Monday 4 August 2014

A close pass, a misguided campaign - and why I won't just leave it on the road

On July 17, as I cycled to work, amid the chaos of rush-hour downtown Brooklyn, I spotted a narrow gap to the right of a line of stationary traffic. I moved into it and rode cautiously towards the next intersection. Then, to my shock, I realised a taxi driver had decided there was room between me and the other traffic for him also to squeeze through. He drove past me, much faster than I was going, leaving at most around six inches to spare. Knowing that any miscalculation would have had me tumbling under the taxi’s wheels, I felt a surge of panic and rage.
 
Close pass: here's how it looks when I try to photograph
a taxi moments after it's come within inches of me
with the lens on zoom and my hands still shaking
Numerous current road safety campaigns – including one by Transport for London, the London Mayor’s transport organisation – would imply that what I did next made me just as bad as the negligent driver. Catching up with him and still feeling the shock of his pointless, dangerous behaviour, I yelled at him: “You could have killed me. You’re a dangerous driver.” Looking at me with stone dead eyes, he languidly rolled up the passenger-side window and drove off as fast as the traffic jam would allow.

The Transport for London campaign – which inevitably uses the shopworn “share the road” slogan – would have enjoined me to ignore the driver’s actions, take a deep breath and head on my way as if nothing had happened. “Leave it on the road,” it advises road users. It isn’t, I think, advice about what one should do with the body fluids and teeth of people that rile one.

My example highlights the insane irrationality of such campaigns. A “leave it on the road” approach to road safety suggests that the real problem is people’s malice towards each other or negative perceptions. It ignores the evidence that negligence, inattention and poor risk assessment are significant causes of car crashes. It puts the focus on vulnerable road users’ reaction to negligent driving. It suggests that all cyclists and pedestrians are somehow collectively responsible for each others’ behaviour. Motorists are helpless vessels full of potential rage that cyclists or pedestrians can make explode or safely depressurise. The approach serves no conceivable purpose other than to comfort people like the taxi driver who put me at risk. “Yes,” is the hidden message. “The real problem is those nasty, lippy cyclists.”

Such campaigns nevertheless enjoy such continued credibility that I found myself arguing vigorously recently with a cyclist who trenchantly defended a campaign by the state government of Utah under the title “Respect is a Two-Way Street”. Most problems cyclists encountered on the road were a result of motorists’ past experience of bad cyclist behaviour, my interlocutor assured me.

I came upon this two-car shunt on Saturday on the Upper
East Side, an eminently respectable neighbourhood.
But was a lack of respect between drivers the real problem?
Utah’s campaign isn’t alone. David Zabriskie, the professional cyclist, has organised a similar (if more nuanced) campaign under the title “Yield to Life” that seeks to build “understanding, respect and appreciation for all life” between cyclists and motorists. British Cycling has called for “mutual respect” between cyclists and motorists.

Yet it’s self-evidently bizarre to argue that the solution to drivers’ killing people is to ask everyone to be nice. There is a quality-of-life argument for asking people to be calmer and more tolerant. I try when I haven’t been put in fear of my life to act considerately. But it’s hard to see that “share the road” campaigns are a better route to that destination than making the roads safe. The question is why “share the road” campaigns continue to consume energy that could be better directed elsewhere.

I suspect the answer is that transport authorities face a choice between conveying messages that are broadly popular and bringing about changes that are likely severely to annoy many. It’s not a surprise – though it’s certainly a disappointment – that the former so consistently wins.
 
Cyclists respectfully wait when asked to stop at this year's
Summer Streets event. What is it about this motor
vehicle-free environment that suddenly makes cyclists
show people more respect?
It’s not hard, after all, to guess such campaigns’ genesis. Many cities worldwide, in gestures towards environmental concern, congestion relief or obesity prevention, have sought to encourage cycling, many with more success than they expected. Surges in cyclist numbers on roads designed to facilitate smooth car movements have often led to spikes in cyclist deaths, even if the death rate per mile cycled has usually fallen. “Share the road,” “mutual respect” and other similar campaigns are all manifestations of public officials’ dilemma. They don’t want to stop the growth of cycling but lack the political capital or courage to upset vocal motorist groups, local shopkeepers, the local newspaper or the many other noisy defenders of the status quo. It must seem a beguilingly simple solution to tell everyone to up their game and hope the problem goes away.

The laws of physics, human nature and psychology keep getting in the way, however.

