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my life with the Mass RMV
Oct. 15th, 2007 04:04 pm(This is a slightly edited version of something I posted to the massbike list earlier today. Crossposted to my journal and ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
bikepirates.)
So last Memorial Day weekend I had a hilarious bike encounter with a guy in a SUV.
Background:
I was biking in Lexington, MA on a road that splits into a straight-through lane and a right-turn-only lane. I looked quickly behind me to make sure the way was clear, and moved to the left, into the straight-through lane. Almost immediately I heard an insistent honking immediately behind me, apparently someone traveling faster than I had realized who came up directly behind me. As I pulled up to a red light, the driver pulled alongside me in the lane, rolled down his window, and we had ( the following exchange: )
I took down his license plate number and called the Lexington police for advice. They told me that I could fill out a "road rage complaint" on the RMV web site, so when I got home I did.
( Then.... )
It seems to have been a successful endeavor, from the point of view of making the bozo sit up and understand that they have to take cyclists seriously on the road. I would love it if more cyclists took this route with harassing or unsafe drivers. If nothing else it would provide the state with a means of collecting statistics about how badly drivers need to be educated about cycling issues.
But the process is far too inefficient -- it seems to have been designed to maximize the probability that complainants will just give up and let the matter die. It seems unlikely that more than a few bullheaded cyclists would navigate the bureaucratic maze to its end, and therefore will probably not amount to a useful tool for anyone any time soon.
bikepirates.)So last Memorial Day weekend I had a hilarious bike encounter with a guy in a SUV.
Background:
I was biking in Lexington, MA on a road that splits into a straight-through lane and a right-turn-only lane. I looked quickly behind me to make sure the way was clear, and moved to the left, into the straight-through lane. Almost immediately I heard an insistent honking immediately behind me, apparently someone traveling faster than I had realized who came up directly behind me. As I pulled up to a red light, the driver pulled alongside me in the lane, rolled down his window, and we had ( the following exchange: )
I took down his license plate number and called the Lexington police for advice. They told me that I could fill out a "road rage complaint" on the RMV web site, so when I got home I did.
( Then.... )
It seems to have been a successful endeavor, from the point of view of making the bozo sit up and understand that they have to take cyclists seriously on the road. I would love it if more cyclists took this route with harassing or unsafe drivers. If nothing else it would provide the state with a means of collecting statistics about how badly drivers need to be educated about cycling issues.
But the process is far too inefficient -- it seems to have been designed to maximize the probability that complainants will just give up and let the matter die. It seems unlikely that more than a few bullheaded cyclists would navigate the bureaucratic maze to its end, and therefore will probably not amount to a useful tool for anyone any time soon.
