It’s a common refrain among local cyclists: Want to kill someone and get away with it? Run them over while they’re on a bicycle.
Within Boston’s growing cycling community, a perceived lack of criminal prosecution of motorists involved in fatal bike crashes has been a regular source of outrage in recent years. That ire came to a fever pitch last week, when a grand jury investigation of a Wellesley bike crash with seemingly copious evidence — video footage, witnesses defending the deceased bicyclist, a truck driver who had fled the scene and had an extensive history of driving infractions — came back with no charges.
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There are irresonsible, reckless, agressive, and just plain stupid miscreants on both sides of this. The problem is that the cars and trucks have a clear advantage. They will most likely always win in the crash catergory. The law says we must share the roads. We should all be able to live up to this simple law. Just because you are in a hurry doesn't give one to the break the law on either side. Biker or Auto/Truck driver. We have to learn to truly share the road and work together on this. After all, many, many of us who drive gas powered vehicles also ride bicycles. Be more careful. And more respectful.
Something smells.... even with video evidence a grand jury couldn't decide the case had enough merit to proceed ?
I have to agree with your speculation. I would also be suspicious that the case was brought to the GJ to cover the bases politically but that the prosecutor backed off on his or her presentation. It doesn't make sense and it's not the only bike death case that has failed to be prosected. I find it very disturbing. I too viewed the tape and clearly, there was nothing hiding the cyclist from the truckers view.
Good points. What can be done after a Grand Jury makes a decision in Massachusetts?
I don't mean to make light of this tragedy, because I really feel sympathy for anyone involved in an accident lie this. But, I immediately thought about how our system is out of balance when U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz will chase down a Internet hacker while this truck driver escapes any serious charges. What a sad deal this case is for everyone involved. Bike riders have no protection!
Apples and oranges. The prosecutor did pursue this case, but the grand jury (the people) decided there wasn't enough of a case to proceed to trial.
Ortiz followed the law. The hacker was wrong. Killed himself and now people want to pretend it was someone elses fault. All choices he made.
"The problem, bike advocates say, is that most people, and most jurors, just don’t like bikes" Not true. I like bikes.Just don't like most bicyclists. Why? When two passed me on the right going over 60 mph coming down the hill next to Wachusett mtn this fall. Really? yup. Those types deserve what ever they get.
Any bicyclist going 60mph knows they're risking their life, car or no car involved. A bump in the road, a pothole, a tree branch sticking out, and they're done. Nothing to do with laws of the land, only the laws of physics.
60 mile per hour. . .really? Must have been Lance Armstrong.
I drive in the city alot..and there's nothing more surly that a cyclist who doesn't get their way. Traffic lanes and lights are for Thee, not for Me!
I enjoy riding a bike once in a while. . . in a community where streets ar e designed for neither cars, bikes, nor pedestrians. Those roads are just too narrow for any two such vehicles or walkers to be passing one another at any singular time. But, that is about my town. Now let's talk about the city of Boston and its Mumbling Mayor's decision to paint bicycle lanes all over the city, with many of those lanes bordering automobile travel lanes on one side and auto parking lanes on the other. In other words, painted bicycle marked lanes alongside the driver's side of parked vehicles, where a driver may open a door at any time, even as a moving motor vehicle passes the cyclist on the other side. Evidently Mr. Menino found an out of work designer of machine tools or some such to come up with a scheme to mark Boston streets for bicyclists, with no thought given to the larger power and rights of automobile operators. Evidently the mayor and his traffic lane designers believe that any moving automobile is supposed to be driven into oncoming vehicle traffic if a bicyclist happens to be either be riding irresponsibly in a bike lane or if a driver of a parked car just happens to open a door even as my vehicle and a bicylist coincidentally pass by the door opener's vehicle. SQUJSH!
