicycles by vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
The demand for courtesy on the roads needs to start with pedestrianswho don't jaywalk and vehicles that don't blindly deposit their passengersinto traffic.
To suggest that the entire boston bicycle messenger community is a packof outlaws and renegades because of a tragic, yet isolated incident issimply wrong ("Curbing our couriers," Nov. 13). These men andwomen are trying to earn a living in a city that prides itself on its bustlingactivity, and are doing so without adding more cars to city streets alreadychoked with traffic. Required liability insurance, a proposed measure to"control" bicycle messengers, would only send all but the largestof these companies out of business.
What's needed is a mutual respect for all people using our roads andenforcement of traffic laws across the board, not just on a minority ofpeople.
McLaren Brennan,
Boston
TEAMWORK IS NECESSARY TO IMPROVE BIKE SAFETY
November 17, 1997
Bicycle messengers have been an integral part of the Boston businesslandscape since the 1970s. They provide a necessary service to virtuallyevery business in this city, delivering thousands of documents every day.
For some members of the business community, including your newspaper,to chastise all couriers as being hazardous and reckless is both appallingand unfair ("Curbing our couriers," Nov. 13).
We all agree that the accident that happened two weeks ago between acourier from Cambridge and a pedestrian was tragic. However, there havebeen serious injuries to couriers over the past 20 years due to the recklessnessof motor vehicles drivers and jaywalkers, but we never heard an outcrythen!
Until business leaders and the police are willing to work together withcouriers and courier companies for the common good, no change in legislationwill ever work.
Regina Stone, President,
Boston Bicycle Couriers, Inc.
If you have comments or suggestions, email me at messvilleto@yahoo.com