Critical Mass Collision
Today, I participated in my first ever Critical Mass, a large, loosely organized bike ride that starts at the Westlake Center in downtown Seattle around 6:00 pm and meanders around the town, directed by the whims of whoever is in front. The ride is somewhat controversial in that the riders manage to stay in one cohesive group with a tactic known as “corking” where cyclists place themselves strategically to block traffic, allowing the group of cyclists to continue, even through red lights. Nevertheless, the whole procession isn’t that big of a deal — at most, drivers are inconveniences for about 5 minutes as the group rides by.
As a cyclist, I learned today, it is a ton of fun. We just ride around Seattle hooting, hollering, and ringing bells, putting on a show for downtown drivers and having a good time. In fact, as you ride, you enter into a bit of a mob mentality: you’re having fun, surrounded by bicycles, exploring the city, not really worrying about where you or anyone else is headed. As a frequent driver myself, I can understand how another driver could become frustrated by the cyclists’ apparent lack of concern about the temporary traffic jams we create (”we’re not blocking traffic, we are traffic,” goes the mantra), but I can’t understand very well what happened today.
Riding up Aloha street on Capitol Hill, between 14th and 15th, the critical mass encountered a man and a woman in a white Subaru who were late to a dinner reservation. Although he wanted to go the opposite direction we were going, due to the cars parked on his side of the road, there was not enough room for both the cyclists and car. So, to prevent any rash moves, a couple of cyclists had stopped in front of the car to allow the rest of the group to pass by safely — in effect, the car had been corked. However, the man driving with his girlfriend/wife was clearly unhappy about the blockage, so in order to lend support to the brave souls that were corking, I stopped as well. If enough cyclists were stopped in front of him, I figured, we would all be safer.
I was wrong.
Not long after I arrived on the scene, the driver decided that he would turn around. This didn’t make any sense, since there were by this time many more cyclists to his east (the direction he was turning around to head) than to his west (the direction he was originally heading). So, to turn around, since we were in front of him, he backed up off of the road onto the grassy knoll behind him, which concerned all of us because it was kind of crazy. But I didn’t think he’d be crazy enough to then pull forward.
Again, I was wrong.
With two cyclists directly in front of him, two on the drivers side, and me and another guy on the passenger side of his car, the man at the wheel slammed on his accelerator and drove straight into two cyclists. One, a petite girl, got mostly out of the way. The second, a man, was not so fortunate. He fell to the ground and was pushed six feet across the pavement, his bicycle flattened (pictured below), his hands on the car’s front bumper to avoid being pulled under, before the car turned left, ran over his right leg, and accelerated east on Aloha towards 15th. The woman in the passenger seat was screaming hysterically as she passed me, the car grazing my front wheel. A cyclist directly in front of the car heard the acceleration and turned around to see the car coming right at him, so to avoid being hit, he jumped up on the hood of the car.
[CLARIFICATION: The following pictures are not of my bike. They are of the bike of the man who got run over by the car]
The two cyclists on the drivers side of the car chased after the car which now had a cyclist standing on the hood, hanging on to the roof rack for dear life, with no indication that the car was planning on stopping. One of the cyclists in pursuit managed to slash one of the car’s tires by the time it arrived at the stop sign on 15th. The guy on the roof kneed the front window, and another cyclist hurled his u-lock at the rear window, breaking it. Not even a block away and the car was stopped in its tracks, both windshields cracked, the driver’s side view mirror hanging limply, all four tires slashed. The driver also reportedly received a u-lock to the head; all I know is that in the aftermath, he was bleeding on the left side of his head. It was a bad situation. Fortunately, once the car was stopped, the situation did not escalate.
Someone was quicker onto the phone than I was — and it didn’t take long for police and ambulances to show up. The police started interviewing the people involved. I eventually got interviewed as a witness as well. To complicate matters, the police were busy shifting from the second to third shift, so the initial responders were different from the people who ended up inheriting the situation. The officer who became in charge of the situation, a man by the name of Lutz (sp?) proceeded to get the account of events pretty throughly incorrect. His account “compiled from a variety of sources” had cyclists hitting the car before the car accelerated into the cyclists. No such thing happened. There were definitely raised voices, high tempers, and nasty words being exchanged directly before the event, but Lutz’s recount was heavily biased towards an point of view that sounded like it came from inside the car.
Not wanting to become too frustrated listening to Lutz spout his misconceptions, I walked off towards 14th, where another officer asked me what was going on, since he had just been doing traffic duty. I explained the situation to him from my point of view, and he pointed out that he had noticed that we didn’t feel right about Lutz’s compilation of “facts.” It was nice to talk to someone who seemed to care that his fellow officer was getting it wrong.
At any rate, the cyclists who were hit were not seriously injured. I sustained minor flesh wounds (slight bleeding on both legs caused by my bike’s front wheel being grazed), but I didn’t even notice the wounds until much later. The cyclist who got the worst of it is probably going to have his ankle x-rayed, but his leg bones remained intact despite being run over by a car. The girl cyclist escaped physically unharmed, but was very emotionally distraught. The man in the car received the worst injury; he ended up being bandaged and transported to a hospital. Hopefully he was also under arrest, although I was not able to confirm that.
Two cyclists were also arrested — my best guess is that they were the ones claiming responsibility for the bloody head and slashed tires. I asked the officers arresting them what the charges were, but I was rebuffed. The exchange went something like this:
Ryan: What is he being arrested for?
Officer: Can you move back over there?
Ryan: I am capable, but do I have to? Is that an order?
Officer: Yes it is.
Ryan: Alright.
Then I left. The officers clearly were not interested in talking about what was going on.
Most of the locals were compassionate, with the exception of one incredibly bitter man who blamed me personally (and the other cyclists in general) for the whole incident. I declined further discussions with him. One local brought out plastic cups and a pitcher of water, which was very pleasing to me. I thanked him profusely, but not enough. So, thank you again!
As everything was winding down, King 5 news showed up and put together a mostly incorrect story for the 10 o’clock news. At the end of the story is the sentence, “The cyclists on the scene declined to comment on what happened.” While it is true that the cyclist who got ran over declined to comment since he was being driven home, it was not true in general. Specially, I was there and willing to comment (which I let them know), but they did not take me up on the offer.
I stuck around for probably an hour and a half in total, but since I haven’t been wearing my watch for a while, I’m not sure about the actual timing of events. I was one of the last to leave the scene — the girl got a ride home with an officer, the male cyclist went with his wife, the driver took a ride in an ambulance, his car got impounded and towed, and everyone else cycled or walked away. A few of us exchanged email addresses before parting ways to stay in touch in case any witnesses were needed for future legal action.
How’s that for a little excitement? It certainly ended badly, but next month, on the last Friday of August, I’m definitely riding in Critical Mass again.
UPDATE [2008-07-28, 2:09am]:
I think its pretty important to read what the driver had to say. Its a believable story, so its quite possible that this is how it really went down, from his perspective.
He does leave out the fact that he was yelling back at the cyclists, but this is not very important. It is also possible that he really did think that all the cyclists had passed (about 90% had, and the stream of cyclists was definitely thinner than before at the time he made his unfortunate decision).
While this was still a really bad decision on the driver’s part, at least this gives us a glimpse into his mindset at the time, and it also helps humanize him a lot, which I think is lost a lot in these he-said she-said battle of words.
As I gain more information and perspective on the whole incident, my fault compass is gradually pointing more towards the two cyclists who were at the left of the car shouting profanities into the car window. In the ruckus, I can believe that one of them might have joked (or been serious) when saying something like “lets tip the car.” I didn’t hear any such words, (UPDATE: nobody acted like they were about to tip the car, nor did anyone touch the car) but nor could I quote to you very much of the argument that was said in the lead-up to the incident because I didn’t think it was important to try to remember at the time.
Its still totally stupid and screwed up that a driver drove over a cyclist, but its also stupid and screwed up that there were antagonistic cyclists as well, without which, the incident probably would not have happened.
UPDATE [2008-07-03 7:35 pm]:
Upon rereading the driver’s account, there are numerous factual errors that are concerning and that make it difficult for me to believe too much of what the driver said. Here is the meat of his story:
While driving through Capitol Hill, Mark says he saw a herd of Critical Mass riders and pulled over on a parking strip on Aloha to wait for them to pass. After waiting for five minutes, Mark says he tried to turn his car around to get out of the way and get off of the street. That’s when about a dozen cyclists surrounded his car, he says.
