City Critical Mass Roundup
posted by on July 28 at 10:12 AM
According to the King County Prosecutor’s Office, the two cyclists who arrested for their participation in this weekend’s Critical Mass melee are out on $1,000 bail. So far, no charges have been filed; their next court appearance is scheduled for July 30.
In case you weren’t chained to your computer this weekend, here’s a roundup of our Slog news and analysis from Friday’s Critical Mass melee.
Sunday, July 27
I posted a list of contact information for local media covering the incident—including the Seattle Times, whose news contact information page went to a broken link.
Jonah Spangenthal-Lee got an exclusive first interview with the driver of the car:
While some cyclists I’ve spoken with have written Mark off as another indignant road-hog, Mark says he actually used to be a bike commuter when he lived in Seattle a few years ago. “I sympathize with [cyclists’] cause. I ride bikes too. I’m a liberal hippie Democrat,” he says, adding “I’m gay, the person with me was a lesbian and we were attacked by eco-terrorists. It’s the most Seattle thing that could have happened.While Mark still believes this incident was sparked by hostility from cyclists, he does seem genuinely remorseful about what happened and is disappointed that cyclists are being charged for the incident. “What I did was probably a mistake,” he says. “I want to apologize to [the cyclists]. I didn’t mean for it to happen. It was terrifying for me. I was pissed off, I overreacted, I didn’t pay attention to what I was doing and I’m sorry for it.”
Saturday, July 26
Jonah interviewed one of the cyclists injured by the driver Friday night, who told a very different story.
[Cyclist Tom] Braun—a 35-year-old attorney who says prior to last night, he hadn’t been on a Critical Mass ride in years—says he was moving with a crowd of cyclists on 15th and Aloha when he says he heard the driver of a white Subaru yelling at his fellow riders. “I didn’t see anyone “surrounding” the guy’s car,” Braun says.”I saw some cyclists nicely asking the guy to wait.” Then, Braun says, the driver “just floored it” into a crowd of cyclists.As the driver pulled away, Braun—who was not part of the group talking to the driver—was caught under the vehicle, and the car rolled over his leg. “I literally got run over,” Braun says. “I was hanging on the front of [the] car. I’m glad he made a left and tried to take off down the road. If he’d turned right, I would have been crushed.”
David Schmader posted an eyewitness account by one of the cyclists, whose bike was damaged beyond repair.
I arrived near the end of a Critical Mass cycling ride at the crest of the Aloha St. hill heading east to find the driver of a car with a passenger irately screaming at cyclists to get out of the way.As cyclists were explaining to him that everyone was nearly past him, he proceeded to yell about being late for a reservation. He was parked on the grass and sidewalk, crookedly perpendicular to Aloha.
Suddenly, he sped into Aloha, directly into the crowd of cyclists.
The front right side of the car struck me and dragged along with my bike as I hung onto the front of the car. Subsequently, he ran over my right leg and bike as he sped down Aloha to the East, in what appeared to me to be an attempt to flee the scene. My bicycle has been damaged beyond repair (see attached pictures).
I waxed indignant about the way the media and police routinely ignore cyclists’ side of these stories, taking police and drivers at their word?
Why, if the driver assaulted several cyclists with his car, is he being treated as the victim?Why is hitting cyclists with intent to harm them—or “nudging” them, or throwing things at them, or forcing them off the road—not considered assault with a deadly weapon?
Why does SPD and the media consider harm to property—the Subaru, whose tires were slashed and whose windows were broken—a far worse crime than running over and potentially killing a defenseless person with a 2,000-pound machine?
Why, when cyclists pay for local roads just like drivers do, do some drivers assume they have more right to the road than cyclists do—indeed, that cyclists have no right to the road at all?
Jonathan Golob reflected on the pathetic state of Seattle’s biking infrastructure (and the city’s utter contempt for cyclists.)
East Aloha street is totally insane as a bicycle route. It’s narrow, barely wide enough for two cars let alone cars and cyclists. Cars are idiodically street parked along the length—half on the grass, half on the street. (The self-centered jackasses who park their cars on Aloha deserve to have their cars sideswiped more often.) The road twists and turns, ramps up and down, with terrible sight lines. Cars, particularly those seeking a rapid zip across the hill, naturally gravitate to this street compared to those North and South of it. Nobody should use it as a bicycle route. East Mercer street, East Republican street or East Harrison street are all better choices, despite being broken up and littered with shitty drivers driving way too fast for narrow residential streets.The City tells you, as a potential cyclist, to use East Aloha street as your route of choice—via the Seattle Bicycling Guide Map, a delightful service of the Seattle Department of Transportation. The document pretty much epitomizes the city’s contempt for cyclists—on the part of the police, the drivers, the transportation department and the government. East Aloha street is designated the same as 12th Ave East, an excellent cyclist route.