It never takes long before some enlightened liberal starts the insults. I simply state the fact that riding a bike in a sea of motor vehicles is inherently dangerous, and choosing to do is foolish. Drivers, however enlightened to cyclist rights and the superior ways of socialist Europe, cannot always spot and react to every contingency in a crowded street. Common sense is not so common anymore, at least on this site.
Riding a bike in a crowded city is dangerous and foolish. There are simply too many distractions and too little space for safe operation in thestreets of cities like Boston. Be wise not otherwise.
The same could be said of driving.
Physics, like arithmetic, is not an opinion. The standard "moral equivalence" argument doesn't work here. The bike rider loses every time, and asserting your "cyclist rights" in the path of a 2 ton vehicle is dangerous and foolish.
The comments here are evidence of the general ignorance in Boston and the specific reputation for being the worst drivers in America and some of the rudest, most selfish people in the world. Driving downtown last evening, I saw some of the most harrowing, selfish, and life-threatening driving maneuvers I have ever seen, and I have lived here for over 30 years. Bicyclists have just as much right to the roads as drivers. To hold up one or two examples of cyclists who break rules while not doing so with the by-far huger number of drivers is to ignore the law and excuse murderers like this truck driver.
As a follow biker - I do have an important comment - DO NOT ride side by side - you make drivers mad and then they want to hit me riding single file.
I agree with Factchex totally. And not only are cyclists treated unjustly when killed, try to get the Police to treat you fairly when you are hit and not killed. Often they do not want to fill out accident reports for accidents involving bicycles.
I have a comment that is not related to the Wellesley case....but rather, relates to the Globe's reporting on "bicyclist's rights". It's clear that some cyclists do whatever the H they want - I recently saw one almost mow down a pedestrian in a crosswalk. So why doesn't a reporter watch for bike scofflaws, then interview them? Ask them WHY they are breaking the law. Ask them questions to determine if they even KNOW the laws. And why doesn't the precious bike "community" - which seems to have been given a soapbox by the Globe - start a program to educate cyclists about what they should and should not do??? Motorists are not always in the wrong (again, I'm not talking about the Wellesley case here).
They have interviewed "bad" cyclists for other articles they've run on bike safety.
The overwhelming majority of cyclists are also licensed auto drivers, and most of them are also car owners. They know the law as well (or not, which is often the case) as car drivers.
On the one hand, it certainly sounds like an indictment would have been approproate in this case. On the other hand, "Stereotypes about careless or foolhardy bicyclists" have quite a bit of truth behind them, as anyone who walks around here knows full well.
I have sympathy for any person hurt in an accident on the road but I have seen maybe 1% of cyclistists stop for a red light or stop sign. I see cyclists make some very poor choices to avoid standing in traffic, stopping in an intersection or attempt to beat the bus or other large vehicle.
Part of the safety initiative should be ticketing cyclists who do not obey as well as the motorists.
Good job of changing the subject -- was there any indication in any investigation that this unfortunate cyclist was at any way at fault?
Your sensitivity to traffic law violations is selective; about 1% of drivers obey speed limits, and relatively few scrupulously obey the law at stop signs and before turning right on red. Speeding in residential neighborhoods is very dangerous; the risk of death in a pedestrian collision rises from about 5% at 20mph to 45% at 30mph, and 85% at 40mph. Every extra mile per hour piles on the risk. People may think it's safe, but statistics suggest otherwise, and it makes neighborhoods much less pleasant.
In addition, even when they do fail to stop, cyclists have a better ability to see if it is actually safe to do so. Their heads are positioned at standing height or better only 3 feet behind the front of the bike, there's no foggy or filty windshield or windows to obstruct their vision, and their hearing is (usually) unimpaired. Someone sitting in a noisy car (engine on, fan on) with the windows up is nearly deaf and cannot hear oncoming traffic; if the radio is on, they can only hear the loudest noises outside their car.