“As soon as I tried to turn around, they completely corralled me in and were shouting things,” Mark says. Although he says cyclists were initially “playfully taunting” him, Mark says the longer he waited, the more aggressive they got. “They wouldn’t let me move even after the rest of the bikes went by, he says, adding that he started to panic when cyclists began tugging on his side mirrors and he heard someone say “let’s tip the car.”
Mark says he felt intimidated and was concerned for his safety, so he began to rev his engine. “[I] was going to…try to be macho and scare some people,” he says. “I didn’t realize my car was in first [gear].”
Mark says he rolled over two bicycles when his car lurched forward, before a crowd of cyclists swarmed him. One rider tried to punch him through his open car window, but missed, and others were clinging to his car as he sped off.
Although a number of reports have indicated that riders slashed the car’s tires, forcing it to stop, Mark says he heard a rider shout “someone’s really hurt” and slammed on his brakes. “I thought I just knocked 2 bikes over,” Mark says. “I wanted to get away from the situation but if I’d hurt someone, I didn’t want to flee.”
Error #1: When I arrived on the scene, Mark wasn’t trying to turn around. He had his car at a 30-degree angle towards the oncoming lane of traffic (where the cyclists were coming up the hill). He was already angry, and initially, cyclists were trying to calm him down by telling him that he only had to wait a few minutes. I parked myself in front of his car, with a few others.
Error #2: When Mark very suddenly decided to turn around, he backed up rather quickly and violently over the curb and onto the grassy hill between the curb and the sidewalk. I remember a few “whoa!”s over the suddenness of the move. At this point, there were six — count them, six — cyclists near his car. Two were on the drivers side a few feet away from his window, two were in front of the car, and me and another guy were in front of the car on the passenger’s side. This could be described accurately described as a “bowl” around the car but certainly not as “surrounded.” Granted, he had bicyclists at perhaps an angle of view of 180 degrees spread out in front of him, so he may have felt surrounded in his emotional state. That doesn’t make it truth. Also, it was after the driver suddenly backed up that I remember the argument became very heated.
Error #3: “he started to panic when cyclists began tugging on his side mirrors”: I’ve said it before, I will say it again, and I will probably testify to it someday soon: Mark’s car was not touched until he drove into the two cyclists.
Error #4: I won’t discuss it here because it is a lynchpin that might make the driver’s falsified story fall apart in court, and I don’t want to give him the chance to come up with a better lie, if he is going to chose to lie.
There may be additional factual errors, but I do not have first-hand knowledge of any others. However, the rest of the story is spun very heavily in the driver’s favor — for example, he states that he stopped on his own accord when he heard someone was hurt (but how do you run over a bike with a bicyclist on it without hurting someone?!). He further states that he was hit in the head after he got out, that most of the damage to his car happened after he stopped. I’m not saying these are lies, because I don’t know that, but I am saying, with the other fabrications this story seems to have, I’m much less likely to believe these parts of the story.
Among the last statements in the story is this little diddy: “I’d rather not have anyone…be charged from any of this.” Especially, I am sure, not himself.
July 26th, 2008 at 07:13:49 am
ryan…critical masses are an addiction…an adrenaline rush, an all around blast, one of the things i miss most about seattle
i’m glad you are okay, and i hope you replace that front wheel…might be tough to true
July 26th, 2008 at 09:56:46 am
Good read, and it’s good to hear you are all right.
Here’s a motorcyclist’s perspective:
I am not usually a biker, but I feel that critical mass hurts one of the primary goals of bicyclists. When I am on a bike, I hope that cars will respect my right to be there, and follow the laws of the road that I know and understand.
I often read the bumper stickers ‘Same roads, same rules, same rights’ and I completely agree.
But, this pact is destroyed when bicyclists do not obey the law. Small violations abound- no helmets, lane splitting, running red lights, switching between riding on sidewalks or off. Critical mass is even worse because it is a community wide flagrant disregard of traffic law, with the expectation that everyone else will obey the rules. If bicycles are traffic (a proposition which I agree with) drivers like myself wonder why bikes are allowed to break the rules, while vehicles can’t. I cannot imagine a similar event existing if it were a group of motorcycles doing the same thing. Every time a bicyclist breaks traffic laws- even if it has no real impact on traffic or safety it undermines the community’s perceived right to be on the road.
This frustration mounted when you put yourself on the awkward side of the law with the Subaru. By disregarding the law, bikers (and drivers) open up a brave new world roads where they are no longer protected, where nobody has rights. Clearly, he was in the wrong to cause property damage and risk lives, but in his mind, if you are not going to respect the law why should he? Every step that bicyclists take against drivers is brinksmanship that the craziest drivers will call.
In the end, what is he going to think for the rest of his life about the bicycling community? What will his friends think? What will all those who watch K5 think? In the end, does critical mass make bikers safer?
July 26th, 2008 at 11:12:22 am
How frustrating is this? The Seattle Police Department has a completely biased story that gets major events completely wrong (such as hiting a cyclist while backing up, which is NOT what happened). Details are in this Seattle Times story.
July 26th, 2008 at 11:13:07 am
As an avid road cyclist I have big problems with things like “Critical Mass”. What they do is extremely unsafe and gives responsible cyclist a bad name. They do many things that, while might be legal, are terrible. For example, riding in a big pack is not what is supposed to be done on busy streets. You are always supposed to stay to the right and ride single file when possible. Not doing this only aggravates drivers, and rightfully so. I could go on and on about how they break general road etiquette, and sometimes the law. While drivers need to be respectful of cyclist, cyclists need to be respectful of drivers. “Critical Mass” on bust city streets is not showing drivers much respect.
I will always put a large amount of blame on a person who gets hit by a car while participating in something dangerous like this. It’s so unsafe and only makes drivers hate all cyclists and thus makes the road more dangerous for me.
Just my opinion (a similar opinion to many cyclist I have encountered). I know a lot of people disagree and they are entitled to. This driver is a total asshole and deserves to be punished severely. I am very glad to hear that nobody got hurt or killed. That’s what’s most important.
July 26th, 2008 at 11:15:11 am
To Kevin: Its not my bike, it was the bike of the guy who got ran over. I will clarify this in my post.
July 26th, 2008 at 11:36:39 am
To Jonathan & Scott: Thanks for sharing your views — I definitely understand where you are coming from. Honestly, I have to agree that critical mass probably makes cyclists a little less safe and a lot less respected among a good number of people.
I am a pretty bad example on a bicycle. I usually don’t wear a helmet (I understand that it is a stupid decision, I understand the risks I am taking, but I still don’t like them), I break laws pretty frequently when I consider it safe to do so, and I often don’t ride in the bike lane even when there is one (in my opinion its much more dangerous to be on the side of the road than in the middle — case in point is 2nd Avenue downtown, where the bike lane is next to parked cars that are constantly pulling in and out; it’s also in the left lane where lots of people are turning left. On this road, I ride in the middle lane where I feel an order of magnitude safer because of the higher visibility I have and the lack of laterally moving, stop-and-go traffic.) The point is, critical mass isn’t that far off from what I do anyway, its just in a larger group.
I appreciate that there are some laws against what I do; I just don’t care very much. Why must cyclists form a single file line to the right? Why not cars have to stop when a cyclist is nearby for safety? Its just that today, cars rule the road, but during critical mass, that changes. In my opinion, that is pretty cool, but as you can see opinions definitely vary.
All that being said, I hope the driver’s life isn’t destroyed. He messed up big time, and he should definitely (in my opinion) pay for the bike he destroyed, all medical expenses of the guy he ran over, and get the opportunity to deal with his car on his own, but I don’t think jail time would do anybody any good in this situation.
The cyclists who were arrested is a murkier situation; they were responding to a fellow cyclist getting bowled over by a car; defense of fellow cyclists can certainly be claimed, but their actions clearly went above what was necessary. Still, without them, the driver of the car was showing every intention that he would have driven off and left the scene. So were their actions justified? I can’t say yes for sure, but neither so I want to say no. It’s just a crappy situation that I wish hadn’t happened. The fun was before the incident, not after.