Jonah got the first media interview with one of the Critical Mass cyclists, a 25-year-old car owner who was riding with her husband, her mother, and her stepfather.
From her position about 50 yards away, Wharton says she saw about four or five cyclists around a white Subaru that was being driven by a white, well-dressed man in his mid- to late-20s. She heard him yell at the cyclists, “Get the fuck out of my way! We’ve got reservations!” When the cyclists continued to block his car, “he just got really irrational,” driving his car into the crowd, knocking over two cyclists and backing his car over several bikes left in the road as cyclists jumped out of his way. Wharton says the driver then pulled forward again, forcing one cyclist onto his windshield (and possibly breaking the cyclist’s ankle).Wharton says the initial report from King 5 news, which characterized the cyclists as aggressors and the driver as an innocent victim, was “totally inaccurate. They painted it as this mob of angry cyclists attacking the car,” which couldn’t be further from the truth, Wharton says. She describes public reaction to news reports as “they got what was coming to them.”
Dave recounted three early eyewitness accounts of the incident, sent by email.
The driver sped down Aloha with a mess of bicycles and cyclists in his wake, a cyclist on his roof, and everyone, including his pregnant passenger, yelling for him to “Just stop!” At the bottom of the hill, the driver stopped at a stop sign and the cyclists swarmed the car, slashing his tires and breaking the windows in order to make sure that he did not continue operating his vehicle through the city like a madman. His door was opened, the driver got out of the car in tears and walked, unmolested back up to where the cyclists were splayed out in the street apologizing to everyone. His passenger was relatively calm, also walked up the street unmolested, and explained that her friend had made a mistake and that she had been yelling for him to calm down and stop the car. While there was a little hysterical yelling by the frightened bicyclists, there was absolutely no physical confrontation.
Whatever happened to the rules of the road that say auto drivers shouldn't enter an intersection unless they're certain they can clear it without obstruction?
Hmmm?
I'll be refreshing the SLOG all day waiting to see if charges are pressed against the man who ran over two living human beings with his car and went home without being cited.
I like how the last "eyewitness account" definitively states the bicyclists didn't attack the guy. Really adds a lot to its credibility.
CM is populated by liars and thugs.
Erica,
Do you ever ride anywhere outside of Cap Hill?
Will you be on the next Critical Mass ride?
Thanks for the phony outrage and self-righteous posturing. Your not doing any of us any favors.
Ride bikes.
100% on the side of the driver. Critical Mass cyclists are about as relevant to Seattle as pigeons. So now that my opinion has been expressed, we can take it and move on.
What, not enough comments on this issue so far? You have to troll for more?
Erica,
Do you ever ride outside of the Cap Hill neighborhood?
Will you be at the next Critical Mass?
Thanks for all of the phony outrage and self-righteous posturing, but you are not doing any of us any favors.
STFU and RIDE BIKES.
Cars are nothing more than modern day gas chambers and Critical Mass are the Jews being forced inside to die a horrible death.
Thus, the bicyclists were well within their rights to beat the driver to death as he was a Nazi.
Facts no longer matter in all of this. People are making up facts all over the place (i.e. that it took 20 minutes for the mass to pass by a car). People are also ignoring stuff that did happen (i.e. an hour of uneventful riding prior to the Aloha incident). The whole incident just gives people an excuse to shout their beliefs. I'm kinda glad I now know which of you look forward to killing cyclists.
The more you drive, the less intelligent you are.
Cars are nothing more than modern day gas chambers and Critical Mass are the Jews being forced inside to die a horrible death.
Thus, the bicyclists were well within their rights to beat the driver to death as he was a Nazi.
This is something that only one person can settle: Judge Judy.
"100% on the side of the driver."
So, Mr. Poe, answer me this. All the time over in this wonderful city, people in cars pull out beyond the limit line blocking the crosswalk (this is against the law by the way). According to your logic, because I am be inconvenienced by somebody breaking this well known law, I can take an object commonly used as a tool and repurpose it into a deadly weapon - we'll use a hammer for this example - and educate the foolish driver with a couple of blows to his head. Is this what you are suggesting?
CM was a mob operating in violation of traffic laws and with the sort of entitlement and disregard for others only true believers are capable of. While the driver appeared to be a dick as well (unless he truly was in fear for his life), the massholes were dicks first. That in my mind makes them the more to blame.
75 comments.
"100% on the side of the driver."
So, Mr. Poe, answer me this. All the time over in this wonderful city, people in cars pull out beyond the limit line blocking the crosswalk (this is against the law by the way). According to your logic, because I am be inconvenienced by somebody breaking this well known law, I can take an object commonly used as a tool and repurpose it into a deadly weapon - we'll use a hammer for this example - and educate the foolish driver with a couple of blows to his head. Is this what you are suggesting?
