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| LICENSE TO ROLL: Lt. Detective James Curran of the Boston Police Licensing Unit holds up the new bicycle messenger license at Boston police headquarters yesterday. |
By Laura Brown
Boston Herald, December 11, 1998
Tough new regulations designed to make the city's bicycle messengers safer and more accountable take effect in Boston on New Year's Day, police officials said yesterday.
Under the new rules, bicycle messenger services and their couriers have to obtain licenses from the city, renew them annually and carry insurance.
Each messenger's identification number has to be boldly displayed on the cyclist's person and bike, so the courier can be easily identified if there is an accident, officials said.
"We are very hopeful this is going to makes the streets safer and bring accountability to an industry that has blossomed over the past few years, said Micho Spring, who husband William Spring, spent six weeks in a coma after being struck by a bicycle messenger in October 1997.
The couple worker hard to pass the home rule petition that mandated an overhaul in the city's bicycle courier regulations.
The new rules call for fines of up to $300 if the messengers fail to carry a license and do not display the identification numbers.
The insurance rules require each service to prove it carries at least $50,000 in property coverage and $100,000 in coverage for personal injuries or death.
Messenger services required to hire only licensed couriers.
As a result of the tighter regulations city officials expect to see a drop in the number bicycle couriers who current number about 300, said Boston police Lt. Detective James T. Curran.
"We're not trying to put them out of business, we're just trying to bring them into compliance", he said.
Along with the new regulations, police also plan to crack down on couriers who violate traffic rules by failing to stop at red lights, driving the wrong way on one-way streets or riding on the sidewalk in the business district. Curran said.
"Serious injuries have resulted by them not driving the right direction on a street", he said. "Even though they have to observe, we have noticed a great increase in lack of compliance with the laws."
Couriers can apply for the new licenses - which replace any former licenses - between December 14 and December 31, Curran said.
For more on this story visit the Boston Crash Controversey
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