A final point: there is a law against driving faster than the speed limit, but I do that all the time. There is a law that I have to wear a seat belt, but I sometimes drive without it (mostly to spite the law). There is a law against texting or talking on a non-hands-free cell phone while driving, but I do both of those activities as well. The point is, most people, especially me, break laws every day in ways that we consider safe, ethical, and moral. Critical Mass, in my opinion, isn’t much different. Its just done as a group event.
July 26th, 2008 at 12:03:51 pm
You are right when you say that safety is often at odds with the law. On my motorcycle I encounter this often, and I the bike lane issue makes sense. Everything that you have done on a bike I’ve done or seen done on a motorcycle.
I suppose I don’t have the same feeling of being downtrodden in traffic, as the speed of a car combined with the maneuverability of a bike means that we pretty much always can feel like we ‘rule the road’. In a perverse way, the venting of anger at critical mass does bring attention to the issues and may put bikers’ complaints on the map.
However safe, ethical, and moral the initial law breaking was, it exacerbates the immediate problems while offering little progress for achieving a real solution. Yet the media response has shown that such a hope is still a long way off, or perhaps entirely misplaced.
July 26th, 2008 at 12:04:11 pm
Scott,,,I went on a Critical Mass ride that doubled as a tribute ride to a friend who was killed on her bicycle. I witnessed a couple cyclists passing (and guzzling) pounders (beer) back and forth, not wearing helmets, and just being completely annoying. What kind of awareness does ‘drinking and riding’ raise? Thanks, and I too am relieved no one was hurt worse.
July 26th, 2008 at 01:49:52 pm
Ryan, I’m trying to do an ACCURATE story for KIRO-TV about what happened. Please call me through our TV Assignment Desk (***) ***-****. I would like to interview you today, if you have a few minutes.
July 26th, 2008 at 01:59:38 pm
I have just notified the authorities that you have driven over the speed limit. Someone should be along to arrest you shortly.
Both those articles are pretty one-sided.. I guess it makes a better story to say that rowdy bikers destroyed a car for no reason… Even if I hadn’t read what you wrote those stories would seem a little fishy to me. I agree with you that the cyclists actions could be partially justified. While I might disagree with Critical Mass’s methods I know that they don’t have a violent/negative message. Something obviously set them off. Sometimes you got to do what needs to be done.
July 26th, 2008 at 02:02:59 pm
[...] windows and shit. It’s really awesome how lame the news reports are. Ryan McElroy has an good witness account. King 5 has a terrible, fucking inexcusable piece of writing. The Oregonian follows suit. Scott [...]
July 26th, 2008 at 02:22:58 pm
I made a blog entry, found yours and am using a couple of your pictures (hosted on my servers so not to eat your bandwidth) and whatnot to augment. Hope you don’t mind.
http://sweetbike.org/?p=184
What a crappy thing to happen.
July 26th, 2008 at 02:52:24 pm
“What they do is extremely unsafe and gives responsible cyclist a bad name. They do many things that, while might be legal, are terrible. For example, riding in a big pack is not what is supposed to be done on busy streets. You are always supposed to stay to the right and ride single file when possible.”
I would argue that a single file line nearly a mile in length and going down a busy street is generally more dangerous to the cyclists than a mass of cyclists grouped together.
July 26th, 2008 at 02:56:08 pm
Ugh, what a PR disaster for bicyclists.
The Coverage by the local media has been shamefully one sided in favor of the motorist. However, that said…I’m an avid biker, and I have to completely agree with both Jonathan McKay’s and Scott Houck’s posts.
Critical Mass tries to market themselves as a bicycle awareness and advocacy group, however everything about their actions runs counter to their goals. They demand equal rights and respect on the road…which I totally agree with. However, this is, pardon the pun, a two way street. If you have the same rights as cars, you have the same responsibilities as cars.
They justify blocking intersections by smugly saying “we’re not blocking traffic, we ARE traffic!!” This perfectly sums up their arrogance. “we want all of the rights, and none of the responsibilities” would be another way of putting it. If they “are traffic,” then they need to abide by the same traffic laws as everyone else.
The reason that their actions get me so riled up is because their arrogance puts me and other law abiding cyclists at risk. The vast, vast majority of cyclists follow the rules. But people like Critical Mass give all cyclists a bad name, and put everyone at risk.
The next time an innocent cyclist is hit or run off the road by an angry driver, ask yourself….did I feed this animosity? Do my actions contribute to this type of hatred for bikers? You may not pay the price for breaking the laws… but someone else might.
July 26th, 2008 at 03:00:10 pm
Ryan: We would be interested in quoting your point of view on this story. If you could call me at ***-***-****or email me at ****@seattletimes.com, I would appreciate your input.
Ian Ith
Assistant Metro Editor
The Seattle Times
July 26th, 2008 at 03:38:30 pm
Thank you for posting this and keeping it all calm and rational. I wasn’t there, and I’m trying to piece together what happened. Any way we look at this it was an ugly scene, but it’s so easy to respond to things like this with the kind of anger that only makes them worse….
July 26th, 2008 at 03:59:00 pm
Excuses and spin. That’s all I see here.
You openly admit to uncivil and illegal behavior, then blow it all off as good clean fun. Then, when things finally reach a point that an mature, intelligent adult would surely be able to predict, you piss and moan that things didn’t go your way.
Pathetic.
July 26th, 2008 at 04:28:18 pm
My god, if you want to see the crazy backlash that this has inspired, check out the comments on the PI:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/soundoff/comment.asp?articleID=372364#commentform
Right or wrong, this is how people see critical mass.
Sad.
Can’t we all just respectfully share the road?
July 26th, 2008 at 04:50:49 pm
Are you adults or just a bunch of entitled wanna-be punk kids? What does it take to be the bigger person? corking cars? sending people to the hospital? breaking two windows and slash four tires? sure, it makes you feel better, but what does it accomplish? if you’re looking for press like “rogue gang of bikers create gridlock, trash car and send driver to hospital”, then job well done.
sure sounds like the driver got the worst of this one.
trip to the hospital: ??, windshield: $350, rear window: $300, set of four tires: 5-$600, collection of impounded car: $250, medical bills: ??, etc…
glad your homemade fixie needs a new front tire. good luck with that.
time to grow up kids.
- an ashamed cap hill resident in the non-fancy-pants side of the hill.
July 26th, 2008 at 06:02:19 pm
Wow. How infantile. I had never heard of Critical Mass before but you’ve just given me insight into your mindset. I am now far less tolerant of your anarchical approach. Understand your childish selfish tactics though. Guess you get what you have coming. But I suspect this is the beginning of the end for your “movement.” I’ll definitely steer clear of you though in case some of you take the law into your own hands. Oh, that’s right, the law is important only when it supports your views. Grow up.
July 26th, 2008 at 06:50:27 pm
Thank you all for sharing your varied opinions. Sorry for the delay in having them posted, I have automatic moderation to prevent spam posts so I must approve all new posters before the comments they write can go live.
Now, to reply, if I can:
@stinkbug: “I would argue that a single file line nearly a mile in length and going down a busy street is generally more dangerous to the cyclists than a mass of cyclists grouped together.”
Good point. Although I just did STP a few weeks ago and that had miles of cyclists strung out, so I think either way can work. Of course, STP didn’t go through many crowded Seattle streets without police directing traffic, so a direct comparison is kind of hard.
@Scott Gamble: The pictures are not mine; they were taken by the wife of the cyclist who got run over. I asked her for permission to use them in a blog post, and she agreed, so I doubt she will have any problem with you using them as well.
@Mark A.: “Ugh, what a PR disaster for bicyclists.” Agreed. Furthermore, I am amenable to your viewpoint; even if I don’t share it completely I understand where you are coming from and I think it is reasonable to see things your way.
@Dave: “Then, when things finally reach a point that an mature, intelligent adult would surely be able to predict…” Mature and intelligent people should expect cyclists to get run over because someone is late to dinner? I don’t buy it.
@ch: I agree, I think the driver got the unhappier end of the stick. But he apparently got the benefit of the doubt in the police report, which he didn’t deserve. It’s also not my bike, it was the bike of the guy who got ran over. My apologies — this could have been made clearer in the original post. I appreciate that you value property destruction, thanks for sharing that.