Unwise cycling is a self-limiting behavior; almost getting hit by a car or truck is very scary, and getting hit by a car or truck is at minimum painful, and often worse. Cyclists very rarely put other people at serious risk (about one pedestrian killed per year in the US). Poor driving is not self-limiting; it is not nearly as scary, not nearly as painful, and often puts other people at risk (over 3000 pedestrians killed per year -- per vehicle, about 15x as risky as cycling). Enforcement is a social activity, and it should be proportional to social risk; overall, we should expect to see 3000 drivers ticketed for every cyclist ticket that is issued; in places like Cambridge with a 10x higher bike share than the norm, it should be more like 300 to 1.
Or perhaps, you're just worried about the safety of the cyclists themselves, and paternalistically assume that they don't know better. That would be well-intentioned, but ignorant of actual risk. Big health studies in Europe indicate that the lack of exercise that comes with commuting in a car (not walking, not biking) is deadly, and far more dangerous than the risk from bicycle crashes. Other studies suggest that when there is a car-bicycle crash, it is more often the driver that is at fault than the cyclist, though in many cases the crash is a team effort. One study discovered that when cyclists wear helmets, the *car drivers around them* engage in riskier behavior -- suggesting that the concern for helmet-wearing is not so much about cyclist safety, but instead about driving speed.
I challenge anyone to walk or bike casually on the Minuteman bikepath a few times and see if they still feel the same way about hardcore bicyclists. Wolfpacks riding side by side at high speed terrorize both pedestrians and casual cyclists. They think they own the path, and the rest of us trying to enjoy it are nuisances getting in their way.
I am a cyclist who uses this path regularly and I agree about this generalization. I try to only use it on weekday mornings when few people are on it. However, what does this have to do with this article? To not only complain about cyclists exercising their right to ride on roads but to now complain about them on bike paths?
Factchex:
Is *is* relevant because the article discussed motorists attitudes toward bicyclists. Such attitudes are formed in places like the bikepath I spoke of. The irony is half the time they terrorize me, I'm on a bicycle myself. But not in spandex. Nooooooooooooo. Never in spandex.
When the biycling community takes on the same responsibility that drivers have then they will be recognized. Bicyclists should have to obey all the same laws as drivers--currently they dont. They should have to be licensed, trained and taxed by the state. An insurance policy should also be a requirement. The bicyclist is a free rider--paying nothing for roadways, maybe a tax would be in order for all the roadway Demands being made by their community.
Case in point about the ignorance I mentioned above. Cyclists don't pay taxes for roads? Are you for real here? Most cyclists are also drivers. And everyone who pays taxes, even if they don't drive or ride bikes, pay for the roads.
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Would the driver of the car have stopped if the victim had been a pedestrian? Probably not. If victim had been a pedestrian, the grand jury would have retruned an indictment quickly.
The comments reflect the frustration that many drivers and pedestrians feel when they see bicyclists ignore traffic laws. For example, two weeks ago I was in a cross walk trying to cross a street and bicyclist blew a whistle at me because they did not feel like stopping.
It would be nice to see an article about police ticketing bicyclists who flaunt laws instead of another article about a bicyclist baing killed. No one deserves to die because someone did not obey a traffic law.
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It would be nice if I saw police enforcing crosswalk laws around pedestrians (I almost never see that) instead of writing citations to bicyclists for coasting through traffic lights when there are no cars or pedestrians in sight (I do see that).
The next time a bicyclist stops for me when I'm in a crosswalk will be the first time.
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See you out there, then. I do it all the time.
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Trying to transform Boston, which is a difficult city even for drivers, into a Euro type biking city overnight is bound to produce accidents and fatalities. Riders have to realize they're rolling the dice with their safety ands should be aware they could be "dead" right.
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Euro cities were designed before Boston. It's a cultural bias, not a logistical thing.
It is hard to get convictions for drivers anywhere who kill motorcyclists. I am not surprised there was not indictment in this case. Two-wheeled vehicles are neither respected nor seen by drivers, and I think that's just a subtle prejudice. JMHO
Unforutnately, many people on the streets of Boston have a prison mentality. They ignore transgressions by themselves and others like them while aggressively attacking the transgressions of others.
