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Report racist road rager to RMV?
By adamg on Wed, 07/02/2008 - 9:53am
Adam Pieniazek is enjoying a nice bike ride on Columbia Road in Dorchester when some fat putz in a rustbucket begins slamming his horn and demanding Pieniazek pull over to let him through. Pieniazek did pull to the side, but didn't stop, which only further enraged the guy. He reports that the guy, who appeared to be Puerto Rican or Dominican, finally exhausted his supply of expletives and yelled:
Do you know where you are white boy?
Pieniazek, a Dot rat, finally lost him at a light - but not until he took down his license-plate number. He wonders: Should he use the handy motorist-complaint form he downloaded?
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Comments
I had no idea there was such a thing.
Where can a person download a "motorist complaint" form? I saw a FOX News van cross through a funeral procession once- I wish I knew about the form before.
Here 'tis
Good ol' Form 21171.
Nice- thanks Adam.
Nice- thanks Adam.
reach for your cellphone, call the police
I would have thought to call the police first.
So is this the first time the guy has ever had a racial epithet directed at him, during an all-out conflagration? Is that what's bothering him?
not everyone has a cellphone
I don't have one, and we don't know if the blogger did.
MadMax: I think there are
MadMax: I think there are plenty of things her to "bother" him, don't you? Or maybe he should ignore it b/c it was a Puerto Rican acting like an asshole? I don't understand the question.
double standards
What's probably bothering him is what bothers a lot of white people in this city- if you're not white, you have an unspoken license to be a racist, antisocial shithead to anyone that is, and a lot of black people use that license in a way I've NEVER seen a white person act to someone who isn't white. They seem almost to have a sense of entitlement, and they get furious when they're denied- whilst everyone who is white tiptoes and plays the "sensitive" role.
Good example: I was boarding the 39, and a black woman tried to cut right into the 10-person-deep boarding line. I stepped forward and blocked her, and she tried to push me aside. I wouldn't budge.
When I clocked in past the reader, she bodyslammed me down the aisle, and when I got up and turned around, the (black) bus driver and (black) MBTA supervisor were laughing, and she had a furious look and screamed, "WHAT YU GUNNA DO BOUT IT, BITCH?"
The OP's story reminds me of biking home Sunday- some gangbanger was on the orange line bike path (not the foot path) with his fellow hoodlums, and, facing sideways, stepped backwards to block the path. Several bell-rings were ignored, until I finally yelled "LOOK OUT!", hit the brakes harder, went off the path, and nearly hit a lightpole.
His response? "YO MUTHAFUCKIN CRACKA WHAT THE FUCK WATCH YO FUCKING...."
My response? "I rang my bell, you didn't look or watch where you were going, and you're on the **BIKE** path." (the path is marked at every single intersection and more with arrows pointing to different paths.)
"YO CRACKA DON'T YOU FUCKIN TALK TO ME LIKE THAT [...]"
So I finished it with, "What are you gonna do about it?" and rode away, while he continued screaming something...and then I realized that I was about 500 yards from where that kid was shot right before the Wake Up The Earth festival...
Sensitive
"whilst everyone who is white tiptoes and plays the "sensitive" role"
Except when they're posting anonymously on a message board, where they can air their assorted grievances without fear of repercussion.
Q: What standard do you
Q: What standard do you offer and where does it come from?
A: Civility, courtesy, line up and take turns, make way on bike paths. I learned it growing up. I thought everybody agreed to it.
Q: What standard do the people you encountered ask of you?
A: ?
Is the moral of the story that white people who encounter this kind of confrontation from black people are justifed in their racism?
That everyone have the right to be racist because some black people you encounter play the entitlement and confrontation card?
dot attitude
Shitheads are shitheads, and they come in all flavors. But getting caught Bicycling While White is indeed a phenomenon in and around Dorchester. Around here you're supposed to ride on the sidewalk mowing down little old ladies. My (white) girlfriend once had a full Dunkin's cup flung at her head from a passing minivan on Dot Ave--by a (black) woman who, enraged that J had the temerity to be riding a bike in the street, yelled, "Do you know where you ARE? YOU'RE IN THE GHETTO, BITCH!"
