Transportation
When Harassment of Bicyclists and Pedestrians Is a Crime
Kansas City, Missouri, is the latest city to pass legislation prohibiting drivers from "intimidating or injuring" walkers and bikers.
I was riding my bike on the shoulder of a busy road in a quaint town in coastal Maine when it happened: A car full of young men rode up alongside me, shouting lewd insults. That was unnerving enough. Then, as they passed me, just inches away, one of them slapped me on the rear end. They howled with laughter, the driver gunned the engine, and they left me in a cloud of dust and gravel.
I pulled over as calmly as I could. My hands were shaking and my heart was pounding. Amazingly, I had been able to stay on the bike and keep riding a relatively straight line. But the alternative kept flashing through my mind: The bike flipping over and my body being thrown into the roadway, where another driver would have almost certainly hit me.