« Counterpunch: Attention Bicyclists! | Main | Interactivist: NYC Sues to stop CM »
October 19, 2004
NY Daily News: Cops should ease up
A terrific guest editorial from renowned energy economist Charles Komanoff in today's Daily News.
Drivers don't get arrested for interfering with traffic. Some huge SUV may be blocking a bus or slowing an ambulance somewhere upstream, but no driver is ever expected to justify his presence in the road.But let a bunch of bicycle riders show up together, filling a few blocks with nothing more lethal than their bells, yells and sweat, and the NYPD lunges into action. In August, a police dragnet at a mass bike ride through midtown landed 264 cyclists in jail. On a September ride, police turned their wrath on the bicycles themselves, sawing the chains from 40 and taking them into custody.
These Critical Mass rides, as they are known, have been happening once a month for the last five or six years in New York without this kind of interference. Now, however, the cops and Mayor Bloomberg, apparently galvanized by the security worries during the Republican convention, have decided that Critical Mass is an attack on law and order. The next ride is slated for a week from Friday, and it's a good bet there will be the same kind of overreaction.
But Critical Mass is not an organization, and its participants are there for all kinds of reasons. It is nothing more than a bunch of people on bikes, just as "traffic" is just a bunch of people in cars.
The rides originated with handfuls of bike commuters seeking camaraderie and safety on their evening ride home. As cyclists experienced the power of numbers, these initial happenings grew into monthly "organized coincidences."
Drivers want to be the only people on the road, but cyclists like having other cyclists around. For good reason: Bike-safety specialists have documented that cyclists are safer where there are more of them - their larger presence compels drivers to take notice of them.
There are no Critical Mass rides in Denmark or Germany, because they are not needed; in those countries, cyclists' right to the road is enshrined in law and behavior. In U.S. cities, Critical Mass rides are virtually the only time cyclists can relax in the safety created by their numbers.
Every hour of every day is a cars-and-trucks Critical Mass in New York. So why is a bicycle version such a threat?
I'm kidding, of course. Critical Mass is indeed subversion. But in a world filled with automotive pathologies, from oil wars to obesity, this is the kind of subversion we need.
Posted by at October 19, 2004 11:08 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://WWW.subgood.COM/cgi-bin/MT/mt-tb.cgi/122
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference NY Daily News: Cops should ease up:
» camel toe from
8th street latinas gloryhole milf hunter milfseeker cumfiesta camel toe [Read More]
Tracked on November 13, 2005 11:50 AM
» fucking from
horse cum sex toys horse fucking cum shots sex toys tit fucking [Read More]
Tracked on November 14, 2005 01:43 AM
» poker 734 from poker 734
poker 734 [Read More]
Tracked on December 10, 2005 05:24 AM
» free credit report from free credit report
online casinos online casinos
poker poker
poker poker
credit report credit report ... [Read More]
Tracked on December 12, 2005 07:23 PM
» Personal Loans from Personal Loans
Personal Loans is a niceblogers. [Read More]
Tracked on December 26, 2005 07:41 AM
» Dental Insurance from Dental Insurance
Dental Insurance is a niceblogers. [Read More]
Tracked on January 3, 2006 04:51 PM