Bicyclists ignore traffic laws, pedestrians jaywalk, motorcyclists have obnoxiously loud exhaust systems, and drivers in Boston are well, drivers in Boston. The streets of Boston would be much safer and more pleasant if the police would enforce all of the laws for everyone. As a member of the pedestrian, motorcyclist, and driving groups, I would have no problem with that.
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In my experience driving to and from downtown Boston, cyclists weave in and out and pay no attention to drivers. One actually darted across me at my green light. They are totally foolhardy. I almost had a heart attack for fear of hitting him. These people are mostly behaving like accidents waiting to happen. This is not a good city for cycling and these new rules for cyclists should never have been implemented. Thank all the good old lobbyists.
As usual, the grumpy suburban contingent in the Globe comments section is being totally reasonable: "Many bikers annoy me, so any biker, regardless of whether he is the one who annoyed me, deserves to die." Thank God I never have to set foot in the suburbs, and these knuckleheads are too racist to come anywhere near my neighborhood. The only contact I have to have with them is virtual, just the way I like it.
Please do tell. . . exactly what does a knucklehead's being - as you allege - a racist have to do with bicyclists?
We can debate all day that some cyclists may not obey traffic laws, just as some drivers may not. It has no bearing on this case. Legally each case should be judged independently of other people's actions.
There is video clearly showing that the cyclist was obeying traffic law while the driver of the truck was not. Whether it is a bias of the jury or for some other reason, Justice was not served.
Just looked at the video. Not surewhere the driver broke the law but maybe I amlooking at the wrong video.
Simple answer is to not allow large trucksand bikes on narrow roads that cannot accommodate them. Perhaps this was just an accident with nobody at fault.
That said, manyvibe riders need to get their heads on right. If you arebeing overtaken by a large object, regardless of your right to be there, slow down and move to the side until the large object passes you. It might save your life. Pedestriansknow this and do it all the time. Yes you have a right to the road and you can exercise that right as you fly through the air, propelled by the laws of physics. And please, remember you are required to yield to pedestrians and their children. Get smart
..... A life lng bike enthusiast and safe rider
no way you ride and post what you did. The motorist is responsible for passing at a safe opportunity. Cyclists have just as much right to the road as drivers, and as mentioned above, the vast majority of bikers are drivers also. This cyclist was riding correctly at the side of the road and he is supposed to what?... hear the truck bearing down on him, get off his bike and jump onto the nearest lawn? You're absurd.
The video stops before the critical time where the road narrows and the biker is hit. The other complication about this particular stretch of road is that there are granite curbs that are 4-6 inches high. So even if the biker had sensed the truck bearing down on him, there would be no way for him to move off the road. It's a good example of trying to increase safety for pedestrians (building high curbs) and making it more dangerous for bikers.
NEW MASSACHUSETTS CYCLIST MIRANDA WARNING
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YOU HAVE THE RIGHT . . . to share the road with ten-ton vehicles that will kill you.
IF YOU CHOOSE TO EXERCISE THIS RIGHT . . . the laws of physics can and will prevail and you will die.
YOU HAVE THE RIGHT . . . to a coroner who will determine that you died because you felt you had the right to wrecklessy ride your two wheeled bicycle in the same space that ten-ton vehciles were also driving.
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Uhm, OK. So as a truck driver you have a right to smear cyclists across the road, not stop, and get off scot-free?
