Boston Globe
Thursday March 3, 2001

Right to Ride

By Raphael Lewis
GLOBE STAFF

Cyclist sues over commuter hassles

With maniacal drivers, roads like meandering horse paths, and potholes, large enough to have names, the Boston area has long offered bicyclists a wealth of reasons to complain.

But worse than kidney-racking obstacles and swerving motorists, bikers say, is their routine harassment by State Police who order them from busy roads like Route 9, Route 28, and Memorial Drive, where they claim a legal right to ride under state statutes.

Now, after years of fist-shaking, one cyclist has decided to fight back. Yesterday, Peter Rowinsky of Chelsea, who was arrested last May for failing to heed a state trooper’s order to get off Memorial Drive, filed a lawsuit in Middlesex Superior Court, contending he was falsely arrested and denied his constitutional right to equal protection under the law.

“This case has to do with cyclists’ rights and cyclists being discriminated against by the State Police,” said Rowinsky, 27, who rides as much as 150 miles a week commuting to and from the University of Massachusetts-Boston campus. “I’m out $400 in court costs and legal fees, but this case is much bigger than that.”

Rowinsky, whose charges were dismissed, is seeking a judge’s order forbidding State Police from stopping or arresting bicyclists on any road where the law says they may ride, as well as guarantees that troopers will be trained on the law as it pertains to cyclists.

Police who patrol Memorial Drive, Storrow Drive, and Route 9 – the epicenter of the conflict between commuting bikers and state troopers – question whether bicyclists like Rowinsky have a legal right to ride on those busy roads.

But even if they do, State Police say, the troopers’ primary role is to ensure public safety, and as a result, they are duty-bound to move cyclists off the narrow, crowded thoroughfares to avoid what they say would be more deaths and injuries.

“What we’re saying is, ‘You have a legal right, but do you have a moral right?’ ” said State Police Lieutenant Robert Ryan, commander of the Brighton barracks, which oversees much of Memorial Drive, Storrow Drive, and Route 9.

“Someone could get extremely hurt,” Ryan continued. ‘A road like Memorial Drive has 9.5-foot wide lanes, which is much smaller than the normal 12-feet, and traffic is driving faster than the posted limit. All we’re saying is, get on the sidewalk for your own safety.”

But cyclists say sidewalks and paths are too crowded to be useful for bicycle commuters.

Rowinsky’s case comes as cyclist frustration and anger in the Boston area seems to be reaching an all-time high. For years, the issue of riding rights on Storrow and Memorial drives was a non-issue, Ryan said. But in the past 24 months, state troopers have met angry responses from cyclists told to get onto sidewalks.

And in the past year, a rolling bicyclist protest called Critical Mass has hit the streets of Boston and Cambridge on the last Friday evening of each month, drawing as many as 150 bikers who take over rush-hour clogged roads to denounce their perceived second-class treatment. Rowinsky’s arrest, which occurred May 26, 2000, took place during a Critical Mass ride, when Rowinsky stopped to talk with a state trooper who was ordering cyclists off the road.

When Rowinsky was taken away in handcuffs, his case instantly became a lightning rod for Boston-area cycling advocates, who had been searching for a good test case.

Andrew Fischer, Rowinsky’s attorney and the past president of the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition (MassBike), said his office receives about 25 calls each year from bikers who say they were unlawfully stopped on roads where they were entitled to ride. Fischer, who has taken the case pro bono, filed an affidavit in support of Rowinsky’s case, saying he, too, was pulled over illegally by state troopers.

“I don’t think it’s as malevolent as excessive use of force,” Fischer said. “But I do think it’s discriminatory. I think it’s a civil rights issue. These people are being targeted with no legal basis.“

Another Rowinsky defender is Paul Schimek, the current president of MassBike, who filed an affidavit stating he was pulled over on the Jamaicaway in 1998 by a trooper, shouting, “Get on the path now! Get on the path now! Your head is going to be a sponge.”

Police stops like Rowinsky’s and Schimek’s point to a legal mo¬rass at the center of the controversy. According to state statutes, any road not labeled a “limited access highway,” such as Interstate 93, is open to bike riders.

However, the Metropolitan District Commission – the state agency that manages Memorial Drive and Storrow Drive – has a set of rules that, according to the state police, forbid bicyclists from using roads whenever a bike path is also available.

Ryan said the conflict creates a legal gray area, and barring a clear answer from a judge, he and his troopers will continue to err on the side of caution.

“Maybe this will clarify this issue,” Ryan said of the suit. “Or maybe it will force the Legislature to amend the laws.”