Conflicts involving Critical Mass
Critics say that Critical Mass, held primarily in large metropolitan cities, is a deliberate attempt to obstruct automotive traffic and disrupt normal city functions, when individuals taking part refuse to obey traffic laws,[1] while participants variously consider it a celebration of cycling, of cyclists' rights, and a practical re-imagining of urban space.
[3][4][5] Critical Mass participants then rocked the vehicle, pounded the hood, and broke the windshield while verbally abusing the elderly couple.
On May 30, 2003, in Buffalo, New York, during an incident known locally as "Critical Massacre," police stopped two cyclists for "failure to yield to an emergency vehicle."
On multiple occasions, Critical Mass participants attempted to ride on Lake Shore Drive, a road off limits to cyclists.
Police prevented participants riding on Lake Shore Drive, by blocking entrance ramps with squad cars when Critical Mass riders approached the road.
[8] At dusk on March 28, 2008, in Honolulu, Hawaii, police collided with a young woman on a bicycle while trying to stop another bicyclist for traffic infractions.
[11] Some Critical Mass riders have spoken out in protest of paying a fee to utilize extra security and escorting through busy intersections, while many others support paying fees for extra security to keep the ride safe,[12] which has led to increased discussions between the city and group for additional alternatives to the building conflicts.
[13] In London in September 2005, a few weeks after the 7 July 2005 bombings, Metropolitan Police required the organisers to provide a route six days before the event and placed strict restrictions on riders, under threat of arrest.
A long stop in Parliament Square, part of the government's exclusion area in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, led to a slow and cumbersome ride.
Jenny Jones of the Green Party and the Greater London Assembly has questioned the police actions, calling them "out of all proportion to common sense"[18] and "tragically unnecessary.
The police presence included undercover officers, three marked squad cars, a state patrol helicopter, and unmarked vehicles.
[27] Police in New York City have claimed that Critical Mass bicyclists blocking intersections to allow bikes to pass may delay emergency vehicles in the gridlock.
[29] Many court cases resulted regarding the legality of the ride, whether police have the right to arrest cyclists and seize bicycles, and whether the event needs a permit.
"[30] On March 23, 2005, the city filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent Time's Up!, a direct action environmental group, from promoting or advertising Critical Mass rides.
An OPD officer appeared to blame the riders, saying the department received multiple calls from citizens that bicyclists in the area near Alcatraz were creating a hazard causing vehicular traffic.
[47] On February 25, 2011, an automobile driver deliberately collided with around 20 cyclists that were participating in a Critical Mass event in Rua José do Patrocinio in Porto Alegre, southern Brazil.
[58] During the following week, between February 28 and March 6, 2011, many protests in support of Critical Mass Porto Alegre were organized in several major cities in South America and around the world.
[64] On the night of July 25, 1997, in San Francisco, the ride attracted 5,000 participants, which resulted in congested traffic, confrontations with motorists, and arrests.
Interest and tension had been growing for several weeks due to increased rhetoric from then-Mayor Willie Brown regarding cracking down on the event.
The local newspapers published a city-approved route after the mayor withdrew his threat to have bicyclists arrested for not obtaining a parade permit.
[67] Towards the end of the ride, near the Japan Center and Western Addition neighborhoods, a mother from Redwood City, California, traveling with her two young daughters in the vehicle, tried to drive through the mass of riders.
"[72] In November 2009, Stanley Roberts of KRON 4 News recorded several Critical Mass confrontations between bicyclists and vehicles at Van Ness and O'Farrell Streets.
[73] In August 2015, KQED posted an article on a Critical Mass confrontation between a bicyclist and a female Zipcar driver in the San Francisco Marina District.
39 year old Ian Hespelt was arrested a few days later by the San Francisco Police Department's bicycle patrol at AT&T Park during the Billy Joel concert.
[74] Two riders were arrested during the June 2006 ride in Seattle, Washington, after a fight with two undercover detectives whom the cyclists confused for gang members.
[76] The King County Sheriff's Office decided not to press felony charges in the case, saying there were too many issues over the circumstances surrounding the allegations.
The motorist made statements to Seattle police that he drove away, hitting bicycles and riders (one of them an attorney),[79][80] and told the press that he "freaked out and overreacted" when bicyclists threatened to tip his vehicle.
[85] On June 21, 2002, in Warsaw, Poland, the Critical Mass event was stopped by a cordon of fully armed riot police on Plac Konstytucji (Constitution Square), who demanded their dispersal and detained some of the participants.
Once a year in August, beginning in 2007, a special Critical Mass is organized in cooperation with the city officials to commemorate the Warsaw Uprising.
On March 28, 2013, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, a taxi driver ran over a group of Critical Mass riders, injuring 2 cyclists, before fleeing from the scene.
