By Andy Dabilis and Matthew Falconer
Boston Globe, January 5,1999
See note below for missing facts
A 54-year-old pedestrian was seriously injured yesterday when he was struck by a bicycle being ridden the wrong way down one-way Summer Street in Boston, police said.
The victim, who was not identified, suffered head injuries and was rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital. He was listed in serious condition last night, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
Police said the victim stepped out from behind a parked Boston Edison truck at 58 Summer St., between Arch and Otis, about 1:30 p.m. and was hit by the cyclist. The bicyclist told police he was pedaling to work after delivering a van for his employer, a courier service. Police did not identify the company or the bicyclist.
The accident occurred four days after new regulations governing bicycle courier services went into effect, the aftermath of a 1997 accident in which William Spring, a Federal Reserve Bank vice-president, was seriously injured when struck by a bicycle courier as he crossed a Back Bay street.
Boston Police Sergeant Margot Hill said it was unclear whether the new regulations would apply because police were uncertain whether the bicyclist was working as a courier at the time of the crash or even whether the courier company used bicycle messengers.
The regulations require bicycle couriers to be insured, have licenses, wear visible identification numbers, and have license plates on their bikes.
The cyclist and his employer did not have licenses, she said.
Hill said it would not be determined if the bicyclist would be charged until accident reconstruction teams finish their investigation.
''It has to be determined what kind of business this person was doing, if any,'' she said.
The regulations were sponsored by Boston City Councilor Thomas M.Keane Jr. (Back Bay), a neighbor of Spring. Keane said yesterday that while the details of the accident are not known, ''it's incredibly ironic and I'm sure it's going to cause another outcry.'' But he cautioned against unfairly criticizing the bicycle courier industry.
''If you have cars racing around it is more dangerous than bicycles, so the courier business performs a valuable function,'' he said. ''People who are not couriers do not have to be licensed on a bike, so the tough thing we've always known is that anyone... a courier or anyone else, can act crazy on a bike and pose a danger to a pedestrian.''
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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