By Zachary R. Dowdy, Globe Staff, 11/14/97
The Boston Chamber of Commerce yesterday urged all firms to employonly licensed bicycle couriers who follow rules and regulations, and the Police Department announced the imposition of high fines for a courier who struck a pedestrian and left him in a coma two weeks ago.
Paul Guzzi, president and chief executive officer of the 1,600-member chamber, said, ''The reason for taking this action was to say to our members that at minimum, we should make sure companies we do business with are complying with current ordinances.''
The unanimous decision by the chamber's executive board was the most recent development in a burgeoning campaign to better regulate the bicycle couriers. The attempts at a crackdown were spurred by an accident involving William Spring, 62, a School Committee member and vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, who was struck by a bicycle courier as he walked in a crosswalk on Oct. 30. Spring remained in the intensive care unit at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center last night.
The courier, Jonathan Gladstone, who was not licensed, was cited Monday by Boston police for failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk, even though the light was green for Gladstone just before impact, said Margot Hill, a police spokeswoman.
She said the crash is still under investigation.
Hill said that Gladstone was fined a total of $220: $100 for not wearing the vest required under a city ordinance; $100 for not being licensed, and $20 under the state law mandating deference to pedestrians in crosswalks.
Gladstone, who declined to comment yesterday, has 21 days to request a hearing.
Hill added that a task force reviewing strategies to increase safety on the streets is considering proposals including a new ordinance that would hike fines and require couriers to carry liability insurance.
Some courier firms said harsher laws and higher fines are not necessary, that reckless messengers are on the roads because existing laws are not enforced.
Hill disputed that.
''The ability to enforce lies heavily on people to abide by the rules set out in the guidelines,'' Hill said. ''It's hard to enforce laws, as so often is the case, in hit and run cases.''
But Regina Stone, president and owner of Boston Bicycle Couriers, said city leaders' focus on couriers amounts to a ''witch hunt,'' and that they are generating fear of couriers when few violate the laws.
''First they have to make sure they can enforce what's already on the books,'' Stone said. ''If they can't enforce what is there now, then how will putting stiffer fines on couriers change anything?''
But Jack Avery, vice president of branch operations for Choice Courier Systems, Inc., welcomed stricter guidelines.
''If higher fines are what it's going to take, then it's important for us all to follow through,'' he said, adding that couriers should carry liability insurance.
Conrad Willeman, executive director of the Bicycle Coalition of Massachusetts, said the crackdown on the courier industry is ''well-intentioned, but misguided'' since couriers are not the only travelers who break the laws, nor are they the most perilous travelers, he said.
''There's a lot of abuse by bicyclists, motorists, and pedestrians,'' he said, adding that education for all parties, including pedestrians, would make the streets safer.
Couriers need only pay $20 to become licensed. They are subject to a criminal background check and must wear a vest displaying a number for identification purposes.
Though some firms, like Choice Courier, have their couriers complete an orientation course that includes discussion of traffic laws, the completion of a standardized course is not required.
One courier, Tim Morris, said that pedestrians place everyone at risk when they dart out from between parked cars and tend not to look when crossing streets. Indeed, Boston police say that Spring was crossing against the light.
''It doesn't appeal to me to hit anyone,'' Morris said, adding that in his four years working as a courier, he has never struck a pedestrian or motorist.
''When we hit something, we usually get hurt, too. We might be intimidating, but we're not trying to hurt anyone.''
This story ran on page D27 of the Boston Globe on 11/14/97. c Copyright 1997 Globe Newspaper Company.
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