By Steven Weller Venice
(On Feb. 2), I was witness to the outlawish behavior of the group known as Critical Mass — holding up traffic and blocking intersections and jeopardizing their lives and well-being.
Remembering the (Russell) Weller incident at the Farmers’ Market in Santa Monica, where rage was not involved, it would do the Critical Mass group well to consider a few things. 1) Failure to stop at a stop signal is costly and it applies to bicycles and automotive vehicles concurrently. 2) Impeding a person’s forward movement for no good reason is also a criminal act when the time duration exceeds 17 seconds. 3) Their behavior can be thought of as terrorist and/or bullying the public.
At this time, this party is seriously thinking of registering a complaint with the local police, who are capable of writing up each rider that does perform the various out-lawish acts the Critical Mass group is performing.
We do not mind sharing the road with bicyclists, skate-boarders and other forms of transportation conveyances. The rules of the road state we are to “share the road,” not impede innocent people with the inconvenience of their behavior.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 12, 2007. Read the original PDF.