Cars vs Bikes, Drivers vs Cyclists in America: Culture wars

[Danneaux]

Hi All!

Time magazine, a weekly American news and op-ed publication, included a featured article (Jul. 16, 2012 edition) by author Bryan Walsh on the changing state of cycling in America, concentrating on conflict in the traffic stream. Titled "Pedal Push", the tagline is, "Biking is on the rise, but is there room on the road for everyone?"

The article postulates that any one cyclist symbolizes many in the eyes of motorists (and vice versa), so individual behaviors are translated and generalized across entire populations. Since negative behaviors are more memorable, the few bad apples (i.e. careless riders/drivers and traffic scofflaws or any sort) spoil the whole barrel, resulting in widespread negative views of one tribe by the other. Both sides may feel threatened by the other, but cyclists' greater vulnerability to injury is a huge disincentive to riding for many -- people don't ride because they are scared of getting hurt by and coming out the loser in any confrontation with a car. The article goes on to compare the US with Denmark and The Netherlands (Amsterdam in particular) and concludes by wondering if a changing social climate and a critical mass (numbers, not the political movement) will result in positive change in attitudes and perhaps even a sea change in America's perception of cyclists and cycling.

Time has made the article available for paid subscribers to their site:  
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2118526,00.html

Though I cannot reproduce this copyrighted material here, this article is scorching through the cycling blogosphere and considerable portions have been excerpted, as in the example here:
http://www.andyandmia.net/2012/07/need-to-educate-motorists-about.html

There is a nice followup and counterpoint analysis of the article by Andrew Gardner, columnist at Embrocation Cycling Journal:
http://www.embrocationmagazine.com/online/?author=Andrew+Gardner

Maybe changes are already underway. Rising fuel costs are causing many here to re-examine driving, even in Big America, which lacks inter-city public transport links (trains, buses). Driving used to be an aspirational rite of passage for adolescents coming of age (certainly when I was younger), but fewer and fewer young people are pursuing licensing and car ownership. Registrations are stalling compared to past trends. While not much has changed in the countryside and more remote areas, intra-city transport is changing, and lifestyles with it. That's where car-bike conflict is most intense, and -- perhaos surprisingly -- where we will likely see the most change in favor of cycling, thanks to convenient distances and a more developed cycling infrastructure with dedicated bike lanes and secure parking, even corporate ride-to-work incentives.

So, what do you think? Is America and the rest of the world (UK and Europe in particular) poised on the cusp of a Second Transport Revolution in which bicycles assume greater importance than before, perhaps becoming the definitive personal transport experience for the majority who do not use public transport or drive thier own vehicles? Or are we reconciled to the "car" in whatever form it takes, continuing the status quo and mere substituting alternate fuels (including electrification) for petrochemical propulsion? Might the "bike" someday be the new "car" for "enough" people to make a real difference in attitudes and the traffic stream?

Thoughts? Perspectives? Prognostications?

Where are we headed, and what role will the bicycle play in future, particularly in light of the Time article?

Best,

Dan. (in social scientist/policy analyst guise)

[JWestland]

Some notes I read...

Cultural Attitudes: In some countries bikes and cars "share the road" of course not w/o irritations, but as drivers are also cyclists (see NL, Germany, etc.) people wear both hats, and support cycling infrastructure also.

Safety: Most notably Subjective Safety. In the UK you are as likely to die as a pedestrian or drivers per mile, but nobody gives that any thoughts. Why? Cars are close to you, people wear helmets so it MUST be dangerous to cycle etc.

Comfort: Crappy narrow roads with potholes and abusive drivers reduce comfort (a car is always comfy) so do bad bikes and weather (but that we can't change...but again in some countries people just get on with it)

Respect: Which ties in with cycling being cool (hence those silly priced bikes in USA/UK) until it becomes off the masses, and you are not seen as a broke loser for cycling, and motorists treat you with respect not abuse.

Planning: You've seen the site with UK cycle lanes, beyond parody some of that. Cities also need to be involved in proper planning. My home country has a business ventures (well also want to sell shhhtuff, yessshhh?) that can help with both equipment, data and planning for the roads.

Money: Those roads don't build themselves. But sometimes they do...however I believe volunteers aren't allowed to build roads.

Just some thoughts...