By Mary Beth Polley
Boston University Daily Free Press, November 1997
Dodging cars and pedestrians, bicycle couriers race to beat the clock,transporting packages from one side of the city to the other. But if theGreater Boston Chamber of Commerce gets its way, the renegade cyclistsmay soon find themselves curbed.
In response to an accident that left a prominent banker in a coma, theChamber of Commerce and the Boston Police Department are seeking to imposestiff regulations on bicycle couriers. The Chamber of Commerce voted unanimouslylast Thursday to urge city businesses to use only licensed couriers whocarry the required messenger vest and license.
The police department also plans to impose tougher penalties for courierswho do not comply with the laws.
The changes come in response to an Oct. 30 accident involving WilliamSpring, vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Courier JonathanGladstone struck Spring as he crossed Commonwealth Avenue.
Spring remained in a coma at Beth Israel Hospital yesterday.
Gladstone was fined a total of $220 for the accident— $100 for not wearinga vest, $100 for not being licensed and $20 for not yielding to pedestrians.
"It was a signal that we needed to do something," said BostonPolice spokeswoman Margot Hill. Police sometimes need a special push, suchas a high-profile case, to bring the issue to the forefront, she said.
But according to Conrad Willeman, executive director of the BicycleCoalition of Massachusetts, there are three reasons for the new restrictions:First, a courier was involved, and couriers have a high visibility; second,the accident involved a prominent citizen; and third, accidents involvingcouriers are a rarity, and when they occur they make the news.
Many couriers and courier companies contend that current laws are strictenough. Enforcement is the problem, they said. The recent move to tightenregulations is the result of hysteria rather than responsible examinationof the problem, Willeman said.
"A great number of police are not really even aware of trafficlaws," he added.
The new laws should make enforcement easier because the penalties involvingcyclists who do not wear some form of identification will be stricter,Hill said. If police cannot identify a biker, they cannot prosecute themfor not following the laws.
"He probably wasn't even aware of the law," said Regina Stone,president and owner of Boston Bicycle Couriers, adding that Gladstone wasfrom Cambridge where the laws regarding pedestrians are different.
She also added that couriers from outside Boston are probably not licensedbecause other areas, including Cambridge, do not require the measure.
Other couriers agree that the prominence of the victim affected thepolice and Chamber of Commerce's response. Many feel that the police andChamber of Commerce are ignoring the real cause of traffic accidents involvingpedestrians: cars.
From 1994-96 there were 1,348 accidents involving pedestrians and motorvehicles, 43 of which were fatal. During the same time period, there were412 accidents involving motor vehicles and bicyclists, only four of whichwere fatal.
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