Boston Herald, November 14, 1997
By Mark Mueller.
Ratcheting up the pressure on reckless bicycle couriers, Boston's largest business organization yesterday urged a boycott of messenger companies that flout the law.
The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, following a morning vote by its executive committee, urged businesses across Boston to use only those courier services whose employees obtain and carry city licenses and wear vests emblazoned with a large, three-digit number, making them easily identifiable to motorists and pedestrians.
Licenses and vests are already required by city law but Boston's estimated 500 couriers routinely work without them. Yesterday's action was the latest in a campaign to rein in couriers considered rude and dangerous. The move was sparked by an Oct. 30 incident between a bicycle courier and Boston School Committee member William Spring, 62, who remained in the intensive care unit of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center yesterday. No charges have been filed.
"By insisting that all messengers services and their employees comply with already existing laws, Boston's business community can have a dramatic impact on improving pedestrian safety in our community," said John Hamill, president of Fleet Bank and a member of the chamber's executive committee.
A task force of police and community officials also is looking to revamp courier regulations, hiking fines and perhaps requiring liability insurance.
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