By Michael Glover, Boston Globe, 05/13/98
The City Council committee on public safety voiced unanimous supportyesterday for an ordinance submitted by Mayor Thomas M. Menino and PoliceCommissioner Paul F. Evans that would impose stricter regulations on registrationand identification of Boston's bicycle messengers and couriers.
The councilors expressed fear that some couriers are reckless and irresponsibleand said they hoped that the ordinance would encourage safer behavior.
''A small cadre of couriers place citizens of the city in jeopardy,''said Councilor
Francis Roche. ''When they whizz by you, they startle you. Some ...have no consideration.''
The home-rule petition resulted from a task force assigned to assessbicycle messengers in Boston after Federal Reserve vice president and SchoolCommittee member William Spring was badly injured last October when struckby an unlicensed messenger.
''Many other people have talked about what a menace bike messengersare,'' Spring said yesterday in a telephone interview from his home, wherehe is recovering. ''The attempt is to get them to obey the rules of theroad that other vehicles do.''
Spring said he expects to return to work in the fall.
The measure requires all couriers to be insured individually or throughtheir company to get a license. A minimum of $50,000 liability for propertydamage, $50,000 for an accident causing injury or death of one person,and $100,000 for injury or death of two or more people would be required.
The ordinance is designed to be self-correcting by forcing courier companiesto answer to insurance companies who may threaten them with higher ratesfor reckless couriers.
The ordinance would also shorten license registration from two yearsto one, require courier companies to submit a monthly list of employeesto police, require couriers to reapply for a license each time they changecourier companies, and give the police commissioner the power to rejectany license application.
The ordinance would also force couriers to wear armbands, identificationpatches on their pouches, and license plates on their bicycles.
Background checks would be conducted to determine if a candidate issuitable for licensing.
The addition of the police commissioner role conflicts with state lawnecessitating a home-rule petition.
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