Bicyclists around here certainly aren't always angels. That being said, I do believe that this whole problem begins and should end with real enforcement of basic traffic laws, primarily for motorists. I honestly don't know if it is ingrained corruption or what, but there has never in my thirty-something years of driving in the area been any significant enforcement of traffic laws, none. As a motorist, you are really free to drive in any reckless or arrogant manner that you wish, and there will never be any serious consequences. Ever read a driver's manual? All those laws and rules that when you were 16 you were scared to break because you might lose your license? Well, that's basically all just a big joke in the here and now. You cannot drive two miles around the city without witnessing some kind of incident that makes you want to tear your hair out, and it doesn't matter at all what the driving conditions are, or if the streets are clogged or empty. Start posting cops at intersections and really enforce the laws big-time. I'm suppose I'm being naive here, but it seems to me that, if enforcement is done consistently and correctly, that drivers will adapt and improve over time, and so would the bicyclists eventually, once traffic flows in a somewhat civilized manner and fewer people feel that they're at war with each other. Meanwhile, if anyone can enlighten me as to why there is no enforcement, please tell me because I really would like to know (I suppose it *is* corruption, a backed-up legal system, no funds etc., the same stuff we've been hearing for years). How about a Politician running on the premise, or promise, of jailing traffic miscreants? Accidents are just as horrible as any other kind of physical violence. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one (or am I)? Anyway, put the gd drivers in jail and take it from there. And I'm a motorist, not a bicyclist.
Walk around downtown Boston. Unless I jaywalk - I am dodging bikes all the time and no cars (cars only run a red at the end of yellow - not 30 seconds into the red that cyclists do. When I have a Walk signal I have to look in both directions (on a one-way street no less) to make sure a cyclist won't hit me. So if I were on a jury - my prejudice would creep in - although I would never want anyone to die. Oh and cars love bikes that they have to wait to pass only to have the bike pass the cars at the next signal becuase the cars obey the signal and the biker does not.
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Greater Boston cyclists unfortunately must deal with the often rabid brand of Boston drivers that are of legend...
However, cyclists themselves would garner more respect from drivers if there weren't so many of them that blatantly fail to obey the rules of the road--whizzing in and out of congested traffic, running red lights, cutting pedestrians off in crosswalks, zipping the wrong way on one-way streets, terrorizing pedestrians on business-district sidewalks--don't tell me it doesn't happen, because I see many, many cyclists behaving badly like that every day...
And unfortunately, most cyclists seem to snap into denial-mode when their bad behavior is pointed out, instead frothing at the mouth about "anti-bike attitudes" and "Yeah, well, what about pedestrians and motorists?"
Until the cycling community takes its badly-behaving members by the scruff of their lizard suits and educates them thoroughly about the roles of the road, the badly-behavers will continue to denegrate the public image of Greater Boston cyclists....
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The fact that other cyclists, at other times, break the law don't really have a bearing on Alexander Motsenigos' wrongful death.
The facts in this case were that the cyclist was following traffic laws. He was run over by a truck that -- by definition of what happened -- broke the law by failing to wait until it was safe to pass, and failing to give the cyclist adequate room while passing. The driver of the truck has a lengthy record of traffic violations and license suspensions.
Sure, folks here can cite lots of times they've observed other cyclists at other times and in other places, who behaved like hooligans. I've seen it, too. But Motsenigos was obeying traffic laws, doing the right thing when he was run over and killed by a driver who didn't wait until it was safe to pass. Instead of giving the driver even a slap on the wrist, the grand jury decided instead to give all cyclists a slap in the face.
wow.. someone that actually gets it. As for that grand jury, I'm speechless. Indict - there was clearly enough evidence that negligence occurred - and let a jury decide.
Unfortunately, almost no one "gets it." Take a look at how many comments related to this article have been removed.
I hope people who don't ride bikes understand what a terrible message this sends. Numerous commenters above have been quick to excuse this cyclist's death because they've seen some reckless biking and assume that this is true of the entire group. A jury is an actual group, randomly chosen, and they made this choice.
People are quick to say things like "if cyclists want respect, they should obey the law first". I obeyed the law scrupulously on my bicycle for decades, yet look at what this jury did. Is this respect? There's a definition for insanity that fits here.
