@rydabent, like you assumed correctly, I owned a car while in Boston and shared the roads with motorists and cyclists.
The issue was never about bikes damaging roads—though that’s debatable..:-) For example, I didn’t believe cities like Boston, Cambridge, or Somerville could afford separated bike lanes. Bike lanes make sense in newer cities, but Boston’s roads are already narrow. In several places, parking spaces were removed to create bike lanes (pitching causing shop-owners against cyclists), and sometimes the lanes appeared on the left, sometimes on the right. So, I feel like the roads, parking spaces and cyclist-socoety relationships were damaged in this case..
After these separated bike lanes were installed, all kinds of cyclists started using the roads. Many don’t know the rules and would pass on either side. Later, e-bikes began zipping by on these bike lanes too. Even when I was cycling, I sometimes would yell at other cyclists who passed on the wrong side and pushed me into vehicular traffic.
Bicycles can cause harm to cars or people. Quite a few cyclists would jump onto sidewalks when they hit traffic or a red light, often with little regard for pedestrians.
At the very least, I think cyclists should carry some form of ID—forget a license or insurance. A cop friend of mine (like
@Criminal) was often frustrated. He was also a cyclist but was assigned to teach cyclists basic road discipline. He would stop riders who ran red lights or jumped onto sidewalks to bypass signals. Unfortunately, many "didn’t carry" ID, so he often had little choice but to let them go.
And, then one tragic example was Cary Coovert, a cyclist who died after colliding with another cyclist on the Minuteman Bikeway in Lexington, Massachusetts. I used that path often, and despite it being a mixed-use trail, some cyclists would ride as if it were a closed race course.
https://yourarlington.com/2019/03/death-032519/
This was an extreme and rare accident, of course. But when I rode past his memorial on the Bikeway—or other “ghost bikes” in Boston and Albuquerque—I was reminded that cyclists need to ride responsibly. Otherwise, someone else will eventually enforce that discipline for us.
“With great power comes great responsibility.” And personally, I do believe cycling is a great power—it gives us independence and immense joy. We just have to use it responsibly.
(03-01-2026, 10:30 AM)rydabent Wrote: (02-27-2026, 09:37 PM)Criminal Wrote: (02-26-2026, 12:20 PM)rydabent Wrote: I suppose too, if the police are having a slow day, they will be pulling cyclist over the check if they have a license. But that would seem to be profiling, if there was no actual legal reason to put a cyclist over. If the cyclist had not broke any laws, it would seem to be illegal to me.
You need to familiarize yourself with the law. You also, I presume, have no law enforcement experience if you think that police on a "slow day" are just going to be pulling over riders "if there was no actual legal reason to put (I think you meant pull) a cyclist over". Police do this all the time for cars; often at special checkpoints where every driver or random drivers are required to provide a valid drivers license, registration, and insurance. They are not profiling as you describe; and it is not illegal to do checks unless a State law specifically prohibits it. Often we do it for drunks/dui even though outwardly everything is fine. You are driving on a public road; we are not searching cars, bike bags, backpacks,etc. (unless with probable cause).
As an ex-law enforcement officer myself you will discover that we prioritize when and who we pull over. In any area that I have observed active with vehicles and bicycles (motorized or not) there are already plenty of fools riding and driving in an irresponsible manner which this avoids just pulling someone over to "profile" them just because they are on an e bike. And if you actually read through the new law you would understand that there are contradictions in its wording that make it a waste of an officer's time to just pull over someone willy nilly unless there are other issues above and beyond the lawful use of a motor vehicle or ebike.
Please look at reality and talk with those who have professional experience and insight and not just make shallow comments about law enforcement officers who, on the whole, are trying to do a good job and serve the public's interest while rationally enforcing the laws put forth buy those elected into office by you the very public who seem to complain about it. Talk to your elected officials if you want to complain, but do not blame police for doing their job!!
I apologize to all the law enforcement officers doing their job who had read that uneducated and biased (one could almost call it profiling of police) comment.
Keep up the good work brothers and sisters and pull over those scoff-laws: even ones riding trikes (though we all know trike riders never break traffic laws!).
Out here in the middle of the country, where people are more normal, im quite sure the police do have a slow day. We are very different that the people on both coasts.
For those that support greedy B'crats, and worry about taxing cyclist, remember this fact. Probably 99.9% of adult cyclist already own a car that is heavily taxed. And--------------drivers should be happy especially about those that cycle to work. They have more parking places at work. Then too bikes do virtually no damage to roads.
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