Boston Herald, January 5, 1999
See note below for missing facts
(AP) A 54-year-old Lowell man was in serious condition today after being struck by a cyclist on Summer Street in Boston.
The accident happened on Monday, the first business day after a new law regulating bicycle couriers went into effect. Police were trying to determine whether the cyclist is in fact a courier. If so he could face fines of up to $125.
The legislation, which went into effect Jan. 1, requires bicycle couriers to have licenses, identification numbers, license plates and $200,000 insurance coverage. The law was spurred by another accident when a courier ran down a school official.
Alex Taylor, wearing an orange hat, sunglasses and a bike chain as an accessory, is one of hundreds of bicycle couriers in the city concerned over the new regulations.
``Now that we're insured, we're big targets to be sued,'' said Taylor, a Boston Bicycle Couriers messenger.
The 25-year-old said it has been easy to point fingers at couriers because the group - many of which often don brightly colored hairdos, tattoos and piercings - is hard to miss.
``We've been singled out because we're unrepresented and visible,'' said Taylor, who also complained that the metal bicycle plate is too sharp and close to the seat.
``It can potentially gouge the leg,'' he said.
Other critics question the logic that requires cyclists to carry much more insurance than taxi drivers and complain that insurance is difficult and costly for many small bike messenger companies to obtain.
The law comes more than a year after a bicycle courier crashed into William Spring, a Boston bank executive and school committee member who was in a coma for five weeks after the October 1997 accident. Angry officials brought the initiative to the City Council, who passed the measure in June.
Spring, who was 62 at the time of the accident, has mostly recovered but wears an eye patch. He hopes the new law will result in fewer injuries and deaths.
Boston police estimate 30 couriers and 60 pedestrians are injured every year. The city has about 250 licensed couriers.
``I'm very hopeful (about the ordinance),'' Spring said. ``Boston is a walkable city and it has to remain a city you can walk in safety.''
Messengers contend inattentive pedestrians who jaywalk or walk right in their path account for many accidents.
Boston Police Lt. Jim Curran said the ordinance is not intended to brand couriers as ``bad people.''
``A lot of people do jaywalk, but it comes down to the pedestrian has the right of way,'' Curran said.
Curran said road violations such as running a red light or riding on the sidewalk can incur a fine of $20 for couriers. Fines are steeper for riding without an ID or plate. Three violations can run up to $300.
Sgt. Det. Margot Hill, Boston police spokeswoman, said the 23-year-old cyclist who struck the Lowell man Monday was an employee of Brookline-based Boston Express Delivery Services.
He was apparently riding a personal bicycle, and not delivering a package for the company at the time of the accident.
Hill said Boston Express is not licensed to operate a bicycle courier service in the city of Boston. If the cyclist is not a messenger, he can still be fined $25 for riding the wrong way on a one way street, Hill said.
Since much of the reporting in this accident is selective when it comes to the facts, Messengerville has included some. These types of serious accidents involving bike couriers are extremely rare. The Gladstone/Spring accident occurred when a pedestrian (William Spring) ran across the street against a red light and collided with the cyclist (Gladstone) who was proceeding through a green light.
The bicycle messenger ordinance in effect at the time already required bicycle couriers to have licenses, wear visible identification numbers, and have license plates on their bikes. It also required messenger companies to register with the city. Much to the dismay of the anti-bike types, the only new requirement is insurance. Automobile couriers face no similar requirements.
Since the accident took place at an intersection crosswalk Gladstone was ticketed because, under the law vehicles must yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk - even if the pedestrian is jaywalking. The fines he received were: "$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. In other words $200 for bureaucratic violations and $20 for traffic violations.
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