"I didn’t see anyone surrounding the guy’s car"
VS.
"Wharton says she saw about four or five cyclists around a white Subaru"
"When the cyclists continued to block his car"
"While there was a little hysterical yelling by the frightened bicyclists, there was absolutely no physical confrontation."
"His door was opened, the driver got out of the car in tears and walked, unmolested back up to where the cyclists were splayed out in the street"
VS.
"One rider tried to punch him through his open car window, but missed"
"Mark says he got out of his car and was immediately struck in the back of a head by a cyclist wielding a U-lock"
"forcing one cyclist onto his windshield"
VS.
"was caught under the vehicle"
uh, it looks like that bike needs a new front wheel...don't think it's damaged beyond repair.
Whenever Critical Mass is involved, I cease to care. I bike commute and recreationally ride in Seattle, and this is a very bike FRIENDLY town. The infrastructure could be improved, but have y'all ever ridden in a New England city? Narrower roads, more agressive drivers, frozen slush... Seattle is laid back, and the CM people are actively PISSING OFF people who would be inclined to support or at least ignore bikes and bike issues.
1) Yes, car drivers operate dangerous, deadly machines - so perhaps surrounding them to intimidate them, and shouting about tipping their vehicle over, isn't such a great idea.
2) Clocking someone with a bike lock is also assault.
3) The comments here prove that CMers will try to justify literally anything, probably up to and including premeditated murder, they do by pointing to the fact that their vehicle is smaller.
4) Even those of us who seldom or never drive still loathe you aggro massholes with a passion. And I'm sorry, but a lot of us just can't get that worked up about some of you getting mangled after poking the hornets' nest again and again and again and again, harder and harder.
We SLOG readers saw the apologetic account from the motorist.
When are we going to read an equally candid confession from some of the people who bashed in his car?
I have a few questions and do not feel like reading the 27,000 other posts on this topic. So by blocking the car in the first place doesn't that go against what CM is trying to accomplish a sharing of the road between bikes and cars.
Another question/thought even if the guy did yell to get out of the way and was then surrounded buy a large number of people who is to say he did not feel threatened. Maybe others in the group surround the car were spewing threats and maybe he did what he felt necessary out of fear.
CM only reinforces the negative aspects associated with bikers. Not all bikers ignore traffic laws, not all bikers are bad but acts and demonstrations like this are a reason for more anger toward bikers in general.
There are 3 sides to every story and every person involved has a different angle and as sad as it is the truth will never come out in this saga.
@16 are you referring to the U-Lock?
@13
I know you need to put words in my mouth or around my "logic" in order to make a point here, but it isn't going to work. My comment obviously wasn't meant to be taken seriously, and your little example could never work for the matter at hand (for obvious reasons), and you're an idiot, so it wasn't going to work anyway.
Now I have to run. I'm le busy today, and like the driver in this situation I'm not going to let some jilted bicyclist(s) get in my way.
Critical Mass cyclists are about as relevant to Seattle as pigeons.
Does that mean that people are going to take to shooting them in the head with syringes? :)
This is a serious incident, and getting hit by a car is not cool. (Neither is, of course, getting hit in the head with a U-lock, but that's conveniently ignored...) If the driver was negligent, then yes, he should be charged.
But I'm not weeping over the poor little Critical Mass riders. They're sanctimonious, self-righteous asswipes that assume that the best way to get people to share the road is to... well... not share the road.
I'm looking forward to getting a large group of pedestrians together for the next scheduled Critical Mass ride to walk slowly in front of their route. We'll see what happens then.
[Cyclist Tom] Braun—a 35-year-old attorney
Shouldn't he more than anyone know of the legality of unregistered protest and demonstrations.
Was he just casually riding by and happened to be in front of the car as the driver tries to avoid a mob of angry knife wielding, fixed speed, hipsters because it just does not make sense to me. But then again he is a lawyer so I am sure is is also good at altering the details to best suit his case.
im about to eat the best salmon steak ever, washing it down with coca cola and trail mix.
The righteous indignation is getting old and stale. The driver was an impatient asshole. I get what critical mass does, but there is no doubt there are a number of trouble makers present hoping for a confrontation.
I drive everyday to work on the Eastside. I ride my bike in city. I have to deal with reckless and inconsiderate bike riders, and I have also been run off the road by assholes that don't understand the concept of right of way.
Everybody needs to keep on eye out for everybody else, whether your drive or bike. Everybody has a right to the road. Bikes, cars, pedestrians. There is no one group that is somehow more righteous than another.