Which was hilarious, but only because she missed.
I once had a car full of Puerto Rican guys drive up next to me on Dot Ave when I was taking too long on a hill for their speed and yell, "Vaya, mami, vaya"--but it seemed all in good fun, so I just vayaed faster.
Never had a problem
I used to bike through Mission Hill, Roxbury, Dorchester, Blue Hill Ave, etc. I never had any of these problems.
The only thing close was the time I was biking to Weymouth from my job on Mission Hill on the 3rd of July. As I was leaving Dudley Square and headed toward Dot, a guy slowed down and said something to me in Spanish in a not really threatening way.
(For some reason, although I identify as white, it isn't unusual for people to walk up and speak Spanish or Portugese to me.)
I asked somebody about it later, but it turned out to be a garden variety admiring proposition.
Believe me, I've had far worse from too-large-for-the-city pickup trucks with NH plates.
Piropo
That there was a piropo. In much of Latin America, you'd be unlikely to go through a single day without getting a few.
In my experience, this cultural tradition tends to cause some friction with ours. American women frequently think of them as sexual harassment, whereas in the DR a fine, upstanding feminist once told me she goes home and changes her clothes if she doesn't get any by noon.
He probably said something like "Tantas curvas, y yo sin frenos!"
If you want to make me feel
If you want to make me feel good (in a non-threatening way), compliment my shoes or something.
Don't say "hey... that's nice... look at that ass swing..." as I walk by. That was said to me yesterday evening on the way to the T in my JP neighborhood... and I wasn't even wearing a skirt that was short (knee length) or tight. I suppose in some way it's a compliment, but in some way it's kind of violating. Why can't women just walk down the street in non-slutty clothing without catcalls?
That outfit looks good on
That outfit looks good on you!
We learn in sexual harassment training not to compliment the individual's appearance but to compliment the attire. Of course for that to work, you must not follow up by saying, so do you want to f*ck you sl*tty d*rty girl? Remember Ali G's advice, respec!
"If any such drivers are
"If any such drivers are reading this, if I see you behind me and don’t move to the side to let you pass there is a good reason for it and no matter what you do I’ll continue to stay in the middle of the lane for my personal safety."
Now I understand. Driver 1, Bicycle Moron 0.
I always do wonder why
I always do wonder why bicycles have the classification as road vehicles.
You can get pulled over for driving under the speed limit, as it’s dangerous, yet some people on bikes refuse to pull over and let others pass on busy through ways, ride side by side, ect. Other times they blatantly ignore road rules, like no left runs at a red, stop and wait at a light.
The city needs to be better at putting in decently sized bike lanes, and I know it’s hard for the cyclists out there in this city, but they also need to understand that if you can’t keep up with traffic speeds in an area, you should yield to them and not tie up a busy road.
Simple Answer
The roads were not built for cars. They were built for people in various conveyances.
You like that the roads are paved? Do you know why they were paved? They were paved because cyclists became politically active and worked to get them all paved.
Bikes and Peds to Cars: you kids get off my road!
I'll be darned.
that I didn't know.
Simply not true
That is simply not true that bicyclists must yield to faster vehicles. It is a courtesy to pull over occasionally if traffic is backing up significantly, but there is no legal obligation to do so.
Also, the only place where you can get a ticket for going too slowly is on limited access highways, where bicyclists are typically prohibited.
It's ironic that "speed limit" has become "speed minimum" for many motorists. Especially in an urban environment, that is a recipe for disaster.
Continuing this logic
if you can’t keep up with traffic speeds in an area, you should yield to them and not tie up a busy road
All cars should be banned from busy roads during rush hour, because they take up way too much space per traveller, are moving at slow speeds or stopped, clog up intersections, and impede bike traffic.
