You are hereMy long winded, rambling response to Chief Acevedo that probably won't be read entirely, and that's ok.
My long winded, rambling response to Chief Acevedo that probably won't be read entirely, and that's ok.
What can I say, I've never been known for my brevity...
Thank you for taking the time to write and let us know what's going on from your side of things, as well as the commitment to critically examine all the facts surrounding these incidences, and to take corrective action if you see it as appropriate.
I also appreciate your candor with regards to Critical Mass. The ride means different things to different people, but I'd say that it's morphed well beyond its' original purpose of putting cyclists in direct public view in an in-your-face way. I don't feel that this is what it's about, or that we need such an act anymore. All you have to do is drive through downtown and chances are you'll see dozens of cyclists from all walks of life, pedaling through the streets like they belong there. The view was very different just a few years ago. As a leaderless, creedless "organized coincidence", Critical Mass has as many reasons as it does riders.
To me, Critical Mass is one of the few times a month where I can bike with the same security with which I can drive. 29 days, 21 hours of the month cars and trucks dominate the traffic landscape. As commuter cyclists, we're constantly looking over our shoulder for even the smallest of motorized vehicles, any of whom could kill us in an instant due to a moment of inattentiveness. All the laws and ordinances and guarantees of 3 feet of passing will not save us from two tons at 45 miles an hour. This is a very scary reality, but one which us cyclists choose to accept tacitly by the simple act of biking on the streets. This is a viewpoint that many motorists have never experienced. Yet with Critical Mass, one day a month, for a couple hours, hundreds of cyclists can take to the streets and experience what it's like to ride without fear. Not having to be constantly on guard against vehicles that can kill us without effort is a very liberating, refreshing feeling. I'm not trying to excuse any of the activity that may happen on the rides as each rider is accountable for their own actions, only explain why I and many of my friends appreciate and value this monthly ride, which has been going on for over a decade now.
What the police did Friday brought fear back into the equation. The gentleman who was arrested and detained for several days was helping a fallen cyclist when he was picked out of the mass as a target. This selfless act cost Mr. Polendo a great amount of hardship, put upon him by the people we count on to protect us. This is my primary concern. I understand the role of the police in correcting illegal behavior, and some of what happens on these rides IS illegal. We try to minimize this behavior wherever possible by riding as far to the right as we can, stopping when we come upon red lights as a mass, and deferring to cars that are behaving unsafely and pushing their way through. We do take red lights that change as we're riding through, but this is a matter of safety for us, and to me our lives and well-being trump momentary legal concerns. This is definitely a difference of opinion, and one that I can see causing issues in the future; issues that I'd like to minimize if at all possible.
There is a lot of conversation going on within the cycling community (and specifically amongst critical mass participants) about how Critical Mass conducts itself as a whole. One of its' greatest strengths is also its' biggest weakness, and that's the fact that ANYONE can come on the ride and be a part of the mass. The size of the crowd gives some people that mob mentality that imbues a sense of anonymity, making them feel like they can act out and get away with it. In a way the rides are self-policing, as many riders (including myself) will speak up if someone is interacting with a car in a way unbecoming a cyclist, unduly blocking traffic, or causing a safety concern. We're not intractable, nothing about this ride is set in stone, and we're willing to learn from our mistakes and change. Honestly, I just want to be able to exist, ride, and not worry about being knocked from my bicycle for helping someone up. If behavior has to change to allow this, many of us are amenable.
Thank you again for your willingness to discuss our issues, and offer to further investigate these worrying incidents. I look forward to working with you and the rest of city staff to achieve a positive end for everyone involved.
Jason Abels
I sent this back to the entire list of recipients from Chief Acevedo's email from last night. I know I don't speak for everybody, or most of us, in fact I only speak for myself; I just wanted to show him that it's not just a bunch of anarchist punks intent on pissing off traffic. The conversation has been interesting, for sure. Hopefully it continues in a constructive, positive path.
i think you did a nice job touching on the most important part of CM: the fact that the ride is three hours of not worrying about being hit by a car.
is it weird to feel safer on the CM rides then on the social rides?
I feel the same.
Great letter, Jason. The safety in numbers is exactly what appeals to me concerning Critical Mass. For a few hours, the roads are ours!
Maybe unknowingly, but you do speak for many of us. Thank you for the well-crafted letter to Chief Acevedo. And keep doing what they say in the Triumph song: Fight the good fight!
Thanks,
Brad
www.flashbakonline.com
Well written Jason and i hope the broad audience widens this discussion.
While it's besides the point, i'd like to point out that APD has recently relaxed the way it handles non-violent offenses such as possession of marijuana. To my understanding a person can now posses under 1 or 2 ounces of marijuana and only get a ticket and then deal with it in court. I believe this change was made due to the amount of money and resources it takes to arrest,hold, and process people in jail and low risk of harm to society those charged with POM pose. I'm quite confident that the money tax payers spent holding Richard in jail this weekend could've been used in more beneficial ways for APD and Austin as a whole.
atxhipsters, I picked up the "Busted Magazine" (the one full of mugshots) at the corner store the other day and noticed there were several POM charges.
I'd heard about the APD policy change for pot possession, but it appears they're still arresting quite a few folks for it. Old habits die hard I guess.
Just kidding - it's well written. I think when going through downtown, the traffic landscape there make the whole "stop at a red when the whole mass stops" a bad rule. Congress probably averages 5-10 mph for any vehicle, motorized or non, due to the number of lights. When I noticed police cars/bicycles/sirens I went back into commuter mode (stop at the reds no matter what) and was quickly left behind, but I caught up within 5 minutes of the arrests. When downtown, we might want to change the rules to behave within normal traffic laws (or encourage that change) because if we're downtown, we're probably heading to the capitol for a water stop, so the mass getting broken up into 3-4 smaller masses doesn't matter a whole lot, we'll all reunite at the capitol anyway. The density and speed of traffic signals downtown isn't conducive to keeping a mass of over 200 people together. Just a thought.
... the people who were arrested presumably weren't breaking the law at all.
It's one thing if the police arrest corkers -- they knew the risk when they corked, after all. And ticketing red light runners, well, if you run the light, you run the risk of getting a ticket. It's all under your control.
But if the police are just arresting people for riding and calling it obstructing traffic -- obeying the law as a group isn't going to fix that. Even obeying the law as an individual isn't going to make you safe from arrest or ticket. And that's not right at all.
You'd be pretty upset if you got thrown off your bike and arrested while in `commuter mode' (i.e. obeying the law to a `tee'), wouldn't you?
Side note, did anybody see Richard Polendo's takedown or arrest? Lots of us saw Talib's arrest, but I'm not so sure about Richard's.
Right - but I guess what I left unsaid in my comment was that the police are more likely to act irrationally when the mass as a whole disobeys laws (in an area people appear to care about I guess, cause we rarely get harassed outside of downtown).
It doesn't excuse their irrationality at all, but it might explain it - I think when they see a large group of scofflaws (haha) they might get antsy to arrest or ticket someone, maybe as an intimidation tactic. I can't comment on whether the police were being irrational when they tookdown and arrested Richard, because I didn't see it happen, but it sounds absolutely brutal. I just wonder if events like that are more likely to happen because it's critical mass (and critical mass has a reputation) OR because critical mass tends to be a bit more brazen about flouting traffic laws than the other large rides (like social cycling rides).