when we make it us versus them, we make it us versus us

It's interesting sometimes to hear people talk about the issues of bicycle riding in traffic. One of the things I've taken note of lately - though it occurs to me that I've probably heard it over and over again in the past - is the way cyclists often refer to drivers. I don't mean militant bicy-fasci-nistas, for whom I've made few-if-any efforts to mask my disdain (Critical mAss, that's aimed directly at you). No, I'm thinking of average, everyday urban cyclists who are simply trying to do their part in sharing the road and improving the neighborhood by keeping one more car off the road and go from where they are to where they want to be under their own power.

If you manage to catch a conversation in a random, public place, you might hear bicycle riders referred to as "bicycle riders" or "bike riders", "bikers" or "cyclists".. but there is - more often than not, anyway - one of those humanizing suffixes tacked onto the end there.. that's the "-ers" or the "-ists". Catch a group of cyclists discussing traffic, though, and you'll very often hear motorized road users referred to simply as "cars". It seems like a trivial-enough point, but think about it with me for a moment.

We cyclists are clearly at a disadvantage on the roads of the US. We're exposed to the elements. We're powered by our own.. well.. power. We don't have safety cages, crumple zones, traction control, ABS, or airbags. We're given the dregs of the roadway and told it's "been set aside" for us.. by some paint.. which is usually the DOT's last priority for maintenance.. somewhere on the list just below filling in the potholes in the bike lane.. which I suppose they can't find.. because the paint's faded.

And so it's not really any surprise that cyclists don't view drivers as peers on the road. Rather, many only see the glazed and glossy, anonymous, roaring behemoth that could - all too easily - kill a cyclist. And so maybe it's not an incorrect response.

If we're going to get the attention of motor vehicle users, though, and get them to understand the challenges and needs of cyclists on the streets, we need to change our collective attitude. We need to address other road users as other road users, rather than as nameless vessels. We need to humanize "them" the way most of "them" humanize us. There are bad seeds of course - the ones we read about in newspapers and on internet forums - but we need to focus our attention on the good seeds - the ones who see us.. and we need to remind ourselves of the fact that that is most people. Because we'll never get anywhere arguing with cars, but maybe - just maybe - we can get a few people to listen.


Don't worry, I haven't gone completely soft.