Everyone needs to settle the fuck down. Instead of everyone blaming each other and acting holier than though, channel your energy into something useful...like petitioning the city government to make the roads safer for EVERYONE.
@26 (respect the stoplight): Why are you making up stuff?
I can understand people motorists being frustrated with cyclists. I can understand cyclists being frustrated with motorist. But I can't understand why so many people are completely making up "facts" about an incident they weren't at.
speaking of cars, watching this ECB gal try to cover this story reminds me of a 6 year old trying to drive one...
Hey Derrick, can you bring my tent back tonight?
I hope you aired it out after you let your friend sleep in it.
Thanks neighbor.
-J
If anything comes out of this, I hope it is that the city will start to sick the motorcycle cops on cyclists who break traffic rules in Seattle. As a dedicated pedestrian, it is my opinion that cyclists are far more of a danger than cars.
You wanna ride in the sidewalk? Fine. But please go at a walking pace, not at 30 miles an hour. Wanna ride in the street? Act like a car and stop at the lights!
I'd fully support any initiative to require one to have a permit to ride a bike in the city. Motorcyclists are required to talk special classes and get a motorcycle endorsement. lets have bicycle endorsement as well.
Better, toss in "bicycle riding 101" into our high school drivers ed programs. *That* would be the best idea ever.
They slashed his tires and broke his windows "so he wouldn't continue driving through the city like a madman?"
That was an act of altruism and not just a way to vent some anger then! Of course it was.
There is no black and white.
@25:
"I'm looking forward to getting a large group of pedestrians together for the next scheduled Critical Mass ride to walk slowly in front of their route. We'll see what happens then."
Maybe then it will be your turn to get mowed down by an angry Subaru driver.
@29 (stinkbug)
I would put this in a fancy box but I dont know how so here is the quote in reference to my remark.
[Cyclist Tom] Braun—a 35-year-old attorney who says prior to last night, he hadn’t been on a Critical Mass ride in years—says he was moving with a crowd of cyclists on 15th and Aloha when he says he heard the driver of a white Subaru yelling at his fellow riders. “I didn’t see anyone “surrounding” the guy’s car,” Braun says.”I saw some cyclists nicely asking the guy to wait.” Then, Braun says, the driver “just floored it” into a crowd of cyclists.
As the driver pulled away, Braun—who was not part of the group talking to the driver—was caught under the vehicle, and the car rolled over his leg. “I literally got run over,” Braun says. “I was hanging on the front of [the] car. I’m glad he made a left and tried to take off down the road. If he’d turned right, I would have been crushed.”
At least he doesn't have a brain tumor.
But I would hope he has to retake his driving test.
@32
They should have to have a permit, and by a license for their bike (like we do for our cars). And pay for the license tab that pays for the road they're using...
You're lying. KOMO had the first exclusive interview with the driver. Please issue a correction.
Jul 27, 2008 at 10:40 AM PDT
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/25962894.html
Um, actually, roads are paid for by the gas tax, primarily, and that's down 3.6 percent nationwide as Americans take the fight against al-Qaeda personally and cut consumption.
But you'd know that if you looked at the budget, @37.
You're lying. KOMO had the first exclusive interview with the driver. Please issue a correction.
Jul 27, 2008 at 10:40 AM PDT
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/25962894.html
Maybe then it will be your turn to get mowed down by an angry Subaru driver.
Dude, go fuck yourself. That isn't funny, especially since there are actually pedestrians that have been hit and killed in this city by reckless drivers.
Of course, most of those pedestrians were actually, you know, OBEYING TRAFFIC LAWS.
@37, If we are talking about "bike tabs" that are specific to the bicycle, it is an easy solution. If we are talking about requiring a person to have some kind of "bicycle endorsement", the only issue I have is how to handle ten year old kids. Clearly, if you are ten years old, you shouldn't need a license to ride your kiddy bike around your residential street. If you are an adult who is riding around "busy adult streets", then yes, you should be required to carry some kind of endorsement.
The trick is to tie the permit requirement to something adult bikers do that kid bikers don't. I'm thinking maybe require anybody over 18 to have a permit? Maybe only require if it you ride on certain types of streets like arterial, bike lanes or anywhere downtown. If a ten year old was "pulled over" downtown even without a permit, the parents should be in some kind of shit because a ten year old kid has no business riding on 5th ave.
I think such an idea has enough political float to it that you might get it enacted. People are pissed off about unpredictable bikers and I truly think the only way to solve it is through city government and then a period of rigorous police enforcement.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92993510
"A government report shows that over the past seven months, Americans drove 40 billion miles less than the year before. That's nearly a four percent decrease. Unfortunately, less driving means less gas tax revenue, which is trouble for highways. The Federal Highway Trust Fund projects a $5 billion deficit for next year. Alex Chadwick talks with Amy Scott about how gas prices are affecting road repairs."
