U.S. motor vehicles kill over 40,000 per year, group points out
For immediate release
July 17, 1998
Members of the international cycle messenger community are shocked and disappointed by the approach of municipal authorities and media in Boston to an unfortunate incident involving a collision between a pedestrian and a working bicyclist in Boston last year.
Cycle messenger representatives point out that North Americans accept death and injury due to motor vehicle crashes as routine. However, this unusual incident has resulted in a proposed law that is not only unnecessary but one that has been proven ineffective in other North American municipalities.
The proposed home rule petition from Boston is discriminatory against bicycle couriers because:
The U.S. Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported well over 40,000 deaths and over 3.5 million injuries due to motor vehicle crashes in 1996 alone.
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for every age from 6 through 27 years old. Inestimable additional health and environmental costs result from motor vehicle emissions. By contrast, the bicycle is not only statistically harmless to pedestrians but is also environmentally friendly and cuts down on urban gridlock. Some municipalities administer programs to promote the use of bicycles within their city core.
Yet in Boston municipal bodies and media alike have called for even stricter controls on bike messengers since October 30, when William Spring, 62 was sent to hospital with critical injuries after a collision with an unlicensed bicycle courier. (Boston cycle messengers must already be licensed and wear identifying vests.)
While the undersigned representatives of the international cycling and cycle messenger communities do not suggest that cyclists should be exempted from the normal rules of urban traffic, they strongly believe that any step taken to limit or over-regulate the use of bicycles in urban centers is retrogressive. They also point out that laws regarding courier and cyclist behavior already exist. For this reason they cannot condone the political grandstanding and media sensationalism that have characterized the public response to this tragic incident.
We welcome an opportunity to provide the State of Massachusetts and the city of Boston with more information regarding the regulation and licensing of bicycle messengers so that they may consider all relevant information before making a final decision on this matter.
CONTEXT
Number of US pedestrians killed by automobiles in 1996: 5,412.
Injured: 82,000
The average amount of time that elapses between pedestrian deaths by motor vehicle in the US: 97 minutes.
Between pedestrian injuries: 6 minutes
This media release is a joint project of cycling organizations, individual messengers, and their associations including the District of Columbia Bicycle Courier Association, San Francisco Bike Messengers Association, Minneapolis Bike Messenger Association, Denver Professional Bike Messengers Association, Calgary Bicycle Courier Association (Canada), Montreal Bike Messengers Association (Canada), the Bicycle Couriers of Melbourne (Australia), San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, and Advocacy for Respect for Cyclists (Toronto Canada)
MEDIA CONTACTS AND REPRESENTATIVES
USA:
Rebecca Riley (DCBCA -Washington D.C.)
Joel Metz (SFBMA -San Francisco)
Ellis Wangelin (MBMA -Minneapolis)
J-Bone Abernathy (DPBMA - Denver)
John Kenda (Boston)
Eddie Cruz (Boston)
Canada:
Laura Sharp (CBCA -Calgary)
Stef Funaro (MBMA -Montreal)
Derek Chadbourne (ARC -Toronto)
Joe Hendry (Bicycle Courier Industry Representative -Toronto City Cycling Committee)
Alex Leithead (Ottawa)
Dave Holden (Messenger Information Hub - Vancouver)
Australia:
Paul Mirtschin (BCoM -Melbourne)