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Hard
line needed on these bikers
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Chicago Tribune, March 2, 2008
By Eric Zorn
Bad news. Law enforcement officials tell me they have no plans to try
to file criminal charges against the organizers of the Tour Da Chicago.
The Tour, an unsanctioned bike race through city streets, ended in
tragedy a week ago when rider Matthew Manger-Lynch was struck and
killed by a sport-utility vehicle as he rode against a red light
through the six-corner intersection of Irving Park Road and Lincoln and
Damen Avenues.
It was a tragedy for Manger-Lynch, 29, and his family and friends, but
it could have been worse: The SUV could have swerved to avoid him and
smacked into a hapless pedestrian, another car, a storefront or a
concrete abutment. Bystanders could have been killed.
I drive through that intersection all the time and it's usually
harum-scarum, with left-turners, right-turners, bus passengers milling
about and customers from area shops crossing aggressively.
Those who planned to send bike racers through that spot or through any
of the red-light intersections along the route showed contemptibly
reckless disregard for public safety.
These events -- like outlaw drag races -- are exercises in selfishness
dressed up in the self-righteousness of hard-core bicyclists.
"To blame the victim for dying such a tragic death, I think, is an
injustice," a local cycling organizer told ABC-Ch. 7's Chuck Goudie.
"It's an injustice that our culture is so embedded in auto use and the
convenience of autos that we're willing to let our friends and loved
ones be killed."
No. It's an injustice that those who organize these illegal races that
risk the lives of friends and loved ones all around can continue to do
so without fear of prosecution.
The arrogant fatuity of hard-core bicyclists was on display last night
on ABC-7 news when Chuck Goudie interviewed "longtime cycling organizer
Alex Wilson " about the death of a Chicago man Sunday who ran a red
light while engaged in an illegal cycle race through city streets and
was struck by an SUV:
To blame the victim for dying such a tragic death I
think is an injustice. It's an injustice that our culture is so
embedded in auto use and the convenience of autos that we're willing to
let our friends and loved ones be killed.
No, we are not "willing" to let them be killed. We think it's
contemptible and odious that organizers and participants in such races
are "willing" to risk not only their lives but the lives of all
innocent people in their paths to participate in this "sport."
I'm sorry to report that Chicago Police and Cook County prosecutors are
not planning to pursue charges charges against those who organized
Sunday's race.
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