Cyclists are ruining the highways!!!
Roads are paid for by all sorts of taxes and not specifically the one on gas. Please stop repeating this long disproved myth. And the petty fees that are paid towards tabs don't amount to shit. With the labor costs of building, cleaning and maintaining roads, $40 a year for tabs pays for about 8 square inches of asphalt. But if you really want to break it down, I pay the exact same fees for my two vehicles and only drive them a combined total of 3000 miles a year (one of them gets 70 MPG and weighs 340 lbs), which being well below average, means I put more into a system that I use with less wear, tear, and pollution.
"le busy"?
Gawker/Defamer has RUINED Mr Poe...
So where is the indignation and call for following the law about the bicycle drivers that stop traffic in the middle of intersections and act like traffic cops?
How come they are never arrested for obstructing normal traffic flow?
A law needs to be passed making it a gross misdemeanor to stop a vehicle for any non emergency reason in the middle of an intersection.
The issue always comes back to a bicyclist (or group of them) who insist on creating their own traffic rules, and then whine when drivers of autos who are following the rules want to proceed thru their green light.
Throw the book at the bicyclists if they were obstructing the intersection. Any punishment to the auto driver should also be levied to those who blocked (and will be doing the same dangerous behavior again in the future)
I tend to believe the auto driver. I think we have all seen and know what I am talking about.
he doesn't Gawke anymore, hinted to some big project
I think its interesting that he thinks stating that he is gay and that his passenger is a lesbian is some sort of defense or justification.
It doesn't matter what sex preference you have. What color your skin is, or your politics.
Assholes come in all shapes and sizes. And this driver proves by his actions and lack of ability to face up to his mistakes, that he is just a big asshole.
I think this is an outstanding idea. I'd definitely join that group of people! Let's see what the ecofriendly bike terrorists will do when confronted with a few hundred pedestrains who "cork" them for a half an hour. Let's see how patient they are.
I think someone in the Bar Association should take a look at whether this attorney has any business being on the streets, flouting the law.
I am a cyclist as well as a motorist, and I strongly agree that the police should crack down on Critical Mass. I have less than zero sympathy with them. I also think that cyclists, on average, commit more traffic violations than motorists, principally by speeding through stop signs and red lights.
But I also think that there's a group of motorists -- small, mind you -- who are psychos that go crazy against bicyclists who are just minding their own business and obeying the rules of the road. That does NOT in any way, shape, or form justify the crapola from Critical Mass. In fact, it's the other way around. I think CM makes the psychos in cars more dangerous by giving them what they think is an excuse.
In short, I regard Critical Mass as a irritant to the motorist side of me, and a danger to the cyclist side of me.
I didn't take it as a justification. I took it as a humorous quip. I laughed, and I think that's how the driver intended it to be understood.
hey lets not forget the REAL NEWS!!!!
DIDYAKNOW THERE WAS A BLOCK PARTY LAST WEEKEND!!!! THERES ALMOST 49 POSTS ABOUT OMG LOL LOOK WHAT SUZIE WORE THERE!!!!
PS: BAD BAD WRITING HACKS AT THE STRANGER .
AGAIN, YOU POSTED UNSUBSTANTIATED RUMORS LIKE YOU DID WITH THE KING COBRA DEBACLE.
ONE OF THESE DAYS YOU POSTING BULLSHIT "TIPS" IS GOING TO LAND YOU IN HOT FUCKIN WATER AND I CAN NOT WAIT TO HEAR YOU SCREAM LIKE A LOBSTER.
I'm looking forward to light rail, so I don't have to drive, or put up with the bus, or put up with Critical Mass.
SEATTLE RASHOUMON
@49 (Seattle Resident): Why are you making stuff up? You imply that cyclists corked multiple motorists for 30 minutes. Where is your proof of this happening?
The terrorist engaging in CM should be subject to water boarding at Guantanamo.
Well Ken Schram has now weighed in on the matter, so people needn't bother forming opinions about this anymore:
http://www.komonews.com/news/25995589.html
@54, it doesn't matter how long the "corking" lasted. It's obnoxious and illegal. If the police won't do anything about it, then maybe turnabout should be fair play for the thugs of Critical Mass.
@57, the time amount of the corking *does* matter. otherwise you wouldn't have made a reference to 30 minutes.
you're saying there's no difference between someone standing in front of a car for 3 minutes and someone standing in front of a car for 30 minutes?
you post touched on the concept of patience. some people simply don't have it. i have seen motorists flip out at having to wait a few minutes for a draw bridge to go up and down.
