Taking the Lane

So today was my first day on the bike after my horrible crash two months ago. I just tooled around my neighborhood, riding up to my local bicycle shop and purchasing a blazingly bright front light, to add to my two already bright blinky lights.

My bones hurt, but it still felt great to be back in the saddle after all this time.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I’m no longer using the bike lanes in Cambridge, especially not on Mass. Ave., because the civil authorities have ruled that if I collide with a jaywalker in the bike lane, it’s nobody’s fault but my own.

So instead I went slow, and took the lane, as is my right under Massachusetts law.

On my way back home, just as I was passing the very spot where I crashed, a cab behind me laid on his horn. He then pulled into the bike lane beside me, leaned out his window, and threatened to run me over if I didn’t get out of his way.

That’s assault. In my pre-crash life, I might have called the police. But these days I don’t believe in the police, so I just told him to be fruitful and multiply, but not in those exact words.

That was after about two minutes of riding on Mass. Ave. On Monday, I plan on taking the lane on Mass. Ave. for a long stretch on my way to and from work. This is going to get interesting.

– Reverend E

One night just over two months ago, I was riding in the bike lane on Mass Ave. in Cambridge, when a pedestrian stepped out from between two cars in front of me. We collided, and I went into the back of a parked truck, breaking a few bones. He was hurt, too, but not nearly as badly. The jaywalker and his companions blamed me for the collision. The police did not cite him.

The pain was excruciating. I am fortunate in that I have good health insurance, but my medical bills, bike repair costs, and lost wages added up to over a thousand dollars.

I sued the guy in small claims court, charging that he failed to exercise reasonable caution when entering the road. (As for me, I had two blinky lights on the front, I was wearing a white shirt, and I was going well below the speed limit).  During the trial last week, I learned that the police officer on the scene told the jaywalker that he was not responsible for the collision. The defendant also said that the officer promised to “shred” the incident report.

The other day, I received notice of the judgment. The clerk-magistrate, George L. Shea, ruled in favor of the defendant, without explanation. The notice said that I should “see the instructions on the back of this form to see what options are available to you.”

The back of the form was blank.

I learned two things from this incident:

1) The police and the courts are irredeemably biased against cyclists. Even if you obey all the rules of the road – as I always do – cyclists are not guaranteed equal protection under the law.

2) The bike lanes in Cambridge aren’t safe.

So now I’m blogging my recovery. My bones still ache, but I’m feeling a little stronger each day. Today, I’m back on my bike for the first time after the crash. I’ll be taking it slow for the first few weeks. And I’ll be taking the lane.

– Reverend E