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Bicyclist remembered with Porter Square ghost bike
By adamg on Wed, 10/12/2016 - 9:18am
Wicked Local Cambridge reports on the vigil to commemorate Joe Lavins of Lexington, who died last week.
Cambridge Day looks at ways to reduce bicyclist deaths.
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Comments
A bit weird
From what I know, the bike vigil people were immediately in contact with the family about this vigil. Awareness is important to improving bike safety but I think a bit more respect for a reeling, grieving family by giving them some space would be more appropriate than moving to immediately make their terrible loss into a publicity event.
If you wait a month to have a ghost bike, is the impact really that much less? Or maybe wait for the funeral at least?
Oh Please
n/t
Please what?
From what I know, the organizers were in touch with the (totally overwhelmed) family within a few days of this accident. Imagine finding out you've lost your spouse/father in a terrible accident and then your phone rings a day later and it's the bike vigil crew? I don't get the rush to take public ownership of a private tragedy, that's all.
"Joel Finegold, who led the moment of silence, also became closer to Lavins.
“I didn’t know him, but now I’m his friend,” Finegold said."
This attitude also bugs me. To mourn the death of a stranger is, of course, fine but to claim friendship with a dead stranger on the basis of their horrible death is weirdly presumptuous.
Anyways, I hope his family heals with time and that the intersection gets fixed.
Vigil
Yes I was watching the news this morning before work and I was kind miffed by this also. There were alot of mourners, but I really question how many of these people actually knew this guy personally. It's nice that they did this in a show of solidarity, but I think it's a bit ill timed and people's attitudes like he was their best friend is very plastic.
I also agree with your statement about 'taking control over a private tragedy'. White Bike and all. It's sad that he died, but to me it seemed like his death was used more as a catapult to further a cause. Which is not the right thing to do, especially shortly after someone dies.
As far as the intersection. I live in Porter. And have done so for the past 20 years. They redid that intersection about 10 years ago to improve visibility, geometrics, and traffic flow (from both Somerville Ave and the shopping center).
Before that change, that intersection was dangerous to just about everyone.. pedestrians, bikers, and cars. I would cringe every time I had to cross to get to the shopping center or the T station. It's far better than it was before. I'm not to sure how much they can do without drastically change it (i.e. remove Somerville Ave or the shopping center access to Mass Ave all together or reducing travel lanes (through an area that is already pretty tight as is))
A ghost bike
is absolutely not a "publicity event" in any traditional sense of the term. Organizers contact the families to support them, to let them know that they are accompanied through this terrible process by other cyclists who are familiar with these situations, and ultimately to help them organize a remembrance of their loved one. If a family ever indicates that they don't want contact or can't handle public events for any period of time, I can assure you any decent cyclist group will respect their wishes.
You seem to be under the impression that someone makes money off of these things or something. The organization of a ghost bike installation is common among cyclists around the world and usually happens in the couple of days following an incident. http://ghostbikes.org/ghostbikemap
Please, no thank you.
I would not want any bike organizers contacting me or my family to offer their support. If I need support, I will reach out to them.
I'd want my family to be contacted if I was killed
My family knows my love and advocacy for bikes but most likely do not know the organizations to reach out to.
What are your feelings on the media contacting your or your family for comment? Because that will happen regardless.
A bit ironic
Hey, aren't you the same anon who jumped into the original thread immediately tut-tutting about cyclists pulling up to trucks on the right? Without bothering to find out the details of the accident?
Sure sounds like you...
Family of the Cyclist
I cycle through Porter Square every day and mourn this stranger who I probably have seen in passing on some rainy morning. For those concerned with the privacy and feeling of the victim's family, here is a post by Shannon McSweeney, niece of Joe Lavins, on the ghost bike ceremony Facebook page:
"On behalf of my aunt, Joe's wife,
Thank you for your vigil for Joe Lavins. He died too young and I will miss him forever.
Liz Lavins, his wife.
My Uncle Joe will be missed by so many. As upsetting as it is for my aunt, cousin and my entire family we hope that something comes of my uncles tragic death. It's a feeling that no family should ever have to experience and unfortunately too many families face. We will all miss Uncle Joe. Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers."