#57
This really gets to the heart of the issue: Obviously nobody should be prevented from riding their bike anywhere, but the "corking" should not be allowed. I reluctantly have to agree with Schram: "How did it get this far ?"
Shorter Erica,
Please read our many Stranger posts where we take eye-witness accounts as factual evidence, Fnarf and others lash out at CM, CM is defended by saying they are using 'civil disobediance' equal to the civil rights of the 1960s, everyone vomits at thought of last statement, more comment speculating of events they didn't see, driver speaks, REPEAT.
Gas taxes don't pay for roads. They pay (a little) for highways. Sales and property taxes pay for Seattle and King County roads. So I'll keep my bike off the freeway if you'll keep your car off my road.
isn't part of the POINT of CM to engage in civil disobedience? if so, "corking" is supposed to be illegal.
i'm so glad i moved off the hill 10 years ago. try it - you won't miss it at all.
I don't get you, stinkbug... You seem to insist on attempting to defend what the CM riders do.
I don't imagine anyone really thinks it's okay to run over cyclists with a car. It's just the usual SLOG mayhem.
What several commenters have tried to point out is that CM routinely involves cyclists illegally blocking intersections, running red lights and stop signs, impeding traffic, and intimidating drivers.
Incidents like this would be far less likely to happen if CM participants would change their attitudes.
And it's not just about asking drivers to wait a few minutes. I've seen CM hold up buses for several cycles of a traffic light, unintentionally impede an ambulance, and threaten pedestrians -- and this is besides making Downtown rush hour traffic worse than it already is.
Get a fucking clue already that this discourages people from supporting the bicycle cause!
Ken Schramm nailed it. The Seattle Police must step in and eliminate these Critical Mass rides from our streets.
@41:
"Dude, go fuck yourself. That isn't funny"
I know it isn't. And what the driver in this instance did wasn't either. It wasn't warranted, it wasn't justified, it was illegal, and no matter how much you bring up the actions of the riders, nothing can possibly excuse what this fuckwad did.
@41:
"Dude, go fuck yourself. That isn't funny"
I know it isn't. And what the driver in this instance did wasn't either. It wasn't warranted, it wasn't justified, it was illegal, and no matter how much you bring up the actions of the riders, nothing can possibly excuse what this fuckwad did.
Main point to be drawn from this story:
1) Idiocy reigned supreme this past friday evening. The car driver acted like an asshole, the bikers acted like assholes. Nobody comes out of this incident looking innocent or justified. Nobody. So there is no point in labeling one group (all drivers) or the other (all cyclists) as being accurately represented by the actors in this moronic tragedy. This was a clash between assholes. HOWEVER, certain conditions increase the chances of conflict when assholes are present (see #3).
2) This event (let's call it "asshole vs. assholes") has served to drive an EVEN BIGGER wedge between the cycling and driving community. I could almost feel the disdain of drivers as I rode by them this weekend. That is a terrible feeling.
3) The CM mantra "we're not impeding traffic, we ARE traffic" implies that bicycles are a legitimate road-use vehicle and have every right to use this space (obviously). However, they have every right to SHARE this space, as is the expectation with every other vehicle on the road. So it is staggeringly obvious to me that hijacking the road (corking cars, blocking intersections, etc) seems like a strange method of advocating sharing the road. I'm sure CM is a helluva lot of fun, but those participating in it should not maintain any illusions that they are actually furthering any cause.
Want to ride bikes around town with friends on the last friday of every month? Fine. Just SHARE the road and obey the traffic laws that everyone else obeys. Anything less is damaging your (our) cause.
Can someone enlighten me here?
When two vehicles enter an intersection, one of which has the right of way, (green light, stopped properly at a stop sign, etc.) and the other does NOT have the right of way, (ran a red light or ran a stop sign,) in general, who is considered to be at fault for the resulting accident?
This question is for all you members of critical mass. If you do not know the answer, you need to read the Motor Vehicle rules. If you DO know the answer, then you need to answer:
1) Who had the LEGAL right of way?
2) Shouldn't those who did not have the legal right of way, who in fact TOOK someone else's right of way, accept some of the blame for this? Or are you simply, as a lot of people seem to think, a bunch of elitist a--wipes who do not believe the law applies equally to them?
Simple question.
Now I know all about only enter an intersection when safe, yada yada yawn, but the bottom line for me is if the arrogant butt heads of CM had been OBEYING THE DAMNED LAW, this could not have happened.
Yes, I DO ride a bike, and while I will admit I do not always come to a full and complete stop at a stop sign, I ALWAYS give the road over to those who have the legal right of way. Is there a single member of Critical Mass who can say the same thing?
Two wrongs don't make a right, but Critical Mass refuses to admit to their own bad, illegal, and annoying behavior. Either that, or they are reveling in it.
