"Cycling cretins of Critical Mass"

Enough of self-serving ride

(Letter to the editor, SF Examiner, 11-3-09)

Last Friday evening we were once again victims of the cycling cretins of Critical Mass, exercising their "right to the road."

People with real jobs making their way home at the end of the working day had to leave their stalled buses and walk for blocks. Theatergoers missed opening curtains. We saw visitors trying to catch a cab for the airport hopelessly stranded. And all because these self-indulgent scofflaws believe that they can do as they wish, regardless of the distress they cause.

I watched them pour down onto Market Street, each one with a self-satisfied grin indicating how much they were enjoying the chaos. What small lives they must lead if this kind of behavior gives them joy.

A city that expends millions on making the streets bicycle-friendly deserves better than this. Maybe our new police chief can do something about enforcing the laws that are so openly broken on the last Friday of every month.

Norman Patrick Doyle

San Francisco

Ticket the bad bicyclists

(Letter to the editor, SF Chronicle, 11-3-09)

Critical Mass riders again broke traffic laws with impunity Friday night and displayed their utter disrespect for anyone in a car who was trying to abide by the rules of the road. This presents an opportunity for the city to address two problems at once.

Since San Francisco is facing a severe budget crisis, the city should start issuing traffic citations for cyclists who run red lights. Each citation could bring in more than $100. Given the way cyclists in this city routinely run red lights, dozens of citations could be issued on a daily basis. And during Critical Mass events, thousands of citations could (and should) be issued.

The city would be safer for all involved, and the added revenue would bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars every month.

TONY PERISIN

San Francisco