@Jeff: Name calling is not appreciated here, thanks. As for the end of Critical Mass, I doubt it. I’m definitely going to ride in it again. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, and please don’t run into any cyclists.
July 26th, 2008 at 07:01:25 pm
Ryan,
Your naivete and myopic view of the world is pretty amusing. I suggest that you save these postings and view them again in twnety years when you’ve matured into a thinking human being. Most adults understand the notion that when you provoke people enough there may be consequences. Critical Mass is first and foremost an attempt to provoke people. Not a real surprise that somone finally ran one of you over. I guarantee it won’t be the last incident because you will provoke another one especially if this guy gets a mild hand slap.
July 26th, 2008 at 07:02:48 pm
Thanks for the detailed writeup, which has sadly drawn a bunch of idiots out to trash critical mass and bikers in general.
I’ve seen a few angry drivers during the critical masses I’ve ridden on but none who reached this level of asshole. The tire slashing was a good tactic as someone had to get the guy to stop, but it sucks that someone hit him with a ulock. I mean I guess at that point the whole mob mentality vengeance thing took over, but it was probably not necessary.
Anyway, don’t let the hordes of internet trash-talkers piss you off too much. Their breed is one to react fiercely and annoyingly to anything that they come near no matter what the topic.
I guess for myself the moral here is if a car is coming at you, jump on the hood of the car, grab the roof rack and ride it out. Anyway, in all seriousness, my best wishes go out to all the bikers who were involved in this nasty affair.
July 26th, 2008 at 08:32:55 pm
My apologies, although I don’t think I called anyone names, I did overreact. But that kind of proves my point. If the point is to get respect for bicyclists, this isn’t really the right approach. From what I can tell CM does things in the hopes of confrontation in which the bicyclists hope to force their will on others even when they are breaking the law. In this case someone overreacted and then you guys overreacted and the end result was a huge dose of discredit to the bicycling community.
And I do think that is because the maturity in your group is wholly lacking. Most grownups can figure this out.
If the real goal is respect for bicyclists, perhaps you should come armed with video cameras, do your best to accomodate and befriend motorists and garner respect, and finally, practice some Ghandi-esque behavior.
And no, I am a law-abiding citizen and not the kind of person you need fear, but dude, there probably are some people just as immature on the other side of the issue and for that reason I would suggest a dose of caution. Yes, there are strength in numbers but there are the occasional road wage wackos as well. Just a word to the wise.
July 26th, 2008 at 08:33:49 pm
@Larry: I understand that most people can get pissed off. I am not holier than anyone else here — I get pissed off a lot, and it happens a lot when I am in my car. I just choose to believe that most people are decent and know how to restrain themselves from doing things that will turn out very badly for themselves and others as well.
I understand that not everybody is capable of restraint, so I’m not saying I never expect things like this to happen. I’m not terribly surprised, honestly. It doesn’t mean that I think most people will do this. My faith in human nature is not shaken. Not even reading through the comments on the Seattle PI’s account of the story (with motorists threatening to kill all cyclists with guns) can get me to lose my faith in human nature. Most people are decent. But Not All.
Is that world view myopic? Will I grow old like you and then realize that we’re all out to get each other, that its every man for himself? If thats the world you live in, I hope I never arrive.
@Colin: Thanks for visiting, glad you’re safe, and enjoy the new bike.
July 26th, 2008 at 10:35:34 pm
Hey guys, before I run one of you gearless numskulls off the road for sport, hurry up with my goda*m double latte why don’t you?
July 26th, 2008 at 10:48:39 pm
I deeply hope that King5, Seattle PI, Seattle Times and others will all have prominant corrections to their stories.
Cyclists are give enough of a bad rap by people who only seem to see us when we run stop signs and ride fast on sidewalks that we don’t need to encourage any more aggressive behavior by people “who have reservations”.
July 26th, 2008 at 11:23:38 pm
Who are you people to stand in front of someone’s car? Really now. You can say it’s about safety all you want, but it’s the driver’s responsibility to proceed safely. It isn’t your prerogatave to decide for someone else when it’s safe or to keep them from deciding when it’s safe or to keep them from moving if they believe it is safe.
Pure impudence on your part.
If you want someone to take that role, then take up some donations and hire some police escorts for your little monthly pedaling event.
July 26th, 2008 at 11:25:20 pm
You gang of ruffians got EXACTLY what you wanted.
How convenient that y’all had the wherewithall to slash 4 tires on a moving car. That’ll be an interesting point in court, I’m sure.
You seek chaos, but cry about it when it comes. Grow up.
July 26th, 2008 at 11:30:58 pm
I understand the frustration that lead to Critical Mass.
I think it’s amusing in a tragic way that so many Americans simply abhor all protests and demonstrations with purple-faced rage.
European cities are regularly brought to a stand-still by strikes and protests. They consider it part of living in a democracy, where people get to have their say. Isn’t it sad that in the “Land of the brave and the home of the free” we get out panties in a bunch over being INCONVENIENCED a few times per year for five minutes, tops!?
C’mon people, in Paris strikers and protesters bring the ENTIRE CITY to a standstill now and then for ten to fifteen hours at a time. That’s life in a vibrant, dynamic democracy.
Somehow, it never, ever would occur to me to use my car to mow down cyclists just because I want my dinner RIGHT NOW. I guess my parents raised me right.
July 26th, 2008 at 11:37:25 pm
@Ryan: (responding to Dave) “Then, when things finally reach a point that an mature, intelligent adult would surely be able to predict…” Mature and intelligent people should expect cyclists to get run over because someone is late to dinner? I don’t buy it.
Disclaimer: I wasn’t there.
The driver wasn’t just “late to dinner”. He and his wife/girlfriend were detained against their will and surrounded by cyclists they may have considered hostile. Even if the cyclists were not displaying aggression towards the car, the driver could have easily interpreted their “mob behavior” and disregard for traffic laws as a form of hostility.
This could be a panic-inducing situation for some people.
Don’t get me wrong — I’m not defending the driver’s behavior. He allegedly committed multiple counts of vehicular assault, and if convicted he should be punished appropriately.
July 26th, 2008 at 11:45:03 pm
So, seeing as how I wasn’t there I can only judge from yours and other people’s descriptions what happend.
You say:
“So, to prevent any rash moves, a couple of cyclists had stopped in front of the car to allow the rest of the group to pass by safely — in effect, the car had been corked.”
If I get the scene correctly, you and at least two of your friends at a full stop intentionally surrounded a man and woman in a car, to keep them from merging into traffic.
As far as I know Ryan, that’s not a traffic infraction, that’s something like unlawful restraint.
That the guy reacted badly is not surprising to me.
The way I read the story in other places, it sounds like an already anxious guy reacted to a bunch of beligerent people who had surrounded his car. I’m having a hard time finding empathy for the bikers that got hurt. When you set out to deliberatly provoke people, you should bear the responsiblity for the provocation. That’s not free speech, that’s shouting “fire” in a crowded theatre.
Then your pals set on his car with knives and hit him in the head with a bike lock? I hope the guy that hit him goes to jail for a long time and the driver walks.
This kind of crap is not going to get us closer to bike friendly infrastructure, it’s going to set us back.
July 27th, 2008 at 12:00:26 am
While I agree that the driver did not do the right thing, as is often said, two wrongs don’t make a right. Smashing his windows, slashing his tires, hitting him in the head…all violations of the law. I don’t care if they were trying to keep him from leaving the scene, they need to take a license plate number and let him go, the police will catch him later.
July 27th, 2008 at 12:11:41 am
As a regular bike commuter I’m sorry that cyclists got hurt. But I absolutely don’t support Critical Mass. I support it even less based on your account of the ride.
“We just ride around Seattle hooting, hollering, and ringing bells, putting on a show for downtown drivers and having a good time. In fact, as you ride, you enter into a bit of a mob mentality: you’re having fun, surrounded by bicycles, exploring the city, not really worrying about where you or anyone else is headed”
CM is a mob. It’s not a political statement anymore. Many riders aren’t doing it for any reason other than to have their own party on city streets at the expense of others. I’m not against fun, but an event like this isn’t the answer. You think that Seattle’s GLBT population would thank the organizers if Pride just randomly showed up and clogged downtown regularly? Doubtful. Likewise, if a group of cars did what CM does, people would be screaming for the cops. So please don’t expect other bikers to support CM.