@63 (Mickymse): "You seem to insist on attempting to defend what the CM riders do."
I defend some actions. But can you show me where I defend slashing of tires, hitting cars, etc.?
"CM routinely involves cyclists illegally blocking intersections, running red lights and stop signs, impeding traffic, and intimidating drivers."
Sorry, but I take issue with some of that, especially the assertion that they routinely intimidate drivers. That just isn't true. Yes, there have been some isolated incidents of confrontations, but this isn't the norm. If the past 480 hours of CM in the past decade routinely intimidate drivers, then the fallout would be much greater. I can tell you that I have *routinely* witness drivers smiling and laughing when they the riders or when a rider waves at them. But stuff like that is conveniently ignored by the anti-CM crowd.
"I've seen CM hold up buses for several cycles of a traffic light, unintentionally impede an ambulance, and threaten pedestrians."
Can you please indicate when you saw this? I have been on numerous CMs and riders routinely make way for buses behind them. They also *quickly* move over for ambulances (which is more than what I witness from most motorists who completely ignore ambulance sirens nowadays).
Here is what 99% of CM rides look like:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=a7xjc4kCXiE&fmt=18
Ignoring that is dishonest.
Actually, if we are going to license bicyclists, we SHOULD do soemthing to address kids, if only because riding a bike carelessly even close to home is a really efficient way to get killed.
A 10-year-old who is big enough to ride his or her bike in the street is big enough to need encounters with basic safety information and bike maintenance. Test the tykes too.
aren't those two "eyewitness" stories from the same guy? (or was that already covered?)
if he just rode up, how did he know there wasn't a threatening remark made? if the car wasn't surrounded, why did he hit bicyclists behind and in front of him?
the car driver feels he both made a mistake and made a poor decision. anyone in a car should always be watchful for cyclists and careful when around them.
but the driver's description just rings more true. people who say he wasn't justified in trying to escape are not being honest. either he was not threatened, or he was. if he was, then even as someone who rides a bike on city streets often, i'm thinking i should cut him some slack. i'm not sure i'd make the best choice if i thought a "mob" was mad at me, and heard a suggestion that my car be flipped.
and getting hit over the head with a u-lock? there was no cause for that. the eyewitness stories that paint CM as entirely peaceful and polite are seriously questionable -- though it sounds like one of the cyclist victims was not one of the cyclist instigators.
(as if another opinion is needed on this matter.)
Cyclists don't need to be licensed because most have a motorized vehicle and are already licensed for that. Plus, we in the US license people to use things that can be dangerous or generally harmful to the public at large and bikes simply do not fall into this category. Should we license a concealed weapon holder or dole out permits to everybody else proving that they've been instructed on how to dodge bullets?
oh, and i put eyewitness in quotation marks because i thought it was strange to refer to a participant (victim or assailant) as an eyewitness.
@61 - ok, I should have been more precise. Our city roads are primarily paid for by property tax on commercial, industrial, and residential properties - and thus indirectly subsidized by people who don't drive to a large extent.
Our county roads are mostly paid for by property tax (it's a big hunk on my property tax statement), some gas sales tax, and some other taxes - but again, it's another indirect subsidization by people who don't drive to a large extent.
Our state and federal highways are primarily paid for from gas sales taxes, some property tax levies (so if your bus uses them, don't worry, you paid up), and some other weird sources.
Same with bridges, depending on the type of bridge.
But, in general, people who ride bikes or walk cause the least damage per person to the roadways, and commercial 18 wheelers cause the most damage. So a bike rider is subsidizing people who drive SUVs and trucks to a large extent - more than the damage cost for the vehicle operation, in fact.
@69 (stinkbug): Okay, to be fair, you're not defending Cm riders slashing tires or hitting people on the head. But you ARE defending the illegal actions which it seems nearly every CM engages in, and acting as if there is no reason why anyone should be angry with the riders for doing so.
Frankly, hundreds of cyclists swarming around vehicles and impeding their driving is enough to be considered intimidation... but you have certainly read the many posts on here that I have of folks sharing their personal experiences. I have certainly seen the taunts and fingers and such when I've witnessed a CM. I never said that some folks don't think it's great, especially some pedestrians and most tourists. I find it amusing to see the astonished looks on the faces of drivers. That doesn't change the fact that CM is being ruined by the folks who do act like idiots, minority or not.
As for when I've seen illegal activities by CM, I saw them holding up all of the buses on Third Avenue on Friday night because I was actually standing there waiting for a bus. I wasn't close enough this time to see how pedestrians were acting, but I've seen pedestrians shoved and yelled at in the path for being "in the way" of the bicyclists. (How's that for irony?)
