[BCM] Electro Bike....Re: Battered Biker Syndrome

Tue Aug 10 07:45:46 EDT 2010

 Right, stop in the road,shut off, walk it up on the sidewalk... after all it's a motorized vehicle...

-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Atkins <datkinsg at gmail.com>
To: Boston Critical Mass <list at bostoncriticalmass.org>
Sent: Mon, Aug 9, 2010 11:23 pm
Subject: Re: [*BCM*] Electro Bike....Re: Battered Biker Syndrome

I think the problem is that when you go to stop the bike...the fact that it has that power assist going on is a surprise...so as you leave the road and go on to the sidewalk, your normal reaction to stop pedaling doesn't slow you down in the way you would expect.

On Mon, Aug 9, 2010 at 11:12 PM,  <thom3 at aol.com> wrote:

 Thanks Dave, it's hard to tell in the context because it says the pedal assist made it go too fast...

still motors on the Esplanade (if that is where it was) seems wrong, if illegal....

-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Atkins <datkinsg at gmail.com>
To: Boston Critical Mass <list at bostoncriticalmass.org>
Sent: Mon, Aug 9, 2010 11:07 pm
Subject: Re: [*BCM*] Electro Bike....Re: Battered Biker Syndrome

re the electric bikes...I think the reviewer was talking about just riding the bike off the street onto the sidewalk to park it--not riding on the sidewalk instead of the road. I also wrote about that bike here:
http://davewrites.com/hybrid-electric-bikes-for-fun-green-commutes/

Dave Atkins
Content, Community, and Web Operations Specialist
datkinsg at gmail.com 

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On Mon, Aug 9, 2010 at 10:54 PM,  <thom3 at aol.com> wrote:

That's an ongoing situ that will be well, ongoing, I keep trying to think of better ways to approach motorists on this... 

BUT, BUT,did anyone read this

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/innoeco/2010/08/buzzing_around_boston_on_pietz.html

My immediate thoughts were, is it legal to bike on the sidewalk, let along ride a motorized vehicle on it? And a motorized vehicle on the esplanade? This all seems wrong.

-----Original Message-----
From: Jym Dyer <jym at econet.org>
To: Boston CM <list at bostoncriticalmass.org>
Sent: Mon, Aug 9, 2010 4:21 pm
Subject: [*BCM*] Battered Biker Syndrome

=v= In response to this _Globe_ article:

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/brookline/2010/07/by_jonathan_simmons_guest_colu_2.html

Sean Roche wrote an astute "Battered Biker Syndrome" blog entry,

appended below.

    <_Jym_>

=------------8<-------------Cut-Here-------------8<------------=

http://newtonstreets.blogspot.com/2010/08/battered-biker-syndrome.html

Battered Biker Syndrome

    by Sean Roche

Newton Streets and Sidewalks | Tuesday, 03-Aug-2010 at 6:08 AM

A driver chatting on a cellphone almost hit Jonathan Simmons,

the _Globe_'s On Biking columnist. When confronted, she told him

he had no business on the road. His response? He wrote a column

wondering how biker behavior has contributed to the "road rage"

and proposing a 10-point share-the-road pledge, six of which

points apply exclusively to bikes and one of which applies only

to pedestrians.

Let's break this down. Biker nearly gets killed. Biker promises

to make drivers less angry.

These are classic symptoms of someone in an abusive

relationship. You harm me or threaten to harm me. It must

be psomething I'm doing. I'll be a better person. Promise.

Suggesting that there is some causal relationship between

cyclists' behavior and the woman's potentially fatal actions

is just wrong. Let's be clear. There is absolutely no behavior

on the part of a cyclist that excuses or explains a motorist

putting a cyclist in jeopardy. There is nothing that cyclists do

that excuses or explains a motorist being ignorant of cyclists'

right to the road.

Nothing.

Certainly, there are cyclists out there doing things that are

wrong and things that are technically illegal. Let's identify

and address those behaviors. But let's not even suggest that

those behaviors somehow justify the anti-bicycle sentiment

that's demonstrably out there on the road. Especially -- and

this also reflective of abusive relationships -- because of the

inherent power differential in the motorist/biker relationship:

motorists' attitudes and behaviors can get a cyclist killed or

seriously injured.

Perhaps most importantly, it's foolish to think that drivers are

going to respect cyclists and give them plenty of safe cushion

if we could just convince those pesky two-wheeled scofflaws to

stop at red lights. Dangerous driving, road rage, and rampant

violations of the rules of the road pre-date the recent surge in

bicycling. Cyclists have just become another target for the bad

actors in our car-dominated culture.

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