Boston may be known for its aggressive drivers, but those who spend their days walking up and down Commonwealth Avenue know that the city's bikers have a reputation of their own. The Boston Police Department showed that it was serious about bike safety last Thursday when it ticketed about 75 bikers at the Boston University Bridge, slapping cyclists with $20 fines for running red lights.
Although many bikers have voiced complaints about the sudden enforcement, especially in an area filled with BU students biking to and from their off-campus apartments, the BPD's fines were not only completely reasonable, but necessary. Comm. Ave. is reportedly one of the most dangerous places for bike incidents in Boston.
Ultimately, the enforcement was for the bikers' own safety. We've all been almost run down by cyclists who think that the rules of the road don't apply to them. Zooming through red lights, cutting in and out of the bike lanes and nearly mowing down pedestrians who get in their way, many Boston bicyclists often fail to make safety their first priority. It is just as dangerous to run a red light on a bike as it is to run one in a car. A direct disregard for traffic laws endangers everyone on the road, including the bikers themselves.
In order to ensure that the policy is fair, BPD needs to both be more consistent in its enforcement of traffic laws. Ticketing dozens of people one day and zero the next in order to set an example will not be enough to change people's actions. The law needs to be consistently enforced in order for people to take notice.
However, BPD also needs to be stronger in its enforcement of the traffic laws for both drivers and pedestrians. Everyone pushes the limit on the streets of Boston. If police are going to start targeting bikers who break the law, they must also start discouraging jaywalking and ticketing the many drivers who run stop signs both on and off the BU campus. It is not fair to only target bikers when all those on the road are known to disregard the laws.
The fact that Boston is such a bike-friendly city is commendable. The city should continue to encourage bike usage to promote environmental-awareness. But at the same time, bicyclists need to remember that they too have an obligation to share the road.
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