As for the ambulance, I said "unintentionally impede." Of course they didn't sit at an intersection and cork an ambulance, but it was last year I think when one of the rides weaved in and out through the Downtown core that they completely messed up traffic and slowed down an ambulance trying to race down Fourth Avenue because they had blocked up two intersections.
As for your YouTube link, as I said to someone in another entry, the video just proves our point. Witness cyclists taking up the entire roadway (illegal), riding straight through an intersection or turning the OPPOSITE way from a left turn lane, and based on appearances and what they can be heard saying, corking the intersection where they are turning.
So, who's being dishonest here?
This reminds me a lot of the video from CM attacking an elderly couple found on youtube and google video. You know, the one where they sent an edited video to the news? The one where they staged bikes getting run over by shoving the bikes under the wheels (so that if someone moved their car at all, the wheels would be smashed?) Where the same person who bashed the elderly couple's windshield was shown holding crying children? Where, after they faked the bikes by wedging them under the van, they said "Someone is under there!!!"
Seems to be a common practice for Critical Mass. They scream "Why are you assualting us with a deadly weapon". They are provoking and staging these incidents.
Here is the long video where you will see them staging the bikes beneath and screaming "someone's under there!"
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6511010398472656040&hl=en
On youtube there is the newscast where the station calls them out for editing the video.
I heard that guy in the Subaru had some plastic grocery sacks, so, I don't know, maybe a U-lock to the head was justified...
Which means you're a thug who doesn't give a shit about this community. For your own safety, I hope you're arrested soon.
@77, the video is very difficult to watch, but it deserves to be watched to people can see just what thugs these Critical Massholes really are. Thanks for posting it.
You people are friggin idiots. People who protest stupid things like this are complete jokes.
Criminal Mass are just idealists that never grew up, even the ones who are long out of college and should have left meaningless protest behind. Bottom line is that they can certainly ride alone, or en masse, whenever they want; but when they deliberately act to impede the progress of other road users they are breaking laws, and should be held accountable. I have ridden bikes in traffic here and in other large cities; I accept that it is dangerous and can be frustrating when other vehicle users are not considerate, or even aware, of cyclists - BUT THAT IS LIFE, YOU DON’T ALWAYS GET YOUR WAY! Seems to me they want it both ways - don’t let motorized traffic inconvenience cyclists, but ignore the rules of the road when it suits.
interesting video @77.
when you see a situation like that, you wonder how it could possibly end well. you have a clueless elderly couple being completely harassed by cyclists. the driver didn't hit a person at all, and the only bikes he hit were purposefully placed under his tires as he slowly moved forward.
but the cyclists were all victims. angry, lying victims. that behavior makes you made.
whereas if the van just slowly drove through, my sympathies would lie almost completely with the cyclists.
mad.
I'm sure the guy driving the van in the video (#77) fought for this country. So that weasels like those riding in criminal mass can freely do so. Sad and sickening is what it is.
There are not many countries where this could have escalated to the point that it did before swift baby-seal-style clubbing of the "peaceful cyclists" by a public servant in uniform would have occured - and rightfully so. Criminal mass should think about that, or maybe try their slow-rolling protests in Dubai or Beijing.
Final thought - what kind of coward uses their kids in a video like this? In addition to being innocent pawns in this senseless propaganda today, they will probably grow up to be grade A puss material in the future. Hope the kids breaj the mold and become "f*** you Dad, I'm buying a Hummer and going hunting on the weekend" hard-men.
I wonder how the Critical Mass folks would respond if a big group of pedestrians gathered during CM rides and held hands in order to block their traffic?
Hey Rotten 666;
You are ASShole!!!! Like every Self-Rioteous CM Bastard Rider.
I myself am aveid Biker, Runner and Swimmer. I Bike Commute. I do Adventure Bike Races. And I realize that many Bikers feel they have some sanctimonous right to take what ever they want. especially those uneducated Brown-Shirt Pigs in Critical Mass deserve. I am 100% for the driver as a matter of fact I am outside of D.C. , but I from NYC. Quite frankly as result of many of the CM demonstrations I am favor of what that NYC cop did to that stupid CM rider last Friday night.
I always feel dirty when I start agreeing with Schram. But on this one...
The basic position of nearly everyone on this post is: I'm right and you're wrong. Ego insanity on display.
Well most "truths" in my experience are composed of two roughly equal but opposite half truths.
Bikers complain about drivers not obeying the laws of the road. Fair enough for those drivers who don't.
But I've been driving for 35 years and I've seldom seen bikers actually follow the rules of the road: adjust speed appropriate to conditions, actually stop at a light or stop sign, signal lane changes, pull over when impeding traffic, yield to pedestrians in cross walks, etc.
But the rules don't seem to apply when you're right and the other guy is wrong, do they.
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