Fwd: Critical Mass?
RealGrouchy (CAM)
The last few months, a Critical Mass ride has grown in Ottawa, as it
exists in cities across the globe on the last Friday of each month.
I tried going to tonight's ride, but was unable to continue after they
went through a couple red lights and took an illegal left turn.
Despite the fact that many of my university-student and activist
friends were in the ride, and I had chatted with them prior to the
ride at the staging area, I had to leave because it was getting dark
and many people didn't have lights, plus the illegal traffic maneuvers
mentioned above. There was illegal behaviour there, therefore Mr.
President couldn't be seen there.
Currently, CfSC's official Critical Mass "policy" is this: "That CfSC
does not support endorse any unlawful cycling behaviour which can
endanger lives."
<http://www.cfsc.ottawa.on.ca/policies/criticalmass.html>
Given the fact that Critical Mass is not the same in any two cities,
and it had only started here last November, I asked CfSC's Board of
Directors to elaborate on its Critical Mass policy. I also put a
request in the Winter 2006 Chain Mail newsletter
<http://www.cfsc.ottawa.on.ca/publications/chain_mail/chain_mail.html>
So far, we've renamed it the "Group Riding Policy". What fantastic
progress.
From discussions at Board and committee meetings, it feels as though
any group ride where a single person doesn't obey the letter of the
law, would not be eligible for CfSC's support. Interestingly, though,
we have a delegation at the Tour Nortel, which raises money for
various Ottawa-area Children's Hospitals. They don't enforce their
"Everybody must wear a helmet" policy. Many people don't have bells on
their bikes. But CfSC has a booth there!
But what troubled me is that here were sixty people, on bicycles,
having fun riding them. Sixty people who were interested in cycling,
and could potentially volunteer for CfSC. I didn't speak up when
someone suggested that one of the "rules" for the night was if there
was a red light, not to break up. I kept quiet because I feld I was
there against the wishes of my group's Board of Directors. However,
had we endorsed this ride, even partially or conditionally, or even
just had a booth there but didn't participate in the ride itself, we
could do far more to educate cyclists about cycling safety.
Therefore, I beg CfSC members to discuss this matter. What do you
think about board members riding in Critical Mass? What do you think
about group riding in general?
I strongly believe that CfSC's position on this and similar matters
alienates cyclists that we could instead be encouraging. As a
criminology student, I find this very wrong.
Charles Akben-Marchand