The Ride - stay Classy

[Garandman]

We live on a hill in South Boston. After getting the bike knocked over a number of times by cars, I started parking on the sidewalk next to a tree. This is technically illegal but given the number of times it got knocked over, BTD seems to cut me some slack as it doesn't block the sidewalk.

Today one of "The Ride" vans showed up to transport a neighbor. He backed up into a parking space and managed not only to hit a tree but also hit the bike and knocked it over. It fell to the street side so it may have even hit the van. It appears he hit it from the rear, pushing it forward off the center stand, and then it fell over.

Now, being a service driver with [presumably] a CDL, you'd think the guy would have stopped and rung the bell or something? Nope - took off, despite a neighbor waving him down. I was 15 seconds too slow....

The good news is that one of the reasons I got an "Adventure Touring" style bike was that they could be equipped with engine guards and other armor so that they can take some hits. But this guy takes the cake.

[Kazinator]

Lived in the North End for a while...would see this all the time. Whether it was a car parallel parking and hitting a bike over, or just the late night drunks doing it for a laugh.

[DucDave]

THAT
SUCKS

[fromario]

special place in hell for these people... next to slow drivers in the fast lane and thieves

[Slyder]

I bet said service driver's company knows who was suppose to be there to pick up said neighbor, who may also have called to complain if the driver hit the bike and took off without picking them up.

Guards / armor or not.. you can guarantee I'd be making a phone call. Next time he might stop with the bike under the vehicle, then take off.

[jbmass]

please do us all a favor and report this, so as the driver atleast has to explain himself to his superiors, and hopefully get better driver training.

[Garandman]

please do us all a favor and report this, so as the driver atleast has to explain himself to his superiors, and hopefully get better driver training.

I sent an email to the MBTA and asked if I should report it to BPD or Transit Police, since the operator left the scene.

[NobodySpecific]

I sent an email to the MBTA and asked if I should report it to BPD or Transit Police, since the operator left the scene.

I would absolutely call the police. How is this not a hit & run?

[DesmoTull]

I would absolutely call the police. How is this not a hit & run?

+1

[nhbubba]

THAT
SUCKS

This. Wow.

What's the damage?

Just think, it could have been the SV!

[Degsy]

Wirelessly posted

Call the Boston police. It happened on public property. Let them deal with the transport police.

[duganc1717]

That blows, people do suck.......

[Rossco]

If BPD does come there you could run the risk of getting cited for parking on the sidewalk. I know they turned the other cheek on this in the past, but if it's gonna be on record that your bike was parked on the sidewalk, then you probably will get cited for it.

[nhbubba]

Looks like it's mostly in the street now.

What's a parking ticket cost these days? I'd probably pay it out of sheer anger.

[Garandman]

If BPD does come there you could run the risk of getting cited for parking on the sidewalk. I know they turned the other cheek on this in the past, but if it's gonna be on record that your bike was parked on the sidewalk, then you probably will get cited for it.

No.

[jtryz]

I would be calling the po po , no bueno, sorry

[DuncanMoto]

Report for hit and run.
There's no excuse for this type of behavior from a T employee.
There are many other unemployed people more deserving of that job.

[jwm2k3]

Id freak out...hunt that motherfucker down and kill his entire family while he watches...then give him to Pete so he can bring out the gimp.

[SteveM]

While I'm sure someone will have a contrary anecdote, to all the people who said that he should call the BPD, you are right and they will do nothing.

I'm not bashing the cops here, just stating that minor property crime of this sort, even caused by a public vehicle, is so far down the list of things they have to worry about that is is laughable. I have never in my life not been in Boston between growing up in the city and working in the city. Heck I'm eating in downtown crossing right now!

I could take a ten minute stroll and probably pass a dozen armed felons, six drug dealers, thirty addicts and who knows how many other petty miscreants.

While I empathize with the fact that what happened to the bike well and truly sucks, in the city it's just part of the cost of living.

An acre in the burbs, with a heated garage, huge rhododendrons, a basketball hoop, lacrosse nets in back and a deck looking at nothing but conservation land is the long term cure for this problem.

Add in the value of public schools that are great and only cost me my property taxes.

My colleagues, generally younger PhDs living in the city or Cambridge, ask me how I deal with an hour each way on the SE non-expressway.

I tell them I do it because it is worth it.

[nhbubba]

I tell them I do it because it is worth it.

I had that thought myself yesterday as I was tearing up a dirt road on my way over to town hall to pick up some paperwork.

[Garandman]

While I'm sure someone will have a contrary anecdote, to all the people who said that he should call the BPD, you are right and they will do nothing.

I'm not bashing the cops here, just stating that minor property crime of this sort, even caused by a public vehicle, is so far down the list of things they have to worry about tha is is laughable.

Correct, I made a service complaint to the T. When the bike is, after all, completely undamaged, it's kind of difficult to make a federal case of it. My objection was the non-career-enhancing lack of courtesy displayed by a professional driver at a time when the MBTA is struggling.

An acre in the burbs, with a heated garage, huge rhododendrons, a basketball hoop, lacrosse nets in back and a deck looking at nothing but conservation land is the long term cure for this problem.

Add in the value of public schools that are great and only cost me my property taxes.

My colleagues, generally younger PhDs living in the city or Cambridge, ask me how I deal with an hour each way on the SE non-expressway.

I tell them I do it because it is worth it.

One of my daughters will be attending Boston Collegiate Charter next year (ranked #1 in the state in MCAS for 2011) and my other daughter is going to Boston Latin School next year, ranked #2. I found Norwell - #39. My brother-in-law feels the same way you do: he has 17 acres in VT.

Living in Boston where I commute against rush hour traffic in all directions, have our sailboat five minutes away in one of the best sailing area on the east coast, and having easy access to all the cultural and other activities in Boston is well worth it. We believe our kids benefit from it as well. And BTW starting in June we'll also have a heated garage.

While I also lived in a smug, lily-white suburb growing up, living in Boston is awesome. When I was young and single, I was an idiot not to have lived here.

[SteveM]

As a 1978 graduate of BLS, I am quite happy with what has gone on in Norwell. I have nieces at both BLS and BLA and both of those schools consistently out-smug any Suburban system.

As a college professor and the parent of a college student, I can attest that there is a lot more to the educational experience than MCAS scores.

None of this is sour grapes either, I was a top student at BLS and crushed a lot of exams in my day. I've just developed a different perspective over the years.

None of which is meant to tell you where to live. I'm happy you like the city and that your kids are in good schools.

But I bet your bike would be happier in my garage...

It isn't all that unusual to live differently than you grew up. I grew up in a triple decker off Geneva ave in Dorchester and would never go back. You grew up in the burbs and love the city.

Probably a "grass is greener" thing...

[Garandman]

As a college professor and the parent of a college student, I can attest that there is a lot more to the educational experience than MCAS scores./

True. For example, this one ranks them by student/teacher ratio, per-student spending, number of AP classes etc. BLS, BLA, Collegiate Charter etc do not show up in this measure as it is a system-wide score. Another would be acceptance rates at highly selective colleges. Norwell seems to do a perfectly adequate job.

South Boston plays Norwell in youth lacrosse so we've visited a number of times and it seems to be a pleasant, leafy suburban town. Personally I would rather have holes slowly drilled in my head with a stick than commute from the South Shore into Boston at rush hour.

[obsolete]

You 2 are worse than the NH peeps bragging about how much snow they get and jerking off their collective snow wieners to the width of their throwers.

[OreoGaborio]