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MATT VINSER, BOSTON GLOBE - Community leaders who oversee the [Minuteman
Bikeway] say its popularity is higher now than in any of the 14 years
it's been open, and the Washington-based Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
estimates that there are 2 million annual users, making it the
second-busiest trail of its kind in the country.
But as thousands each day compete for space on the trail's 12-foot-wide
strip of asphalt, passing through meadows, suburban town centers, and
manicured backyards, confrontations have become increasingly common.
Police have been called out so often to resolve angry, and sometimes
bizarre, disputes that they have coined a new term.
"We have road rage," said Arlington Police Chief Fred Ryan. "And now we
have bikeway rage." In a 3-mile stretch in Arlington, police have filed
18 reports over the past year -- more than the previous two years
combined -- that have ranged from bike-on-bike accidents to a woman who
received unwanted sexual advances one afternoon while pushing her baby
daughter in a stroller. Some men have been spotted running naked, others
urinating in the bushes.
In one instance several years ago, a bicyclist kicked a Jack Russell
terrier and yelled at the dog's owner, "Get the [expletive] over to the
right!" as he passed by. Police tracked down the bicyclist and, after he
apologized to the dog owner, did not press charges.
"It's a good thing that it's used so much," said David Watson, executive
director of the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition. "But in some ways I
guess you can call it a victim of its own success.". . .
There are cyclists in full-body spandex suits, aerodynamic helmets, and
titanium bikes that go fast enough to leave road kill in their wake.
There are roller bladers, swaying back and forth to music playing on
headphones. There are dog-walkers, stroller-pushers, and frequent
choruses of "On your left!" screamed by cyclists as they whiz by
pedestrians. . .
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/07/01/rage_on_the_bikeway/
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MATT VINSER, BOSTON GLOBE - Community leaders who oversee the [Minuteman
Bikeway] say its popularity is higher now than in any of the 14 years
it's been open, and the Washington-based Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
estimates that there are 2 million annual users, making it the
second-busiest trail of its kind in the country.
But as thousands each day compete for space on the trail's 12-foot-wide
strip of asphalt, passing through meadows, suburban town centers, and
manicured backyards, confrontations have become increasingly common.
Police have been called out so often to resolve angry, and sometimes
bizarre, disputes that they have coined a new term.
"We have road rage," said Arlington Police Chief Fred Ryan. "And now we
have bikeway rage." In a 3-mile stretch in Arlington, police have filed
18 reports over the past year -- more than the previous two years
combined -- that have ranged from bike-on-bike accidents to a woman who
received unwanted sexual advances one afternoon while pushing her baby
daughter in a stroller. Some men have been spotted running naked, others
urinating in the bushes.
In one instance several years ago, a bicyclist kicked a Jack Russell
terrier and yelled at the dog's owner, "Get the [expletive] over to the
right!" as he passed by. Police tracked down the bicyclist and, after he
apologized to the dog owner, did not press charges.
"It's a good thing that it's used so much," said David Watson, executive
director of the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition. "But in some ways I
guess you can call it a victim of its own success.". . .
There are cyclists in full-body spandex suits, aerodynamic helmets, and
titanium bikes that go fast enough to leave road kill in their wake.
There are roller bladers, swaying back and forth to music playing on
headphones. There are dog-walkers, stroller-pushers, and frequent
choruses of "On your left!" screamed by cyclists as they whiz by
pedestrians. . .
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/07/01/rage_on_the_bikeway/
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1 comment:
Dallas just recently had a case of bike rage. A woman didn't move over fast enough for a roadie and he knocked her off her bike and slashed her up pretty good with a knife.
I have succumb to some minor bike rage, I attribute it to among other things the heat, at times getting dehydrated, you just can get on your last nerve. I get irritated.
But the idea you would get off your bike and hurt someone or their dog intentionally? That I can't understand. Maybe being visibly annoyed, scowl, etc. I can see, but to get physical? Wow.
Although when calling on "your left" you do have to yell so they hear you, assuming they don't have their walkman or ipod in their ears :P
Bike Rage! Wow. Cycling has reached a 'critical mass'.
In TX I do know some cyclists have a concealed handgun license and have it to defend themselves from road ragers and rednecks, but to hurt people for just enjoying the same trail. Wow.
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