jwzJun 28, 2024

Read this at my funeral.

For nearly all of my life, I've known how I was going to die. Not from cancer, or diet, or drink, but by being crushed under a car. I will be mangled and bleed out painfully. The driver, distracted on their phone, will say that I "came out of nowhere". The police and the DA will call it an "accident". There will be no consequences of any kind. Except for my death, of course. [...]
https://jwz.org/b/ykV3

Read this at my funeral

For nearly all of my life, I've known how I was going to die. Not from cancer, or diet, or drink, but by being crushed under a car. I will be mangled and bleed out painfully. The driver, distracted on their phone, will say that I "came out of nowhere". The police and the DA will call it an "accident". There will be no consequences of any kind. Except for my death, of course. It almost ...

Pascal HartigJun 29, 2024
Show threadEsteban Küber 
@jwz non-cyclists that are confused by activism think that activists are attracted to cycling, when the reality is that becoming a cyclist very quickly radicalizes one into becoming an activist. Nothing crystallizes strong opinions as being frequently threatened with death by at best indifferent and at worst aggressive and antagonistic people.
Jun 28, 2024 at 8:02pmWeb
Show threadLuis VillaJun 28, 2024
@ekuber @jwz thiissssssss
Show threadSven S. SvenssonJun 28, 2024

@ekuber @jwz this is what happened to me. i started cycling again and thought to myself, "this is fucked. how can this be allowed?"

i've only become more radicalized since.

Show threadCainmark Does Not Comply 🚲Jun 28, 2024

@ekuber @jwz

I just wanted to bicycle back and forth from work. Resent that I pretty much had to become an activist because I was being hassled by police for bicycling legally and they kept making up their on laws I was supposedly breaking. Opened my eyes to a lot of other problems that I didn't ignore, but my privileges kept me unaware of.

Show threadMarc HedlundJun 28, 2024
@cainmark @ekuber @jwz same: https://xoxo.zone/@marcprecipice/112696235319317563
Marc Hedlund (@[email protected])

Definitely true for me. I just wanted to bike to work down already-existing bike lanes on Broadway and Telegraph in Oakland. Then I realized they were constantly, CONSTANTLY blocked with cars and that getting around those cars put my life at risk every time. Then I found Robert Prinz and @[email protected] on Twitter and now I spend a bunch of time advocating for better infrastructure. #BikeTooter https://hachyderm.io/@ekuber/112696031254369280

XOXO Zone
Show threadCainmark Does Not Comply 🚲Jun 28, 2024

@marcprecipice @ekuber @jwz

I really, really don't understand the mindset of people who choose to block bike lanes.

Show threadSemitonesJun 29, 2024
@cainmark @marcprecipice @ekuber @jwz The one bike lane in my neighborhood has three parking spaces right next to it, but twice now I've seen all three empty with a car blocking the bike lane just ahead of them... I guess the car driver didn't want to walk across the bike lane...? I wonder if they can get tickets or if they face zero consequences for needlessly blocking traffic
Show threadCainmark Does Not Comply 🚲Jun 29, 2024

@semitones @marcprecipice @ekuber @jwz

That is so bizarre.

Show threadjwzJun 29, 2024
@semitones I see this constantly with delivery trucks -- pulling over into an available parking space right in front of them is too much of a hardship. @jef posts examples of this kind of thing all the time.
Show threadJef PoskanzerJun 29, 2024
@jwz @semitones I wish more people in this country understood "can't be arsed" because that's an exact description of their thought process.
Show threadSemitonesJun 29, 2024
@jef @jwz the one near me the cars have to literally drive past the open spots in order to block the bike lane. Can't be arsed indeed! I'll need to take a picture next time I see it... except usually I can't be arsed either :p
Show threadSemitonesJun 29, 2024
@jwz @jef Yeah exactly. Thanks for linking to Jeff's account -- this picture is almost exactly what I'm talking about (but with passenger cars) https://flic.kr/p/2pWTh31
#ZeroVision 88037S2

Flickr
Show threadMatthew HallJun 29, 2024
@cainmark @marcprecipice @ekuber @jwz like:
@fedex trucks and/or UPS trucks and/or USPS trucks, etc
Show threadMarioJun 29, 2024
@cainmark @marcprecipice @ekuber @jwz They are afraid of cars (or their drivers).
Show threadPedestriansfirstJun 28, 2024
@ekuber @jwz Get them out of their cars and they might be human.
Show threadJoshua M. ClulowJun 28, 2024
@ekuber @jwz distantly similar to being a tenant renting in the bay area
Show threadMartijn Faassen has movedJun 28, 2024

@ekuber

@jwz

Here in the Netherlands activism isn't associated with cycling because the activists won long ago. I see cyclists abroad on roads full of cars and I feel intense fear.