Having a motor and lots of steel to transport your singular self doesn't give you privileges, it gives you responsibilities.
I'm all in favor of bikes, but...
The roads need to be safer for bikes, sure, but cyclists also need to be responsible. Many of them are, but a good number are just idiots. Like the helmetless 30-somethings riding child-sized bikes down the street in an S-pattern that cuts into the oncoming lane. When I worked at a program for people with brain injuries, we presented a monthly workshop called Brains at Risk, where towns can send people who are convicted of a first-time offense that involves reckless behavior. The suburbs sent us plenty of people who'd been ticketed for dumbassery on a bicycle, but we never got any from the city. I see officers every day drive past cyclists who are weaving down the road in both lanes. I know there aren't helmet laws for people over...is it 16 here?, but there are certainly laws about bicyclists on the sidewalk and any vehicle driving in the oncoming lane. Why aren't these enforced in Boston?
Last week Molly and I were driving NW on East Newton Street near BMC. We got to Harrison St, where we had a green light, and a cyclist flew out from the left where there's a building going right up to the sidewalk, riding probably 30mph, on the sidewalk with no helmet, right across our path. Molly slammed on the brakes, locking our seatbelts and leaving skidmarks, and came to a stop inches from where the cyclist crossed in front of us. He didn't even slow down or look or anything. Idiot.
kthnxbi
eeka makes some good points. I feel her pain. (A similar cyclist-induced incident happened to me in Somerville a few weeks ago.)
I generally don't have a problem with people riding bikes - what I have a problem with the attitude that tends to accompany it. Bicycles consume no gas, I get that, that's great, I'm happy for all the cyclists who can ride to work every day. My office is like 25 miles away. I'd gladly trade it for one with an easier commute (by T, foot, bike, whatever...), but right now that's the only job I have. The only job that pays my rent. So quit yelling things like "gas guzzler!" and etc. at me.
Multimodal?
When I worked in Lowell, I took my bike on the commuter rail - it was the fastest way to go. Since so many in my department split their time between Longwood and Lowell, there were a fair number who lived in Boston or Somerville or Medford and did the same.
I currently have coworkers who bike to the commuter rail - 4 miles each way - and then walk to the office from the station.
You might explore multimodal commuting - it may work, it may not - but it is good to know your options for those times that your car is out of service or you know the highway is messed up for one of those spectacular messed up reasons.
Should Cars Be Illegal?
You make a great point SwirlyGrrl and I've thought about it before and have even discussed if cars should be illegal but I think the real issue is how easy it is to get a license. When I took my driving test 8 years ago at the Dorchester Armory I literally went around the block, backed up in a straight line and was licensed. If getting a license actually represented being qualified to drive a huge piece of fast steel then perhaps driving conditions would be better for everyone.
I wouldn't go that far
But I agree that a sufficient number of purchases of boxes of cracker jacks is all it takes to get a license in Mass.
When you consider that cyclists are a subset of the driving public for the most part, is it any wonder that nobody knows the rules?
I can't figure out why, either. As others from states with far less crazy driving conditions and far more comprehensive testing can attest, the MA test is really too easy. Paper test, ten standard questions, plus victory lap with a parallel parking celebration? Yikes.
Why they don't do a comprehensive retest when you renew and do a simulator test every 10 years beats me.
Frankly, I think bikers
Frankly, I think bikers should have to be licensed to ride on the streets as well. There are too many bikers out there who don't know the rules of the road, e.g. that they cannot ride the wrong way down a one-way street, they can't blow through red lights, they can't ride on the sidewalk, they are required to have lights after dark, etc. I bike to and from work every day, and it bugs the hell out of me when I see other cyclists do stupid things that give the rest of us a bad name.
except for that whole "right
except for that whole "right to travel unrestricted" thing.
What's next, a license to walk? Punish people who break the rules...