Although not related to the
Although not related to the most recent accident, the author brings up an important issue:
Bus drivers often are more concerned with being on time than driving safely. In my time in the Boston area, I have seen bus drivers regularly:
I think bus drivers drive better than most
Nope, they aren't perfect. They both (a) make mistakes and (b) decide to push things a bit, depending on the circumstance.
I think this isn't unique to busdrivers though; it's common amongst Masshole drivers.
It seems to me (your opinion may well vary) that (a) drivers of buses actually do far better than the average Boston driver, and (b) when the busdriver pushes it, he or she is doing it with the intent of a public benefit (keeping the bus on schedule for the benefit of its dozens or hundreds of riders remaining on that route-run, whereas when Joe Schmoe does it, it's solely for his own benefit.
I guess my point is: if you're worried about tamping down the dangerous drivers out there, maybe start with a group that isn't MBTA bus drivers.
Not an either/or thing
As my granddad would say, "It's not a competition to see who's the worst." The possibility that they're not the worst drivers out there is a piss-poor argument against the MBTA -- which is in a good position to improve the safety of a group of drivers whose large vehicles are a significant percentage of the large vehicles in the Boston area -- taking steps to make their drivers more safe.
new buses have better visability of the street
what I mean to say is that the windows and mirrors are designed to give a better (although not complete) to the driver. The only weird thing is that the new natural gas engine is so quiet sometimes they are beside you before you hear them.
•Blow through yellow lights.
As annoying as you may find the practice of people 'running' yellow lights, show us the legal requirement in either Massachusetts law or the Uniform Vehicle Code that requires a driver to stop when a light turns from green to yellow. Oh wait, you can't find it. Right - because there ISN"T one.
From the massRMV website:
From the massRMV website:
Steady Yellow
A steady yellow light means the traffic signal is changing from green to red.
You must stop if it is safe. If you are already stopped at an intersection or a
stop line, you may not proceed.
https://www.massrmv.com/Portals/30/docs/dmanual/chapter4.pdf
You must stop if it is safe.
OK, that's what the Driver's Manual, which is NOT a legally binding document, says. Now show me where it is stated in either the MGL or the Uniform Vehicle Code that this is actually a LEGAL requirement that can be enforced by a police officer.
Looks like it isn't illegal as you've stated
But just for a minute, imagine it was a legal requirement that can be enforced by a police officer or there was a local effort to change law as such. What would your opposition be?
Before you advocate to change the law to REQUIRE drivers
to stop when a light turns yellow, ask yourself these questions:
1) How frequently is a collision caused between somebody running a yellow light, but otherwise obeying the law (RTOR violations don't count) and somebody else legally within the intersection?
2) Assuming that traffic lights are properly timed - with adequate yellow and all-red sequences, exactly what is the risk of a person running a yellow light causing a serious collision with somebody who is lawfully crossing the intersection the other way?
3) What are the potential downsides, from a crash potential perspective, of legally REQUIRING a driver to stop when a light turns yellow? Consider not just passenger cars, but larger vehicles such as buses.
4) Assuming the law was changed to legally require a driver to stop when a light turns yellow, provided it is SAFE to do so, how practical would it be to enforce such a law?
If you think about these questions a bit, and the answers to them, then you'll hopefully realize why such a requirement does not currently exist, and has never existed, in the Massachusetts General Laws, the Uniform Vehicle Code, or in the Federal MUTCD.
And yes, I agree that stopping when a light turns yellow, if it can be done safely, is a basic lesson that all drivers should be taught and is common sense. Mandating it as law, however, is another matter entirely.
Stop for the yellow?
Doesn't that defeat the purpose of the yellow? The yellow light was introduced to prevent motorists unable to stop in time from ending up in crashes.
If you have to slam the brakes or risk a ticket, it will cause collisions - this has been happening in jurisdictions with red light cameras where yellow lights have been shortened.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/redlight/ct-yellow-light-tim...
Safe Driving app
Would be interesting to see what it would be like if people driving MBTA buses and other City/State vehicles all were using the Boston's Safest Driver app
https://www.boston.gov/transportation/bostons-safest-driver-competition