Bicycle lessons
Liberation from drivers can only be driven by non-drivers
“Punitive overtaking” is the nightmare of all people on bicycles. This is when an angry driver decides to overtake you by intentionally passing very close to you with the goal of teaching you a lesson. This is the worst form of physical and psychological harassment, one that could cost your life.
A few days ago I was cycling in the middle of a cycling street, which is an hybrid concept between a cycle lane and a narrow road, a street where cars are forbidden to overtake bikes. A car driver decided that I had no right to be in the middle and executed a crazy punitive pass...only to stop after a few meters later at a red light.
When going to to knock on his door to talk to him I was out of myself – survival mode kicked in. But then frustration rose further when I realized that this guy wasn’t listening and instead was trying to add insult to injury by trying to teach me his point of view. But – hey- what do I expect from someone doing a punitive pass? If his mind could even conceive doing that, our views of the world are so radically different that there is no point discussing. Simply, his mental conditioning is so fucked up that I don’t consider him a human anymore. The only thing, I could appreciate in that distressful moment was the solidarity of another cyclist who stopped and started talking to the driver as well, telling him how dangerous his behavior was.
I would be a liar if I say I am grateful for this experience (which is just an example of the type of oppression I live as a cyclist on a daily basis) as I wish I did not have go thru this ever again, but at the same time I see clearly the hidden learning of such experience: it is the most tangible way I (middle class, white, hetero..in short: privileged man) can understand about structural racism and discrimination. I live a real oppression, feel the emotions, the fear, the rage, the frustration, the hopelessness, the dehumanization of the other party.
That guy really thought me a lesson...just not the one he was hoping.
This blog post is by no means a way to belittle the experience of people who are subject to other forms of oppression and I am still ignorant about the subject, but biking in the city taught me a lot, for sure. It’s a raw, physical threat, but it also has some cultural aspects: hate speech against cyclists, having to hear faulty argumentation from drivers ignorant of the fact that they are the dangerous ones, dark jokes from people who underestimate the risks etc…
If you are on a car, some basics physics is sufficient to show that your kinetic energy (=the potential to kill someone) is about 300 times bigger than that of a cyclist. Your responsibility is disproportionally high. Yet drivers do not see this (due to their privilege) and even the law does not recognize this. If you are speaking on your telephone while driving a bike, you get fined the same amount as if you do it while driving a car! If you run a red light by bike (or walking) you get the same fine as if you do that with a car!
It is clear that the car being a foundational element of the current patriarcal/capitalist/neoliberal economy, the cast of people who are currently ruling us will never give it up and dismantle the unjust system that goes along with it.
It is clear that even the most conscientious individual car drivers (similarly to the privileged people in a racist society) are accomplices in perpetrating the system. Sorry, Sir, with privilege comes a commensurate amount of responsibility…
It is clear that the default posture vis-à-vis any driver is distrust. Step out of the car, Sir, the only way to help me is to give up your privilege and start listening.