Moreover, a mass of bikers without lights or helmets (and in many cases I’ve noticed, no brakes) simply raises resentment and endangers those of us trying to protect ourselves while riding. Please don’t talk about your inability to follow the law or your inability to take basic safety precautions for yourself. It just makes the rest of us look bad. While on my bike I was once cursed out and challenged to a fight when I encouraged another cyclist to wear a helmet. Not only was he not wearing a helmet, but he wove through traffic, jumped curves and ultimately threw his bike down in the middle of the street and walked through moving traffic trying to pick his fight with me. Sounds like he’s a good candidate for CM eh?
Seriously, why should bikes get the privilege of breaking laws just for fun? We don’t let people shoplift because it’s fun. We don’t let people drive 100mph just because it’s fun. I’m pretty sure we don’t let people rob others either…no matter how downtrodden or oppressed they are by society.
And yes…if one day you break the law ‘when it’s safe’ and find out that there was an oncoming car you didn’t see and land in my hospital I’ll still try and put your body back together. But I’ll be cursing your stupidity the whole time. Please take care of yourself.
July 27th, 2008 at 12:38:25 am
[...] Critical Mass Collision - Checksum Arcanius [...]
July 27th, 2008 at 01:14:37 am
[...] sure, some media accounts were incredibly biased and were heavily contracted by eyewitness accounts. But the fact remains that despite the violent nature of the driver’s action, the violent [...]
July 27th, 2008 at 01:18:16 am
We’re not stopping traffic, WE ARE TRAFFIC!”
-Seattle Critical Mass Flyer
The problem(s) with your group is that you want car drivers to respect bikes and the traffic laws to keep you all safe while your group does just the opposite.
You can’t have it both ways. I ride a bicycle, a motorcycle and drive a car and know that each has its own limitations based on the reality of the world.
A bike messenger (for example) that jumps curbs, splits traffic, runs red lights and causes me on my motorcycle to avoid him or her, will not get my respect on the last Friday of each month while you ride in mass.
Your group has a hair trigger built on hypocrisy (and I am guessing too much Red Bull)and bullshit.
July 27th, 2008 at 01:45:33 am
Justin — Maybe you have never broken a law, but I’d put good money that you have broken more than a few. Probably jaywalking, speeding, rolling stops? I don’t know of course, but everyone I know who says “I don’t speed” really means that they “only go 5 over.”
I understand that I’m a little more of a risk taker than most people, but I’m also willing to pay the price for my actions.
With the way the driver appears to be lying to try to get out of what he did (or else the police are making stories up), I’m willing to bet that he isn’t willing to pay for what he did.
July 27th, 2008 at 01:49:30 am
Loren — I agree with you. The best thing for everyone to do would have been to get a license plate and let the car drive off.
By the time I thought of it, however, maybe 30 seconds after he drove into the cyclists, the car was already at the end of the street and I couldn’t read the license plate.
Would it have been better if the car got away and none of us got a license plate? Would “white subaru” have been enough to catch a perpetrator of vehicular assault?
Nothing about this situation was pretty. But one way or another, I’m glad the motorist didn’t get away scotch free.
July 27th, 2008 at 02:00:07 am
Chris Bingham — Surrounded is too strong of a word. There were bikes in front of the car, with two engaging in a strong verbal sparring match near the drivers window. No bicycle was behind the car, or even near the back of the car (unlike the initial versions of the story claim). Behind the car, in fact, there was a grassy hill that was rather unnameable to bicyclists. I can show you exactly where the incident took place sometime if you care to know.
Nobody was stopping the guy from getting out of his car. No one was threatening him bodily harm, explicitly or implicitly. He was not restrained in any way, except from driving his car in a lane where 50 bicycles were riding by — something that would have ended badly as well.
Was he inconvenienced? Certainly. But I am also inconvenienced every time I wait in a long line at a grocery store, and I don’t knock people out of my way even if I don’t like them. Sometimes you are inconvenienced in this life, and if you deal with it though violence, bad things happen, like this. On Friday night, nobody won.
I still don’t think of this as some sort of bike-versus-car war. It’s just one guy in a car had a bad day and decided to make other people’s day bad as well. Then some cyclists overreacted and beat him up and destroyed his car. It’s ugly and it sucks, but it happened.
July 27th, 2008 at 03:27:52 am
Ryan, you are an idiot. Move out of your mom’s basement and get a life.
But before you do, can you please hurry up my double tall latte?
July 27th, 2008 at 05:59:30 am
to be fair, i’ve been a long time-road cyclist — from USCF racing in the early 90s to weekend warrior and bike commuter today.
the one thing i cannot get past is the idea that “corking cars” in downtown seattle so that a large mob of bikers can safely run through red lights is somehow safer, or supposed to gain you respect. I can assure you that long lines of cyclist in the STP stop at red lights, because that’s how mature cyclists behave.
safe is stopping when the light turns red. following predictable behaviors (ie. the law and rules of the road) is how you get to safe and respect.
I don’t see that from CM, and you shouldn’t mistake CM as the vehicle that will get you to safe and respect as a cyclist.
it may be fun and i know you want to ride again, but the two simply don’t correlate.
July 27th, 2008 at 06:05:19 am
Btw, I get the impression from reading the comments here that i’m not the only one who thinks the driver was baited into the response he ultimately took, and then was pummeled pretty badly (self+car) once he took it.
think of all the times our own SPD have been baited into responses with everyone around them video taping the situation to see what they would do wrong. i can’t think of a demonstration in the past 10 years where the news wasn’t filled with coverage of “how badly” some officer responded when we’re all pretty sure they were being baited.
July 27th, 2008 at 08:04:16 am
Another lesson to be learned (yes, I’m blissfully naive) is that the media is not to be trusted at face value. But not just on local events. There is a biased media. We can’t believe everything the media writes about McCain or Obama can we? Or do you want to have it both ways?
July 27th, 2008 at 08:37:51 am
(When there is a funeral procession going past, they BLOCK traffic to keep their group together! As a driver, I don’t have the option of driving THROUGH their blockade!) This incident is sad, but was inevitable. Drivers can bitch and moan, but we on bikes aren’t going anywhere. We will increase in number, and they will learn to deal with their frustration and anger…the same type of frustration we cyclists deal with ALL the time. We will evolve into a respectful society or we will kill each other. At least the message to motorists is “we will not stand idly by while you attempt to run us over”.
July 27th, 2008 at 10:41:53 am
A Very Disturbing Critical Mass Story out of Seattle…
As regular readers know from March of 2003 to November of 2005 I extensively wrote about the movement called Critical Mass, my own troubling experience of it, and my debates with those who founded the movement, and support it. I…
July 27th, 2008 at 11:00:34 am
[...] A participant’s perspective [...]
July 27th, 2008 at 11:11:15 am
Bravo Ryan!
For your courage in how you have presented all sides of this story, and went public in the Mainstream Media to further this effort in a small, but important way.
As I wrote on my Blog:
From long personal experience I can vouch for how defending your views, related to cycling, can be a lesson in maintaining constructive dialogue.
July 27th, 2008 at 11:34:12 am
Ryan, you’re right. We all break laws, especially in cars, every once in a while.
But by your own admission, when on a bike, you seem to make common sense and the law an exception rather than the rule. That seems to be the big difference.
Occasional slop, yeah I let that slide. Pattern of abuse and ignorance? Different story.
July 27th, 2008 at 11:34:16 am
“at most, drivers are inconveniences for about 5 minutes as the group rides by.”
Multiply that by hundreds if not thousands of other drivers and you get the real scale of the issue. Add on to that the fact that your mass outings are pitched to bitch and you get increasing confrontations.
You folks are just cruising for a martyr and someday you’re going to get one. And you will all share that particular responsibility… but you will, as long as it wasn’t you, revel in it and all climb on your bikes for the funeral procession.
July 27th, 2008 at 12:06:12 pm
I really don’t buy this “were angels and the driver is the devil” thing.
I have seen the types of people who now ride in critical mass. Many are young angry men with a chip on their shoulders obviously looking for a problem. They figure they can flaunt the laws of the road, and are very aggressive towards cars.
