Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Streetsblog.net

Why Are Threats Against Bike Riders Considered Acceptable?

10:42 AM EST on December 16, 2009

Today on the Streetsblog Network, Sustainable Savannah asks the question,
"When is it socially acceptable to threaten the lives of innocent people?" The answer, apparently, is this: "When they are riding bicycles."

The post comes in response to a comment on the website of the city's major newspaper, the Savannah Morning News. Sustainable Savannah's John Bennett writes:

bikelanewithmoss.jpgPhoto: Sustainable Savannah

[I]t appears at least one person in this "wonderfully
hospitable and gracious city" feels comfortable boasting about his or
her willingness to murder innocent people. From the Vox Populi section of the Savannah Morning News on Dec. 2:

"Please tell all these wannabe Lance Armstrongs to get
on the streets with bike paths. One of these days they are going to
pull out in front of someone, mainly me, and, 'adios.'"

Well, at least this person said, "please." It’s interesting that
threatening the lives of cyclists, at least anonymously, is socially
acceptable. Socially acceptable enough not only for a person to send
this to the Savannah Morning News, but also socially acceptable enough
to win the approval of the paper’s editors.

As a matter of fact, the comment in question seems to clearly violate the paper's terms of service agreement, which requires users to agree not to post content "that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing" -- unless, apparently, the threat is made with a motor vehicle and the target is a person riding a bicycle.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

More good stuff from a very busy day around the network: Riding in Riverside wonders why we can't build truly public infrastructure any longer. Dotage St. Louis muses on the city's culture of destruction. And bikePHL provides a primer on the most common types of car-bicycle crashes -- and how to avoid them.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

The Price Is Right for Tuesday’s Headlines

If congestion pricing works in New York City, City Lab predicts that other U.S. cities will quickly follow suit.

November 28, 2023

Top NJ Lawmaker Proposes Major Reforms to Fight Temporary License Plate Fraud

The new legislation follows a seven-month Streetsblog investigation that found widespread fraud involving temp tags, with car dealers abusing weak state regulations and selling paper plates illegally to drivers using them to evade accountability on the road.

November 28, 2023

DOT’s New Emissions Rule is a Big Deal, Even if It Doesn’t Punish States for Polluting

No states will face penalties for building needless toxic road projects — but they also won't be able to hide those impacts from the public.

November 27, 2023

Monday’s Headlines Need Less Oil

E-bikes are a great alternative for short trips, and they're actually saving more fossil fuels that electric cars.

November 27, 2023

Highway Boondoggles 2023: This Bridge is a Bridge Too Far

Presented by local transportation authorities as a simple bridge replacement, an expensive, oversized highway expansion threatens to worsen congestion in Vancouver and Portland

November 27, 2023
See all posts