The taxi driver who brushed by me was driving a Toyota Highlander – a vehicle that weighs 2.5 tonnes – and moving considerably faster than I. That would have made a critical difference if he had actually hit me. His vehicle’s momentum, mass and size surely meant he had a far greater duty to be careful than I had. The emotional stakes were also entirely different. I seek to keep myself safe precisely because I know the odds if I’m hit. The driver could afford to keep his sang froid precisely because, as the driver of a large SUV, he was effectively invulnerable. I was acutely aware of how close he’d come to me because I was out in the open and constantly watching for danger. Sitting on the far side of a 6’ 4” (nearly 2m) wide vehicle, the driver probably had little conception of quite how much he was endangering me.

A car parked on a Bronx sidewalk-cum-cycleway. If only
that cyclist had shown more respect, perhaps the driver
wouldn't have felt forced to act this way.
New York City has not actually run a “mutual respect” campaign in the time I’ve been here but I’ve heard all the most senior road safety figures in the city – the transport commissioner, head of the police’s traffic squad and the head of the state department of motor vehicles – back the approach in speeches. The police commissioner erroneously claimed earlier this year that fatally-struck pedestrians tended to cause their own deaths – an entirely untrue assertion that, if it were true, would make some sense of “share the road” campaigns. The tenor of many of the police’s actions – the determination to hand out traffic tickets to pedestrians and, disproportionately, cyclists as well as motorists – seems to reflect the same thinking.

This “even-handed” approach isn’t making people safer, however. According to figures from WNYC, the radio station, 141 people had died in traffic in the city up to August 1, which makes it seem likely there will be almost as many traffic fatalities this year as the 274 in 2013. I can’t find any statistics for road deaths so far in London this year but there’s little indication its record – while far better, per capita, than New York’s – is improving much.

Parked cars block the new two-way bike lane on
Kent Avenue, South Williamsburg: it's absolutely clear
how much extra mutual respect would help alleviate
this problem.
There isn’t any great mystery which approach would make the big cities of the English-speaking world genuinely safer. London has a better record than New York partly because London has far more automated speed and red light enforcement via cameras. It’s also pretty obvious to anyone with experience of British cities’ side streets that there are far more speed humps, road narrowing, raised crossings and other measures to slow traffic down and make pedestrians more visible. The cities with the best cycling safety records tend to give over substantial, well-designed space to cyclists on their streets. Anyone who’s looked at the situation rationally will find these points unsurprising. There’s overwhelming evidence, from repeated studies in multiple places, that drivers’ inattention, excessive speed and other mistakes cause the vast bulk of crashes. Measures that constrain their speed or force them to pay attention unsurprisingly tend to make everyone safer.

But such measures seem to give rise in many people to a kind of existential panic. Powerful groups – men, privileged races, imperial powers – tend to think that they have their jobs, their access to better schools, their political power or their access to road space by right and by merit rather than as a result of rigged power structures. The howls of protest have the same tone of injured innocence I’ve heard in the past from Northern Irish Protestants, Kosovo Serbs and others who see privileges taken for granted being eroded.

I don’t pretend that it’s an easy political choice to take on those vested interests. There would be bitter, angry complaints if New York City’s Department of Transportation decided to put in a well-designed protected bike lane for the many cyclists riding down Smith and Jay streets every morning. It’s my own choice to take – and try to manage – the risks inherent in cycling while those arrangements aren’t in place. But, until something effective is done, I’d rather the authorities not add insult to the threat of injury. I don’t respect drivers who think their desire for convenience trumps my right to life.

18 comments:

  1. A few kilometres North of you, Edmonton has their own version of "The Nice-Way Code". I wrote about it here adn here. It's about as condescending in tone as any campaign could possibly be.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. David,

      Thank you. I'll have a look at that shortly.

      All the best,

      Invisible.

      Delete
  2. I find the attitudes of people on the road today are frightening. There is no regard for anyone else or the rules of the road. People are texting, talking and doing everything but watching the road.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Harry,

      I agree that people's behaviour is rather frightening.

      I suppose we should remember that the roads have broadly got a lot safer in most countries in the last couple of decades, so we should applaud the declines in drunk driving and improvements in vehicle technology that have brought that about.

      But safety improvements seem to have stalled in many places in recent years and it's hard not to link that to the rise of distracted driving.

      All the best,

      Invisible.

