BOSTON’S UNRULY riders, described by David Filipov (Page A1, Aug. 7), irritate and endanger everyone, including a lot of responsible bike riders. Recognizing that there are no obvious bicyclists setting a good example (certainly not the various bicycle police, who cheerfully break every known law with impunity), some of us set up a “role-model bicyclist’’ group about 15 years ago. State Senator William Saltonstall donated funds for 50 blue helmets, and my wife Ellen designed and donated reflective badges of a rider with both a helmet and a halo. Thirty-six enthusiastic would-be role models signed up and, at a public event on the Esplanade, were presented with their helmets by Saltonstall after they had pledged to obey all road rules and to be courteous to others.
We had sent notices of this event to TV and radio stations and newspapers, including the Globe, but no media came. We couldn’t afford to pay for publicity. No one knew why some bicyclists were wearing distinctive helmets and behaving well, and the movement died.
Later some of us worked with the Cambridge police to bring about better conditions for bicycling in that city and to ticket and fine offenders. It has worked wonders. The same policies could work in Boston and elsewhere. Some role models would help too.
David Gordon Wilson
Winchester
The writer is the author of “Bicycling Science.’’
