WCVB, Boston (ABC Affiliate)
This Editorial aired May 4, 1998
Last fall, a bicycle courier in New York ran down and killed a pedestrian there. Here in Boston, a School Committee member nearly lost his life when a bicycle courier mowed him down on Commonwealth Avenue. Mindful of the dangers, the Boston Police Department proposed strengthening our bicycle ordinance. But despite some initial hand-wringing, that ordinance has yet to pass the City Council.
It needs approval there, and in the state legislature. The bill would impose tougher requirements for bicycle couriers to identify themselves,-- markings on their backs or backpacks, license plates on their bicycle seats, and the courier's license in an armband. Both messenger service and couriers would have to be insured. Fines for failure would be hiked, and, if warranted, the police commissioner could revoke courier licenses.
Police must act to penalize bicycle messengers who operate to endanger. But lawmakers should increase those penalties so they mean something. The City Council must recognize that a bicycle can be a deadly weapon when its rider recklessly disregards public safety.
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