I can't wait to tax the bikes to build their own bike paths,so they don't have to act like hitler youth/eco terrorists.

Tax bikes!!

If they want a billion dollar bridge, it should be paid for equally.

Will there be tolls for bicycles?? There had better be!!!

One problem with this otherwise wonderful editorial.

This baby thug is wearing a helment, unlike many in this gang.

In September, Seattle will be host to the Pro Walk/Pro Bike Conference. Perhaps the Seattle Times could be reporting on the positive aspects of hosting this event. As a member of the Kent Bicycle Advisory Board, I have statistics showing that a sizable portion of the bicycling public is in the upper third of income. This is a growing upscale market and one that businesses may be interested in as bike and accessory sales explode.

http://www.bikewalk.org/2008conference/index.html

http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/critical_mass_roundup

Please go to this link for a more sober and in-depth analysis than anything both mainstream newspapers or TV can offer.

Notice the driver admitted (see quotes) to making a mistake, sympathizing with the cyclist's cause-he is one himself- and taking ownership to being partly responsible.

Also look at the evidence (pictures). Juxtapose this to the recent NY critcal mass incident where a police officer lied about a cyclists trying to take him out, when clearly he hip checked him into next Tuesday (per citizen video)-malice was his intent, and contempt for a lawful, permitted, peaceful protest is what he showed. It makes the questioning person doubt the truthfulness of our own police concerning their statements about the guilt being only attributed to the bikers (I don't agree with their retalitory attacks in this situation).

The intelligent person must at least question the source of information, ask probing questions, and place his/her view in the context of modern society.

Clearly the writers of the original articles did nothing of the sort. Their probable excuses of "just reporting the news" lacks substance and in this case exposes their lack of professionalism.

These 'writers', along with many of the Seattle Times and PI bloggers, are strong in their convictions, but truly lacking in substance.

Too bad that Subaru wasn't a Hummer. There might have been 10 less bikes.

Comments like those posted by Question above really misrepresent what occurred and what the driver has apologized for.

First, the driver behaved responsibly and never intentionally assaulted anyone. Read the description of the event by an unidentified Critical Mass participant at the top of the page at: http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/seattle911/archives/144527.asp?page=1#comments. Specifically, "I was positioned at the head of the pack of Critical Mass participants...A number of cyclists from the stream of bikes stopped directly in front and to the sides of his vehicle...."

The driver, in his comments, states at this point that he pulled his car over and waited and no one, no Critical Mass participant contradicts that statement. We then get to Tom Braun (the cyclist most injured when the driver struck any cyclists) who�s at the back of the ride, "I arrived near the end of a Critical Mass cycling ride...." Mr. Braun�s own words at: http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/another_eyewitness_weighs_in.

Separately, the PI intern riding with the group noted that she did not see a car parked at an odd angle when she passed the site, and that half of the group was in front of her. See http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/thebigblog/archives/144645.asp.

So, the driver waited patiently for the ride to pass and only acted when, both he�d waited until the ride had thinned and he felt threatened.

What I don�t get in this whole discussion on all the various news stories and blogs is that, as one, the Critical Mass participants are willing to assign a motive to the driver while denying any motive at all on the part of the people detaining the driver.

The driver has apologized for striking the bicyclists. He�s also stated that he acted out of a clear belief that his car was going to be further assaulted. He has not taken "ownership to being partly responsible" as Question states above. Instead, the driver has quite clearly stated the opposite, first at http://www.komonews.com/news/25962894.html, where he states "One guy shouted, 'Hey, we should flip the car,' and I was really scared... I overreacted and freaked out and got upset, but I was surrounded by a mob of people...."

Question states that you should consider what happened in NYC on the same night. The implication is that Critical Mass is somehow persecuted for their actions.

Critical Mass has a history of provocation. If you doubt that, see Councilmember Sally Clark�s description of the part of Friday night�s event that she witnessed and specifically note that, unprovoked, bicyclists were slapping the sides of a truck that got stuck in a situation eerily similar to that happening later on Capitol Hill. Absolutely disgusting, and available to all on the web, is the unprovoked assault on an elderly disabled couple by the Berkeley Critical Mass riders last year (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6511010398472656040&hl=en).

As a resident of Seattle, I request that the Critical Mass folks spend their next Friday not on their bikes but, instead, working on anger issues, non-violent techniques for diffusing difficult situations and other tools that responsible movement folks (such as DAN) use to protest, party and teach all at the same time. Without some work on your behalf, I fear the future will not be positive.