Posted on 10/01/2003 6:49:41 AM PDT by Hatteras
Radio host infuriates cyclists
By BRUCE SICELOFF, Staff Writer
G105 radio host Bob Dumas told listeners last week that he just hated to see bicycle riders on the road. He laughed at stories about running cyclists down, and he talked up the idea of throwing bottles at bikers. It wasn't funny to cycling enthusiasts across the Triangle. This week they are lobbying government officials and local advertisers in a campaign to punish radio station WDCG and its corporate owner, Clear Channel of San Antonio, and to promote bicycle safety."One caller said her dad had purposely hit a biker on the road on the way to church one Sunday and kept on going," said G105 listener Holly N. Proctor of Cary on Tuesday of the Sept. 21 and 22 broadcasts. "That got laughs. Bob thought that was funny.
"And Bob said he'd love to be on a motorcycle and driving it down a bike lane. Because he didn't think bikers should be allowed on the road. He said they should ride on the sidewalk," she said.
Proctor, a photo technician at N.C. State University, joined two dozen fellow cyclists at a 5 p.m. protest outside the radio station's offices in North Raleigh.
Tom Norman , director of the N.C. Division of Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation , said that reports about the broadcasts revealed dangerous ignorance of state law.
"I have talked to the G105 manager, who was not aware that it is legal to ride bicycles on the public roadways of North Carolina, that cycles are legally recognized as vehicles in North Carolina," Norman said. "Where do you draw the line? What is the distinction between humor and actually inciting or encouraging listeners to harass a group of people?"
Kenneth C. Spitzer, the station manager, declined to provide tapes or transcripts of the broadcasts to Norman or to a Capital Area transportation planning committee that discussed the controversy Tuesday.
In e-mail responses to several Triangle area residents who complained to the station, Spitzer said the "Bob and Madison " show aims to entertain listeners with "animated banter ... that can be both humorous and caustic." But he said some comments last week "went too far, and for that we sincerely apologize.
"Be assured that G105 does not advocate harm to cyclists," he wrote.
G105 is the third Clear Channel station to draw fire in the past four months for on-air comments perceived as advocating violence or animosity toward bicycle riders. Officials at WMJI in Cleveland and KLOL in Houston apologized in July and September for similar remarks. They agreed to broadcast "share the road" messages and to finance bicycle safety campaigns.
Leaders of the N.C. Bicycle Club outlined requests they said would help Clear Channel "mend relations with Triangle bicyclists," including similar public safety campaigns and a detailed apology.
Spitzer declined to comment. A corporate spokeswoman to whom inquiries were directed Tuesday did not return calls.
Members of area cycling clubs have shared copies over the past week of protest letters to the Federal Communications Commission, to state and local prosecutors and to G105 sponsors. Several critics noted that G105 radio hosts have sparked controversy in the past with crude stunts.
"It's one thing to drive around with a naked man on the radio station's van," said Raleigh lawyer Kimberly Bryan. "To encourage citizens to harm cyclists, that has crossed a different line. It's irresponsible. It's not caustic, it's not banter, it's not funny."
David Smith , 38, a software developer at UNC-Chapel Hill, took it personally. His right forearm still bears the scar of an attack by an Orange County motorist who found Smith cycling down a rural road one afternoon in April 2001.
"How are people going to take this, what was mentioned on G105?" Smith asked. "Are people going to say, 'You know, I'm tired of these cyclists?' Is that situation going to exacerbate what happened to me, with somebody else coming down a back road?"
After running Smith off the road, the driver stopped, chased him down on foot and struck him with a hatchet, sending him into a ditch and over the handlebars of his wrecked bike. Marvin Glenn Manring of Orange County pleaded guilty in July 2001 to assault with a deadly weapon. He promised to enroll in an anger management program.
Staff writer Bruce Siceloff can be reached at 829-4527 or bsicelof@newsobserver.com.
I totally agree with this. I live on a really winding road in the western Chicago 'burbs. These people come out in DROVES in the spring/summer. They will ride in a group of at least 10 taking up the entire lane around a dangerous blind "S" curve that is only 15 or 20 miles an hour for cars.
We've also encountered them on Route 83 (busy highway) between Archer and 91st, also taking up an entire lane.
Then there was this time that my mom and I were driving down 83 and we thought some cyclists were holding up traffic and it turned out to be two white horse drawn carriages. One had chamber musicians in it and the other had a bunch of nuns waving to the cars. It was very strange.
....zoom-zoom....
Then how'd that above-mentioned bicycle geek get run down by the hatchet-wielding redneck on foot?
Especially me.
MOVE B**** by Ludacris (2003)
Move b****, get out the way
Get out the way b****, get out the way
Move b****, get out the way
Get out the way b****, get out the way
OH NO! The fight's out
I'ma 'bout to punch yo...lights out
Get the F*** back, guard ya grill
There's somethin' wrong, we can't stay still
I've been drankin' and bustin' two
and I been thankin' of bustin' you
Upside ya motherf****' forehead
And if your friends jump in, they'll be mo' dead
I'm doin' a hundred on the highway
So if you do the speed limit, get the f*** outta my way
I'm D.U.I., hardly ever caught sober
and you about to get ran the f*** over
Consult the Book of Armaments!
Some cyclists are, no argument there. Just like some drivers are.
No other group of athletes consistently causes traffic jams disrupting thousands.
Those not obeying the traffic laws should not be on the roads.
otherwise bikes need to be made illegal on public streets, unless the rider can demonstrate an ability to accelerate with the traffic and keep up.
Present law disagrees with you.
Although, what the bikes are doing is legal. A person standing in the middle of the street is not legal (unless you condone running over cops directing traffic too). But, in your small mind that doesn't matter. Run over the bike becasue it's slowing down your self-importent life.
Feel free to go back to your hand-hand job now.
As a driver you rely on the "law" to protect you from the laws of physics regarding mass and motion. Or do they not apply when automobiles crash into each other?
;-}
Wow, I never pegged you for the kind of coward that would run down a bicyclist who had done nothing to you.
If a bicyclist can't accelerate and keep up with traffic, he is doing something to me.
At the least he needs 3 feet of 1/2" galvanised pipe tossed into his front spokes.
So9
Personally, I agree with that if the road is wide enough. However, in rush hour traffic on my commute there are very few roads where bicycles can cohabitate with vehicles in a safe manner so a bicycle traveling at less than half the speed limit creates a problem with drivers trying to safely pass.
My personal gripe is that bicyclists know this is a problem and know that they have caused these back ups yet when the traffic light turns red they insist on cutting to the front of the line so all those cars have to pass them again. It is these a-holes that deserve any predicament they may have found themselves in.
Unfortunately, since I have seen maybe two bicyclist actually stop in line for a red light in over 26 years of driving, this would include virtually all spandex-clad road kill candidates.
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