I have two suggestions: (1) if you want cyclists to obey the law, maybe they should get some respect first; and (2) before you single out cyclists as undeserving of respect because of their behavior, stop and pay a little attention (*) to all the laws that most drivers break every day, and ask yourself if they deserve any respect. There's a group of road users who break some traffic laws about 90% of the time, and kill over 3000 pedestrians per year ; should we ban that group from the roads?
(*) it seems incredible to me that anyone would not notice driver lawbreaking, but apparently that is the case. Look at stop lines (did you stop behind it?), look for full stops, look for failure to signal turns, look for failure to stop before turning right on red, look for failure to yield ROW to a pedestrian in a crosswalk. Look for dangerous close passes, look for swerving out of marked lane without checking/signalling. And of course, almost everybody speeds. People speed on the interstates, they speed off the interstates, they speed on rural roads, they speed on residential streets. It snows, the roads are narrowed, windows are foggy, pedestrians in the street -- and people still speed, same as ever.
I certainly have not been "quick to excuse this cyclist's death," or single out cyclists as undeserving of respect.
The cyclist's death was tragic, for sure.
But I will not recant my commentary on the many rogue cyclists who imperil the public safety of pedestrians, especially seniors and people with disabilities. Like I said, I see it all the time.
Hmm... so I see here that folks say bikes should stay off the bike path. Bikes should stay off the sidewalks. Bikes should stay off the streets. Since we don't have any velodromes around here, where, pray tell, does that leave? And I pay a lot of taxes (excise taxes, city taxes, state taxes, federal taxes) even though I ride my bike.
Point 1: talk about blaming the victim here. Sure sounds a lot likehow rape victims (still) are described. "Shouldn't have been dressed that way. "Shouldn't have been at that bar." etc.
Point 2: As an avid cyclist, I believe we have a right to the road. However, I do choose to bike in areas where the traffic is limited. I choose to bike in the early morning when traffic is lighter. My friends and I RARELY ride the bike paths and if we do, we ride slowly and appropriately for the path. We prefer to ride fast and one cannot do that safely on the bike path. I do not bike to work because the route is on narrow roads that are unsafe for riding (IMO) especially on a crowded commute route. But i should be able to, if i wish.
Point 3: We ride as a group of as 20 at times. We have often stopped for pedestrians at crosswalks and stop for red lights. Have some of us rolled through a red light ? Yes. I offer no defense- we shouldn't be doing that. And it makes me angry when one of us does and I let it be known. Neither should the drivers who ride through red lights at 60 MPH on the Acton/Concord stretch of route 2 either. But when there is a fatal accident on that stretch (which happens too often), from running a red light, someone is at fault and someone should be brought to justice. Same here....
I drove in Boston from the time I was 16 off and on until we moved to Chicago this year, about 30 years. In that time, I had exactly one car accident involving another car. In that same amount of time, I had my car hit by cyclists (I was always stopped) four times, my car mirror ripped off once, and a great gouge put down the side of my brand new car once, all by cyclists. I have been hit by cyclists as I attempted to cross the street (with the light) three times, the last time resulting in a separated shoulder and surgery. Not one of the cyclists ever stopped. My suggestion? License plates and insurance for cyclists. I'm sorry that the cyclist in this story was killed...I watched the video, and they were clearly not in the wrong; the truck driver was. But my experience, and the experience of a lot of other people is that cyclists on the roads in the city are more dangerous than the other automobile drivers.
Unfortunately many drivers are affected by those cyclists, especially in the city, who are rude and create hugely dangerous situations. I recently saw a cyclist, not wearing a helmet, turn a city corner extremely fast, only to come wheel to bumper with a car stopped at a light. In veering left into the next lane to avoid the stopped car, without looking at all, the cyclist cut off and was almost hit by a car that was going under the speed limit in the next lane preparing to stop at the same light. In order to avoid being hit by THAT car, the cyclist kicked the car's fender to push off and switch direction. Then the cyclist chased the car down Charles Street and continued kicking it. Maybe that car driver was on the grand jury?