With rights come
With rights come responsibilities. As a pedestrian commuter (6 miles/day in Somerville-Cambridge for the past seven years), I've come to fear the 'there but for the grace of God go I' cyclists more than four-wheelers. I'm not a big fan of regulation in general, but one area where I think it might be needed is with two-wheeled traffic.
encouraging
glad to know that there are some who care about being safe
Clarification & answers
Thanks for the link adamg!
@MadMax, Having been born and raised in Dorchester I've had several instances where calling the police was necessary and overall I've simply lost my faith that the police will even show up, yet alone be helpful. Especially in this case where there is no evidence to support either side and where no one got hurt or had their property damage calling the police didn't even cross my mind.
@Ron, I do have a cellphone but I was traveling light since I wasn't planning on going too far and left my phone at home.
@Whit and anon-double standards, Yes it wasn't any one thing that irked me but the whole incident. I'm not racist and don't make racist remarks, but yes I've been called white boy before as a joke and as an actual racist remark. Honestly, it was that he assumed that I couldn't have been from Dot that pissed me off the most. I have a lot of pride having grown up here and defend it as the best part of Boston constantly, so to have him assume I'm not from here and just tack on the white boy part just didn't sit well with me...why can't we be friends!
I understand that this city had racist conflicts before I was born and while I was too young to understand but I'm not racist. It's just a pigment and growing up in Dorchester around a diverse group I realized early on that a lot of racial differences are cultural which makes racism all the more idiotic.
To the anon who called by a bicycle moron, there are times when a car and bike should not be in the same lane and when those times come if I let you pass I'm the one who might get hurt so keep not understanding that simple fact. I also said that if it's safe for you to pass I will move over and let the driver do so. I'm not going to get doored though because you had to get somewhere two seconds faster. I'm doing you a favor in the long run and saving you gas!
@eeka, Yeah cyclists driving into oncoming traffic make driving/riding harder for everyone, including cyclists who are moving with traffic.
would you have been more or
would you have been more or less upset if you'd been walking or driving or on a skateboard and some guy in a car and called you a white boy or something similar?
I don't understand...
What exactly does the driver's weight, height, race, or the make and model of car have to do with this story? I don't get it in the original post and I don't get why he's referred to as a "fat putz in a rustbox" here. None of these things makes it more or less likely or or more or less acceptable for the driver to harass the biker. Why is this person not simply a "putz"? Is the implication that the driver disrespected the biker because he was overweight, or because he was Puerto Rican, or because he was driving an old car? Having someone make a racist comment to you doesn't make it okay to dish it back.
Just stating the facts
I listed a description of the driver to paint a mental picture of the situation. I included the race to add context to the white boy remark. If the story in anyway implies or paints a negative light around any race, that is not the intent. Honestly, it was just an attempt to give some detail so that the reader can better put themselves in my shoes...any racist implications from my story are unintentional.
If this was a story about me getting picked up by some fine ladies, I would've included their race, weight, height etc. too!
Adam did not write one thing
I added the "putz" all by myself because, well, the guy was being a word that just sounds better in Yiddish than the English word it corresponds to.
We have different cycling issues out here in I-495 land
I ride almost every day out here in Hopkinton and racial remarks while riding have never happened. What we do have is the redneck-in-a-pickup problem. Here's the scenario:
Riding along on a semi-narrow road that is not busy at all
You hear a vehicle behind you
Next, you hear the guy floor it with V-8 power
Pickup truck passes way too close, as visibilty up the road was great and no one was coming
Here's the kicker: after he (always a he) passes, he looks in his rear-view mirror with a smile, to see if he shook you up a bit
Soccer moms are next after the rednecks. They're famous for passing on blind corners and hills, usually yakking on a cell phone.
I'll take riding out here anytime, though. ;-) Incidents are actually pretty rare, maybe 1 or 2 a year, and rarely serious. I'd be a nervous wreck in the city.