Man says that large group of kids on bikes in Boston were aggressive toward his wife
A Massachusetts man is fed up with the hundreds of kids riding bikes on Boston roads after one was "aggressive" toward him and his wife over the weekend.
The large group of bikers was seen driving around, blocking roads, riding on sidewalks and even on MBTA train platforms.
"When they are coming at you, you don't know, are they going to dodge me or are they going to run me over?" Dirk De Roo said. "They would hop on the train with their pedal bikes with large tires and they would go up and down the aisles on the train."
De Roo says he encountered the group while taking the train from Newburyport into Boston. He said that at one point the cyclist almost his his wife.
"There was one rider right on the heels of my wife who kept yelling, 'Excuse me. Excuse me.' And we were not going to give way. But that's how eager and aggressive they are," De Roo said.
He saw the same group later that day on Tremont Street, and video shows the group stopping traffic on Beacon Street by the Boston Public Garden.
"It's extremely frustrating. It's the kind of thing where you want to head into the city and have a good time and then you're met with kind of having to dodge bicyclists," he said. "And a lot of people had to step out of the way for fear of being hit by the kids on the bikes. It's a safety issue."
De Roo says that he just hopes that both the bicyclists and people on the street do not get hurt.
City officials plan on addressing issue
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu says she did pass an ordinance earlier in the year and is working with the Boston Public Schools and the Transportation Department to get some of the illegal scooters off the street.
"We need to have everyone following the rules of the road and we're going to continue to enforce those rules," Wu said.
But City Councilor Ed Flynn says he is now calling for a council hearing to address the issue. He wants Boston Police to enforce the law.
"The wild west mentality that is taking place on Boston streets and sidewalks, where bikes, e-bikes, or mopeds don't respect the rules of the road, and that can't continue. We need to do more enforcement," City Councilor Ed Flynn said. "We have to do something about it because they're putting the public in danger."
Bikes on Boston highways
On August 16, a large group of people on dirt bikes rode through Boston, getting on and off the highway at will. One rider eventually crashed into a police cruiser in the Seaport before fleeing.
Adam Harrison, 22, of Winthrop, was arrested for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, according to police. It is unknown if anyone else was arrested.
It is unknown if this is the same group of people.