I believe the driver became panicked after being in a dangerous situation with a bunch of these type of ‘men’ (boys) blocking him and becoming increasingly aggressive.
At some point when a person feels for their safety they have the right to protect themselves. I think the driver showed a huge amount of restraint after being struck with a deadly weapon, and clearly surrounded by punks out for blood.
I for one would have kept driving forward and whomever chose to stay in the way would either choose to move or be run over.
Critical Mass should be renamed Crazy Mob!
July 27th, 2008 at 12:31:45 pm
Ryan sez:
“I still don’t think of this as some sort of bike-versus-car war. It’s just one guy in a car had a bad day and decided to make other people’s day bad as well. Then some cyclists overreacted and beat him up and destroyed his car. It’s ugly and it sucks, but it happened.”
It’s not “bike versus car” - it’s people baiting other people with predictable results. If bikes and cars were not part of the picture, you still would have had NO right to block the guy from going where he wanted to go. It’s one thing to negotiate and another to simply use your body to block him.
By your own admission you and other bikers continued to try to block the guy when he floored it - and then your pals chased him down, broke his windows, slashed his tires, punched him in the face and when he got out of his car someone clocked him with what other sources say was a bike lock. That’s not just “happening” - you set up a situation that is deliberately provactive and then try to claim victim status when you succeed.
One of my best friends lives on the 1400 blck of Aloha. I know the area pretty well. It’s pretty tight with parked cars up and down the strett half way on to the grass. If you guys are traffic - then you let other traffic merge. If there is anyone primarily responsible for the injuries, it’s you and your two friends who tried to block the guy in.
Ryan sez:
“There were bikes in front of the car, with two engaging in a strong verbal sparring match near the drivers window. ”
I’ve seen CM on two occasions and both times the group wasn’t a bunch of “friendly” riders - they were being agressiveley beligerent and confrontational.
It’s a sad thing the infrastructure of this country is built around the auto. I’d realy like to see that changed and look to Amsterdam as a great example of how it should be handled. CM and your actions have just set that back in Seattle, becuase no one has sympathy for a bunch of jerks intentionally getting in the way of people when they simply want to get where they’re going.
An unfortunately common response is “the roads are for cars.” Thanks for doing your part to reinforce that attitude. Now when I’m on MY bike I get to contend with people who will assume I’m like you.
July 27th, 2008 at 01:09:48 pm
Would probably be better to just facilitate a way for a driver to get away, once their insanity became apparent.
We manage to do this frequently in Chicago, at least when there are a few sane “aunts” and “uncles” with big mouths on the scene to give some mature direction.
One or 30 even 300 cyclists can not “prevent” a 2+ ton vehicle from doing anything.
July 27th, 2008 at 01:23:42 pm
[...] reported all over but the best first-hand account I’ve seen ishere at Checksum Arcanius. The short story is that during a critical mass ride a driver was blocked by the ride and ended up [...]
July 27th, 2008 at 01:28:38 pm
Ryan,,,I take it from your disregard of my earlier post (#8) (and response to everyone else’s) that you have no rebuttal. I suppose alcohol being consumed by some (not all) of the Critical Mass riders, and their subsequent aggressive and belligerent behavior, is merely secondary to the overall cause. Alcohol causes aggression, and the cyclists did have the option of non-retaliation in this situation. So, toss back another,,,and happy riding!
July 27th, 2008 at 01:32:34 pm
@ch: “safe is stopping when the light turns red. following predictable behaviors (ie. the law and rules of the road) is how you get to safe and respect.
I don’t see that from CM, and you shouldn’t mistake CM as the vehicle that will get you to safe and respect as a cyclist.
it may be fun and i know you want to ride again, but the two simply don’t correlate.”
I think you are absolutely right. Critical Mass is definitely hurting the cause the website claims it is about. I’m probably going to write a whole post about this point soon, and hopefully propose a solution that I’ll try.
@Chris Bingham: You are right, the block is pretty tight with cars. In fact, the way the driver initially intended to travel, due to the cars parked on his the side of the road, he would have had to enter the lane were cyclists were riding. If there had been 100 cars driving by, he would have had to wait 5 or 10 minutes for them to pass, and there is nothing he could have done about it except crash into the cars driving by. Again, if he had decided to turn around, and 100 cars were passing by, he would have had to wait or crash into them. When it was 100 bicycles passing by, well, he had to wait or drive into them. He chose the later.
July 27th, 2008 at 01:34:23 pm
@Bryan: I don’t drink alcohol.
July 27th, 2008 at 01:38:25 pm
And I suppose none of the hundreds of others do either,,,I saw it with my own eyes. The point is not whether or not you consume alcohol, it’s a matter of whether or not you do it while participating in a ‘ride for awareness’, particularly when it’s an event where you already know tensions run high.
July 27th, 2008 at 01:47:41 pm
@h: I really don’t think it would have been safe, given the limited space available, for the driver to have gone either direction for at least 30 more seconds. Knowing what I know now, however, I wish I had inserted myself between the belligerent cyclists and the belligerent driver, and tried to diffuse the situation before the driver blew his top and hit the accelerator.
July 27th, 2008 at 02:54:01 pm
Ryan,
Good job on discussing all this in a mature, rational manner.. It stands out against the dozens of “adults” who are arguing, name calling, and threatening cyclists in these comments.
I think you handled the situation well. No one wants conflict. It goes against the whole idea of critical mass. It sounds like you were blocking the car in an effort to prevent what eventually happened - the motorist (intentionally or not) hitting cyclist with his vehicle.
Good luck and be safe out there.
- Portland bicycle rider, critical mass participant, responsible/conscientious/non-violent human.
July 27th, 2008 at 03:09:17 pm
“Again, if he had decided to turn around, and 100 cars were passing by, he would have had to wait or crash into them. When it was 100 bicycles passing by, well, he had to wait or drive into them. He chose the later.”
After he’d been illegally blocked, and verbally abused and baited. No doubt other people might have handled it differently. But you guys shout at people and bang on their hoods trying to get a reaction. Looks like you got one.
If 100 cars we’re going by, probably one or more of them would have stopped to let him merge. That’s the “sharing” part of sharing the road - you merge. If he hadn’t been corked in the first place, he probably would have done just that.
Another poster at the PI (where middle America is busy frothing about bike “terrorists”) pointed out that the law that was broken by blocking the guy in was disorderly conduct under a traffic “spur” in the RCW.
I suspect given the nature of the injuries and the seriousness of the assault with the bike lock, you may end up being called to testify. The guy that clocked the driver should definately be charged with assault with a deadly weapon.
“Knowing what I know now, however, I wish I had inserted myself between the belligerent cyclists and the belligerent driver, and tried to diffuse the situation before the driver blew his top and hit the accelerator.”
Act in concordance with a mob of beligerent assholes and people are going to think you’re one of them. If I was the driver and had seen you coming, I would have reasonably assumed that you were coming to help deliver more of the same.
Good luck with figuring out some kind of peacefule resolution. All I know is that I’m staying off my bike the last Friday of the month. You guys have made the roads less safe for all of us.
July 27th, 2008 at 05:44:10 pm
The Seattle bike community, as well as bike communities all over, have been damaged by the actions of a few morons today. Hopefully people realize that this was an isolated incident. I noticed that the bike that got run over was a spotless new fixie. In the news clip, you can see a guy walking away with two spotless new fixies. We all know the kind of idiots that started this shit, and they shouldn’t be representing the cycling community. They should spend less time picking out what color Sugino cranks they want, and more time actually learning how to ride a bike on the street. Did the guy who slashed the tires have a knife that matched the color of his Deep V rims?
The poor little girl that almost got his was “emotionally distraught”? Maybe she should have thought about that before she corked her petite ass in front of a 3000 lb car. If she wants to be a tough biker standing up to moving cars, she can’t get emotionally distraught when one almost hits her. Or was she emotionally distraught because he scratched the cute paint job on her new IRO? I almost get hit by cars all the time when I’m riding, but it comes with the territory. Tell her to stay home next time.
July 27th, 2008 at 08:43:14 pm
Analogy:
Black young adults interrupt a white man during his gardening routine in Rainier Valley. He is subsequently involved in an escalating altercation ending in his death at the hands of a young black man. The young black male is disgraced, is not given a second chance and goes to jail!
