Cyclist have found thumbtacks faceup in the bike lane on Winchester Street, the Globe reports.
“Do bikes riding in a bike lane on a nice wide street really bother you that much? . . . Someone took a lot of time and care to place them. I just don’t understand.”
A colleague (out here in Framingham where I work) just shared this with me. It’s disgusting, and dangerous.
Winchester St is a common bike route for cyclists of all stripes. I hope they find the person that did this before someone gets killed.
(Side note: I have no time or patience for the “Whatabouters” such as those in the Globe article comments that take the opportunity to complain about the tiny minority of cyclists that occasionally fail to follow the rules of the road)
Just like the tiny minority of dangerous drivers.
Newton’s been “flat central” for me this Spring. I pulled a full-size brass roofing nail out of my tire that punched into the rim last week on Comm. Ave.
This stunt is sheer idiocy and quite dangerous (as Doug pointed out). But also: Many cyclists aware of malicious thumbtackers operating in the area will ride in the road rather than risk the bike lane. Motorists please have patience with cyclists taking the road rather risking the shoulder until this guy is caught, as this is a really nasty safety issue.
If things are as they seem,
criminal, intentional, and premeditated, with intent to harm.
The bike part is incidental. What brings someone to forget their humanity and plan the misfortune of a stranger?
I cycle and walk 90% of the time so I’m quite sympathetic to the cause, but having grown up here and witnessed this kind of stuff before, I’d bet you anything that this was a bunch of kids messing around, and not some anti-cycling adult.
Michael, you might be right. But kids throwing rocks at cars from overpasses is messing around too. With the wrong timing, both can cause a serious, even fatal crash (bike weaves into path of passing vehicle, for instance).
Lois Levin from Bike Newton posted this on her Facebook page…
“All citizens – and especially bicyclists / should be aware that someone has been engaging in antisocial behavior that puts bicyclists and pedestrians at risk on Newton’s streets. More than 100 thumbtacks were placed on Winchester St. in the bike lane on April 15 over a stretch of about a quarter mile. The immediate harm was that many bicyclists in a group got flat tires. When someone retraced the route later to determine what had caused the flat tires, he saw the tacks. This happened again on June 12th nearly 2 months later.
So Newton bicyclists, merely by choosing to travel by a healthy and environmentally friendly method, are being targeted by an angry and perhaps emotionally disturbed individual or group. This action caused some damage to bike tires, considerable inconvenience to many and in fact put cyclists at personal risk.
Clearly not all the misanthropy in our world is about race, sex, age or sexual orientation. Bicyclists are vulnerable to being mistreated, just like other groups. Of course, there has long been prejudice directed towards bicyclists, and even otherwise rational people sometimes tend to refer to the bad behavior of some bicyclists when commenting on a bicycle crash, much as people do when expressing more common prejudices.
This is an appropriate time for children in our community to be taught that we are all vulnerable. Let’s hope the Newton police can identify the antisocial characters who are engaging in vandalism toward bicyclists, so that this behavior will come to a halt.
In the meantime, we encourage our members to report any incidences of tacks or other dangerous debris in the roadways to the Newton Police at 617-796-2100 (non-emergency #) and if safe, help to remove the items. Also, please reach out to the President of Bike Newton with any additional information on this issue at [email protected].”
Lois Levin,
Bike Newton, Founder
Hopefully public works can be put on an emergency alert and have a street sweeper on site with a first report.
Yikes! Thanks for the heads up Greg.
Runner’s frequent Winchester St also.
Hopefully it is just a very dangerous prank that won’t be repeated anywhere again.
There was a street sweeper going down Winchester Street this morning shortly before 9 am. Thanks DPW!
Glad to hear that- heard from a friend who got a flat on their commute Tuesday from these tacks. Just unconscionable behavior.
The TAB has just posted a story.