      Delete
  3. I wrote about similar a year ago... http://greenideafactory.blogspot.com/2013/05/hugging-like-this-is-not-solidarity.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deepstreets,

      Thanks for that. It sounds like the campaign that you mention does face similar issues to the Transport for London one, albeit they perhaps started out with better intentions. People confuse the things that make people unhappy on the road - the conflict and anger - with the things that cause danger. They're similar and a little bit related but by no means the same.
      All the best,
      Invisible.

      Delete
  4. Good observations, invisible. The driving community is numb to the true lethality of vehicles

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sacramennah,

      Thank you. Funnily enough, I'm currently on vacation and drove yesterday for the first time in ages. Every time I drive, I'm struck by quite how hard it is to remain alert and see what's going on around. A big part of the problem is that people forget that driving safely is difficult. It becomes an everyday, boring process.

      All the best,

      Invisible.

      Delete
  5. Too true unfortunately. The TdL approach to blame the victim is pathetic. I work in providing cycling infrastructure and the gutless bosses are so careful about not being seen to be engaging in a "war on cars". They fail to achieve anywhere near as much as they could if only they and the politicians would grow a pair and tell the public the truth about how much our car dependant culture costs the community in so many ways.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous,

      Thank you. It has long struck me that there's a desire to increase cycling while doing nothing to inconvenience motorists and that the two desires are simply contradictory.

      All the best,

      Invisible.

      Delete
  6. Get yourself some video cameras front & back so you can record the bastards'pathetic and dangerous driving. Then instead of leaving of it on the road you can leave it on the internet &/or the police desk.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous,

      I have occasionally pondered getting cameras. I feel, I think, that they might be a bit of a hassle to deal with. As for reporting bad driving to the police, I imagine you don't live in New York City. The New York Police Department's policy is that it doesn't prosecute most driving offences unless an officer witnesses their being committed. There's a squad that investigates collisions that result in death or very serious injuries. But unless the driver is provably drunk or involved in a chase with police, the investigations are a joke. Video might help with the Taxi and Limousine Commission or insurance companies, though.

      All the best,

      Invisible.

      Delete
  7. In reading your intro in your profile i thought i had met my twin although i am not a Scotsman nor do i live in New York.
    But i am 6'4" i too wear an eye catching helmet, Hi-Viz and even my motorcycle has bright reflective panels yet i too can be invisible!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glos,

      It's nice to know there are others out there like me - although I've ditched the high-viz vest at the moment given the heat of a New York summer.

      All the best,

      Invisible

      Delete
  8. Thank you for the really well put post you made back in Aug 2014. I manage a "Share the Road" campaign in New Zealand. I agree with everything you said, there is no effective alternative to better infrastructure when it comes to keeping cyclists safer. The question is what to do until we have safe roads. Our messaging focuses on what we as cyclists and drivers can control. When we ride we can control our bikes, be seen and chose appropriate routes. When we drive we can choose how safely we pass or follow people on bikes. We run workshops where we get heavy vehicle drivers and cyclists together to experience each other's world. They respond well to the messaging and to sitting in each others seat. I would be interested to hear where you thinking is about this now. Warmly Richard

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Richard,

      Thank you for your kind words. I guess my position now remains much as it was when I wrote the post. There's a false equivalence about bringing together motorists and cyclists and telling them both to do their part. All the statistics I've ever seen on the causes of road crashes put the blame for the vast majority of crashes involving pedestrians and cyclists on drivers. It makes little sense, consequently, to tell cyclists to control what they can to avoid being hit. That will, firstly, have very little effect on the number of people hit - since very few of the crashes are cyclists' fault. It secondly has the invidious effect of diverting drivers' attention away from the cause of the vast bulk of crashes - dangerous and negligent driving. It gives drivers the implicit signal that it's other people's job to get out of their way, not their job to avoid people.

      I am sure that you run your courses nicely and I know that it seems like an attractive option to hold these mutual-blaming type courses. I continue to think, however, that they're positively harmful and that the effort being put into them would be far better devoted to telling drivers - the people causing crashes - to drive more carefully and attentively.

      What effect do the statistics in your area suggest your courses are having on death and injury rates?

      I'm sorry not to be able to give you a cheerier response.

      All the best,

      Invisible.

      Delete
  9. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Richard accidentally posted his comment twice and I deleted one.

      Delete

Please feel free to leave civilised comments - positive or negative - here. I'll try to reply too.

Abusive comments will be moderated out and won't appear.