White young adults by their own admission, disobey traffic laws and purposefully provoke a man during his motoring. He is subsequently involved in an escalating altercation ending with multiple serious injuries to himself and others. A bicycle lock is used to hit the man by one of the white young adults.
Did this man have any idea what this group of anarchist cyclists was doing? If I were “corked” on a small city street with no exit available and had no idea what was occurring, I might fear for my safety and may have reacted in much the same way.
What if a bunch of young black cyclists corked a white man in Rainier Valley. We would not call that silly and fun loving. We would call that a dangerous gang and respond with force.
There is no justice in this country with regards to race! Not even in so called liberal Seattle.
July 27th, 2008 at 09:09:58 pm
Ryan.. Thanks.. but I don’t think validating the car-retard’s comments with a response is wise.. brainwashed car-retards don’t deserve validation..
t..
July 27th, 2008 at 09:50:34 pm
Critical Mass is it’s own worst enemy. It would be safer for cyclists and drivers alike if it were off the road. As an avid road cyclist and bike commuter, I RESENT what this “event” accomplishes. It does NOTHING for cyclists’ rights and only fosters anger toward cyclists. (Possibly because a large number of the riders have a testosterone-laden, adolescent mindset and seem none-too-concerned about safety.)
I say YAY to bikes and BOO to Critical Mass. Bikes should stay on the road. Critical Mass should not. Its days are over.
July 27th, 2008 at 09:54:16 pm
Who gives a crap about that bike being run over. It was a fixie and fixies deserve to be fucked up!
July 27th, 2008 at 10:12:49 pm
Hey Critical Mass, you’d better hope you don’t “cork” my car. It weighs 2-1/2 tons and you’ll be crushed.
July 27th, 2008 at 10:21:07 pm
@ch: I have also participated in amateur racing under the auspices of the USCF. The amateur teams in Seattle are among the worst offenders of riding through posted stop signs and red lights. A close second are automobile drivers who insist on pushing the limits of stale yellow and fresh red lights. This is a global problem and deserves attention. However, it is *fundamentally wrong*, and arguably immature, to use an automobile as a weapon. This is of paramount importance to me, and should be to you as well as a fellow cycle commuter.
BTW I was recently stalked several miles by an enraged motorist who took umbrage to me using a crosswalk that joins the official bike route on Harbor Island (I refuse to ride on Spokane St., which some unnamed troll at CBC forums insists is the best route). This incident and the motorist’s license plate are on record with the Seattle police. Should I feel safer?
July 27th, 2008 at 10:33:57 pm
I ride to work every day, and used to race USCF and NORBA. I worked in bike shops as a kid, and absolutely love being on two wheels. I’ve gotten my coworkers to commute by bicycle, and absolutely advocate bicycling as an alternative to an automobile.
I’ve learned that you really do attract more flies with honey than vinegar, so anything remotely unfriendly towards non cyclists only leaves a very sour mark.
People in cars aren’t jerks. The people who welded your bicycle, mined the ore, and imported your Chinese tires across the Pacfic probably are driving cars right now. I hurt my knee and needed to drive my car for a few months instead of ride my bike. So for those few months I get to have CM riders looking at me like I’m some corporate stiff in an environment-destroying car?
Seriously guys: do you honestly think that critical mass is doing anything more than preaching to the converted? I’ve yet to hear of someone deciding to ride a bicycle more often because they got corked by a bunch of tatoo’d twenty-somethings with facial piercings.
July 27th, 2008 at 11:45:22 pm
EVERY single account, in the news, from witnesses, from the very cyclists involved states that there were cyclists behind the car. That’s how the whole piece of “he intentionally reversed into us” comes together. The scenario that all the cyclists are saying started the whole melee. So now you’re saying there were no cyclists behind the car? That blows a big hole in half of the story. Hmmm…..I’ve been trying to keep an open mind. But seeing all the cyclists involved blatantly contradict each other, on several other points besides this one, this story from the cyclists continues to become more suspicious.I’m sensing there’s a lot of creativity being used to paint a picture, when sticking to facts, and less exaggeration, would probably be more helpful to the cause.
July 28th, 2008 at 01:02:03 am
@cb: I guess you have to chose what you are going to believe. But I saw no cyclists behind the car. There were six cyclists near the car, all of us near the front part of the car. Could you point me at the other witness accounts that talk about there being bikes behind the car? I’d be interested in hearing from someone who thinks they saw that. Unfortunately, it sounds pretty clear to me that you’ve already chosen to believe one story and are trying to justify that to yourself based on an as honest as I can be account of what I saw.
@Eric: It has become pretty clear to me that Critical Mass does more harm than good to the causes that the website talks about. Fortunately for me, I’m not much of an advocate for any particular cause, I just enjoy riding a bicycle sometimes. I personally don’t care if people drive bikes or cars; I’m not in the business of trying to control what people do with their lives. I personally both cycle and drive, depending on which method is most convenient at the time.
@Corker: Great attitude.
July 28th, 2008 at 09:31:44 am
….
….
So, a couple things that I have to (fruitlessly no doubt) say about what I’ve read here.
First, the law is the law. If I tell a guy to @#%$ off and he punches me, he committed battery and I am in the right to press charges, even if I provoked him. If he swipes at me with a knife, he has committed assault with a deadly weapon and possibly attempted murder given the exact circumstances and no reasonable person could ever claim he was justified, no matter how mad I made him. You might understand the response, and sure, it’s reasonable to say I should expect an aggressive response, but actions that can potentially kill someone are never justifiable except under the most extreme of circumstances, which this clearly was not. Of course, if in one of my scenarios, I hit him back with unnecessary force, I too have committed a crime and deserve to be punished.
Fine, the bicyclists should not be surprised by the response. Well, then by that exact same logic, drivers should not be surprised/outraged when a bicyclists responds to an assault with a deadly weapon (far more deadly than a u-lock, I reckon) with an assault of their own. That of course doesn’t mean that that response was reasonable nor unworthy of prosecution on its own, but certainly it was understandable and it’s stupid to only use that argument to pardon the driver.
The vicarious road rage brought about from CMs is utterly stupefying to me. I remember one day on my commute home, overhearing some driver, face literally purple with rage, screaming out his window “I’m gonna #$%@-ing kill you!” to someone who had to break rapidly to avoid hitting a goose that wandered into the road. Fortunately he was a harmless looking middle aged goofball of a man who did nothing but scream at the top of his lungs for the next couple minutes (pretty funny, actually), but it was still a stark reminder of the rather frightening anger management problem that drivers have these days. That is a far bigger and scarier problem to me, as a driver, than the occasional bicyclist that inconveniences me.
July 28th, 2008 at 11:37:40 am
Ryan,,,Although the issue of alcohol and its use during CM rides has been grossly disregarded as a factor in this and all other incidents where CM riders are being belligerent, violent and annoying (again, I’ve witnessed the drinking firsthand), I want to commend you for your mature responses and maintaining of composure during this discussion. Take care out there, Ryan, and God bless.
July 28th, 2008 at 01:02:03 pm
In honor of Critical Mass I’m going to make it a point to crowd about 12 cyclists onto the sidewalk this week. En garde!
July 28th, 2008 at 01:24:42 pm
So let me get the straight - your first critical mass ride ended in a huge mess, and countless media stories about how cyclists assaulted a motorist.
And so, you will gladly participate again in a ride which attempts to teach road sharing by not sharing the road, because it worked out so well last time?
Or you just enjoyed the mob mentality?
tom
July 28th, 2008 at 04:58:51 pm
Ryan pretty much validates the point of responsible cyclists…
“It has become pretty clear to me that Critical Mass does more harm than good to the causes that the website talks about. Fortunately for me, I’m not much of an advocate for any particular cause, I just enjoy riding a bicycle sometimes.”
What CM now has devolved into is a bunch of people who just think that breaking the law and inconveniencing others for their own enjoyment is OK. It’s not about advocacy, anyone with any sense realizes that the rides don’t advocate anything useful.
