Originally Posted by Machka
The CMs where I lived started sometime shortly after noon and went to about 6 pm ... that's the busiest part of the day. And it is pretty hard for those who drive for a living to avoid the downtown area when that's where they NEED TO GO.
I am only familliar with the SF CM's which are only once a month and start after 6PM (~6:15). Since it's always on a Friday, I would think that well over 50% of those who drove in to work would be out of the downtown area before 6:15.
I was mostly replying to Scooper, who is also from San Francisco.
Yes, law abiding motorists do have the same rights as cyclists, I think what the cyclists are trying to demonstrate is that they have the same vehicular rights as motorists, something that many drivers seem to be unaware of. I could list pages of examples of this, but it's getting late.
I think the intent of critical mass is not to break laws, but disrupt traffic by creating traffic hence the "we are traffic" quote).