Regular Collum by Malatesta
Mercury Rising #2, November 1991
As messengers, we are a highly visible community whose future depends heavily on the promotion of bicycles, check?! Every day more people everywhere are realizing the advantages of pedal power, yet many remain discouraged by a society largely ignorant and hostile towards bicyclists and their rights. Buckling under to the interests of big business, our government continues to reinforce this nausea with sexy oil-guzzling energy and transportation policies that perpetually subsidize the freeway gridlock libido cancer industry...Get the Fuck Outta My Way, it’s high time we added our chain driven ambition into the mixin’...think about it! A network to keep us informed, active and unified would benefit us greatly. A voice for our anger, an effective vehicle for our bicycle moxie!
The fight to make our streets safe for bikes is fuelled not only by our vision and desire, but also the painful memory of too many friends maimed, crushed and killed by reckless Buicks, Fords and BMWs. The death last year of Richard Dreger was a loss we have yet to recover from. An avid bicyclist and venerable S.F. messenger, Rick was murdered most brutally by a DUI hit and run asshole in San Diego. The disturbing details of the accident clearly illustrate the danger and injustice of horse-powered atrocities...
Collision Report no. DO21382
0 feet: Initial Contact Point. Start of skid from bicycle tire. 4’4": End of skid mark. 68’2": Left shoe.
106’5": Begin fabric scuff. (This scuff, created by some part of Rick’s shoes or clothing, ends 400 feet later.)
112’9": Knapsack from bicycle.
138’ 11":Rick’s eyeglasses.
199’1 1": Front axle of bike at rest.
202’1": Rear axle of bike at rest.
301’2": Styro bicycle helmet.
498'1": End of fabric scuff.
498'1 : Body point of rest.
The owner of the murder weapon (a '75 Chevy) was later identified to the police by concerned neighbors who heard a drunken confession and spotted him cleaning blood off the front of the car. He was an alcoholic with four prior DUI's and outstanding warrants. He had no driver’s license nor auto insurance and was not apprehended because of a lack of witnesses to pinpoint him as the driver at the time of the accident. Rick was cited as having no rear reflectors and listed as the driver most at fault...yet he was wearing cycling shorts coated with reflective material tested to be visible from 2000 feet and the seat-stays of his bike had 10 square inches of red reflector tape on them. The police did not even impound the offending car. What we are left with is a chilling collision report, a profound sense of sorrow and loss, and the fact that the killer is still free to crawl behind the wheel of his '75 Chevy. (In 1989 alone, U.S. highway slaughter claimed the lives of almost 4,000 bicyclists and over 6,800 pedestrians!)
This article is dedicated to Big Rick, and I hope we can keep an on-going forum in this magazine to help spotlight ideas and opportunities for SFBMA members to further empower bicyclists everywhere. For instance, letter writing. If one person from each bike crew could cattle-prod his co-workers into writing letters and advocating bicycles, we could deliver some interesting mail to our friendly elected officials!
Currently, our Congress is slowly stumbling through the reauthorization of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act (S.T.A.A.)...which is notoriously concerned with reckless over- paving at our over-taxed expense, there are actually some pending resolutions/bills worthy of note towards bicyclists this year...
H.R. 2102 - The Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvement Act of 1991 perhaps the most ambitious resolution, introduced by Joe Kennedy (D-MA) is based on the 3% initiative sponsored by bicycle lobbyists. That is, state highway departments would be obliged to spend 3% of funds that the states receive yearly from the federal budget on bikes and peds. This would amount to at least 100 million dollars. H.R. 2267 - introduced by Jim Oberstar (D-MN) this bill would require state highway departments to include provision for bicyclists in their highway designs. It also would require each state to have a full-time Bicycle Coordinator . HR. 2869 - introduced by Peter DeFazio, D-OR), involved elements of both the above and calling for "A billion of bikes !?! (Gee, whiz? And swollen cranks....) As the House and the Senate dicker over these important issues, maybe we need to treat them to a free lunch in Jackson Park before they finalize the STAA at the end of the month!
At a more local level, it should be noted that the San Francisco Bicycle Advisory Committee (SF BAC) was created by the Board of Supervisors in 1990 to help promote safe sharing of the roadways and develop a plan for bicycle related improvements in the city, i.e. bicycle routes, secure parking and transit-bicycle interface. They also recommend action on funding for such bicycle projects and advise improvements in city policies, programs and goals. The SF BAC meets monthly, all meetings are open and the public is invited to attend. Agendas are posted in front of Room 235, City Hall at least 72 hours before each meeting. Check it out. Our knowledge of the streets needs to be represented at these city-sponsored soirees! The next full meeting of the SF BAC is Thursday, November 21, 1991, 5:45 PM at 450 McAllister, Room 605.
Our bicycles afford us a healthy self-determination and a liberty to move about freely that is indeed revolutionary. It is time to demand a change in misguided transportation policies - time to recognize the bicycle as America's true Freedom Machine!
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