If you’re going to preach a message of anarchy or enjoy its fruits then I don’t see how you can ask the law to help you when you get hurt. Yes, CM anarchy may be somewhat harmless much of the time, but it’s still a flavor of anarchy…it follows the laws it wants when it wants as it sees fit. Unfortunately, in such a system, people with bigger muscles and more dangerous toys who are willing to use them will always win. The guy in the car who feels that rules don’t apply trumps you on your bike feeling that the rules don’t apply. Only because he weighs a few tons. But that’s the truth of the matter. Similarly you can’t expect me to buy the argument that your version of lawbreaking is OK while others’ version is not. Slippery slope there…and entirely subjective.
July 28th, 2008 at 05:01:00 pm
Jonathan McKay :
It isn’t illegal for bikes to switch between the road/sidewalk in Washington. It’s explicitly legal. I can look up the RCW for you, if you need.
July 28th, 2008 at 05:07:06 pm
[...] in” (ie, blocked) by bikers as the Critical Mass streamed past, got frustrated and drove forward plowing into several cyclists. One cyclist got his leg run over and another ended up on the hood of the car as the driver [...]
July 28th, 2008 at 06:09:48 pm
I think this incident shows that all person participating in the CM events are thugs/members of a violent gang and should be treated accordingly. Piano wire, pushing trash bins into the line of bikes or running over people who threaten your life should now be consider proper responses to thugs and “gang members”. Remember the scene in “Support Your Local Sheriff” with the rope? What fun that would be!
If the city had any balls, they would file for an injunction against all CM events and arrest any who show up. They won’t do so until someone other than a thug is killed.
July 28th, 2008 at 07:32:47 pm
Critical Mass aren’t the only cyclist out on the road. I’ve been in situations when it’s just me and my boyfriend (who, in hand, follow all traffic laws) have had drivers spit at us, throw shit out of the windows towards us, swerved in our path etc…
It’s the fact that even when you are a responsible cyclist, you ARE. NOT. SAFE. Be prepared for actions like this from drivers, it will happen again, and chances are will face no repercussions.
July 28th, 2008 at 08:01:41 pm
“That of course doesn’t mean that that response was reasonable nor unworthy of prosecution on its own, but certainly it was understandable and it’s stupid to only use that argument to pardon the driver.”
From all the stuff I’ve read, including Ryan’s description, the guy was blocked in by six people on bikes, one of whom said “Let’s tip the car.”
That’s not a verbal altercation, that’s the prelude to serious mob violence. If that’s truly the way it went down, (and I’ve come to believe that’s what happend - given my personal exposure to CM in the past and the variety of stories) I think the driver’s reaction was justifiable as self-defense. He may have overreacted initially - but running down a group of assholes that have you blocked in is suddenly reasonable when they threaten to tip your car.
(When I was 14, a guy I’d pissed off said “Chris I’m gonna kick your ass” and the next thing I saw was his fist coming into my face. I’ve learned to take people at their word when they say they’re going to hurt you.)
I don’t for minute buy that these guys we’re quietly asking him to wait - it’s not what they do, I’ve seen them in action.
They guy that clocked him with the bike lock is an entirely different story and I hope he does long hard time and comes out of jail a harmless old man. Whether the driver wants to press charges is entirely irrelvant in WA state.
July 28th, 2008 at 08:05:09 pm
Who takes a knife capable of slashing tires on a bike ride? That’s not part of my kit.
July 28th, 2008 at 09:08:34 pm
Chris - You seriously think that intentionally running someone over is ever a justifiable response to anything short of fear for ones life? And that a subsequent retaliation directly because of that act of potential homicide is so much worse than the attempted homicide that the driver should get off scott free while the retaliator should rot in prison for years?
First, tipping a stationary car is unlikely to kill anyone. Second it would take more than a couple guys to tip a car. Third, a driver could literally wait until a mob was actually trying to life their car and still take them all out in a second by gunning it. Running someone over in the context of this incident, even if they did (and this is still all hearsay) threaten to tip your car you is completely, 100% unjustifiable.
Wow… the rationality meter is even lower here than I thought…
July 28th, 2008 at 09:31:52 pm
Bleh, more than a few typos in that last comment…
To clarify a little more, there is nothing I’ve read that suggests the driver was under any reasonable threat of extreme bodily harm until he escalated the situation beyond threats. As I’ve already covered, someone telling you they’re going to hurt you, while criminal, does not justify attempted homicide.
Also, to be clear, I think CM is a great idea that has been hopelessly and irrevocably twisted beyond its original intentions. I will probably never participate in one, even though I am an avid cyclist. But, vehicular assault is not something that should ever, EVER, be taken lightly, no matter the circumstances.
July 28th, 2008 at 09:58:27 pm
What if everyone was on foot? The driver and his girlfriend/wife are walking down the sidewalk when six guys surround them and tell them they aren’t going anywhere until 100 or more of their friends walk down the block. Then they start taunting the couple and won’t let them turn around and take a different route. Can the guy push the surrounders out of the way to get away? Does he need to be explicitly threatened to do so?
July 29th, 2008 at 12:47:58 am
Ryan, Thanks for showing both sides of the story. I ride daily and participate in a weekly community night ride which sometimes has up to 300 riders. We try and stress COMMUNITY and are a generally peaceful bunch. When we encounter angry motorists we are usually apologetic and polite. I am emphatic that ours is not a critical mass ride and do not hold back in telling others so. Cyclists need to understand that to advocate and promote the bicycle as a transportation alternative–not just an alternative-as a serious means of transportation–you have to be an ambassador so to speak–courtesy and cordiality go along way. Sure- corking has its place at times for protecting the other riders in a group and sometimes we do it too-safety is paramount,but for the most part we’re good about it. Last week for example we stopped at an intersection and waved a car on–the lady shouted out that she wanted to park her car and watch–it was cool, word traveled down the pack (we’ve got a watcher!)and she was greeted with bells and waves. That’s the way to do it. I’m very aware of mob mentality and can see how this incident could have occured.Sad thing. People panic and people jump to conclusions.Resraint becomes difficult. Wacking someone with a u-lock did’nt help anything. Violence really sucks. I hope this thing works out all around– I’ll be watching—peace—Dean
July 29th, 2008 at 07:15:48 am
I’m a year round commuting cyclist, and I wholly support this action by the NYPD because of people like you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUkiyBVytRQ
July 29th, 2008 at 08:31:24 am
sharetherules - Are you honestly comparing pushing someone with your hands to running them over with your car???
July 29th, 2008 at 09:39:24 am
[...] provides the riders’ perspective, describing how his first CM went painfully wrong, as the driver tried to escape his corkage by [...]
July 29th, 2008 at 04:37:11 pm
Thanks a bunch for your comprehensive account… Whenever something like this goes down, there’s a whole lotta hype and info flying around when all I really wanna hear is a realistic first person account that I can believe that is honest about the weaknesses on both sides. THANK YOU.
I’ve been going to Critical Mass for 10 years and I’ve seen a few incidents that were certainly escalated by the very un zen like reactions of the cyclists to very un zen actions of car drivers. Of course other times, there’s incidents that are _totally_ the result of agression from one side… It’s hard to tell which is which when you read news or police reports. For the record I sometimes also drive a car.
Thanks again.
July 30th, 2008 at 09:33:15 am
Hey Ryan.
I just wanted to say I was really impressed by your update to this story. It is so easy to get into the “us” and “them” mentality that it can be hard to even begin to understand the situation from another perspective. It takes an incredible conscious awareness of thought, and I commend you for that.
July 30th, 2008 at 12:03:31 pm
[...] press immediately went into the standard blame bikers first mode. Instead of listening to the many bikers who said the driver was angry and aggressive and instigated the incident, they immediately assumed that he was the innocent victim. Or at the [...]
July 31st, 2008 at 09:57:54 am
[...] response, Ryan wrote a blog post explaining what he witnessed. His post got a lot of hits, was linked to, and eventually he [...]
August 2nd, 2008 at 11:35:55 am
[...] might, at first, believe cyclists are at war with motorists. Reading about some of the incidents between drivers and bikers is frightening at best. Hence Ride Civil. It’s a beautiful [...]
August 4th, 2008 at 05:23:14 am
CM seems like a group that is looking for fights. You have no cause or agenda your trying to push. People need to start carrying air horns and bright flash lights and annoy you people as you force your way through the city….wheres a drunk driver when you need one??