Show threadxmlns="Dan"Jun 28, 2024

@ekuber @jwz https://unevenearth.org/2018/08/the-social-ideology-of-the-motorcar/

This essay crystallized it in my head. People who buy cars believe they are buying the right to go faster than anyone else. When stuck behind in vehicle traffic they don't mind, those people bought the promise too after all, but a cyclist is sabotaging the promise the motorist paid tens of thousands for.

Though they would deny it if asked, all motorists see cyclists merely existing as an act of aggression and act accordingly.

The social ideology of the motorcar - Uneven Earth

by André Gorz The worst thing about cars is that they are like castles or villas by the sea: luxury goods invented for the exclusive pleasure of a very rich minority, and which in conception and nature were never intended for the people. Unlike the vacuum cleaner, the radio, or the bicycle, which retain their

Uneven Earth - Where the ecological meets the political
Show threadDavid S (inactive)Jun 29, 2024
@divclassbutton @ekuber @jwz like rice screaming at water for getting through the sieve first
Show threadMarco van Burgsteden 🍋Jun 29, 2024
@divclassbutton @ekuber @jwz Basically yes. Although less overt here in the Netherlands.
Show threadMagnus AhltorpJun 30, 2024
@ekuber @jwz A big problem in the Netherlands (at least in Haarlem) is streets that are narrow, paved with stone, lack proper sidewalks, and in all respects look like a woonerf, and you still have cars speeding towards you at 40-50km/h.
Show threadCharlie StrossJun 29, 2024
@divclassbutton @ekuber @jwz @quixoticgeek Cars are marketed as signifiers of personal freedom. Just turn on the TV and watch the ads, look for car ads that show the drivers commuting to work in heavy traffic … you won't find them, will you. Instead it's all winding roads in beautiful countryside and no other vehicles!
Show threadidlestate's SDF liason acctJun 29, 2024

@cstross

more perversely are the ads presented in an urban setting, with few if any pedestrians, cyclists, stop signs or signals, but most especially other ~~cars~~ light trucks, let alone enough to constitute "traffic"

@divclassbutton @ekuber @jwz @quixoticgeek

Show threadSapJun 28, 2024
@ekuber @jwz ☝️💯
Show threadAccount: ComputersJun 29, 2024
@ekuber @jwz And then a contact with cyclists radicalizes everyone else.
Show threadMaxi 12x 💉Jun 29, 2024
@SheDrivesMobility ^^
Show threadChristof Damian 💙💛Jun 29, 2024

@ekuber
Let's reconsider the spikes thing

https://xkcd.com/2832/

@jwz

Urban Planning Opinion Progression

xkcd
Show threadGaëtan DuchaussoisJun 29, 2024
@ekuber @jwz i was confirmed in this by a coworker who dress very like a conservative and have conservative stakes explaining at lunch time how to break car mirrors
Show threadDaniel DurransJun 29, 2024
@ekuber @jwz or a cycle path mysteriously stopping.
Show threadideogramJun 29, 2024
@ekuber
This is very correct. I only get angry on the road when someone comes close to nearly killing me, which is incredibly infrequent when I'm driving, but about monthly on a bike.
@jwz @jessta
Show threadJohn GordonJun 29, 2024
@ekuber @jwz That used to be true but where I live cyclists have a very different experience. Car trauma is unusual. Separated trails and quiet streets allow me to go almost everywhere I want to go. (MSP)
Show threadg135Jun 29, 2024
@jgordon @ekuber @jwz This is why I really like the MSP metropolitan area! I like how being able to bike to every part of the whole metropolitan area is mostly pretty decent. The ability to do that makes it where I don't only survive but thrive without a car. I don't feel hemmed into the pocket of the city I live in. I had jobs in the past ask if I wanted to move to a couple of other places and the added expense of a car and housing wouldn't offset the increased pay so I declined.
Show threadJohn GordonJun 29, 2024

@g135

And then there are all our parks. MSP is a pretty amazing place thanks to some visionary city planners back in the 19th century.

St Paul has lagged MPLS but recently we are coming on strong. MPLS is #1 nationally but #4 ain't bad.

Show threadKozalinJun 29, 2024
@ekuber @jwz Exactly.
Show threadKozalinJun 29, 2024
@ekuber @jwz may i use your words and spread them? I think of different variations concerning the term "cyclist" because in my opinion they are true for the most types oft activism, including political and ecologic ones.
Show threadEsteban Küber Jun 29, 2024
@Kozalin go ahead.
Show threadDave Winer ☕️Jun 29, 2024

@ekuber @jwz

amen!

they have bumpers on their vehicles

our bodies are our bumpers.

Show threadAbraxas3dJun 29, 2024
@ekuber @jwz same thing happened to me in amateur radio. Just showing up and being active resulted in extreme weirdo sexism. Attempts to change this lead to some progress and more hatred, and then direct activism. It's been quite the experience.
Show threadEsteban Küber Jun 29, 2024
@abraxas3d I'm sorry you have to deal with that. Progress happens way too slow and requires too much effort. Sadly the alternative is to give up, and that's worse.
Show threadkimuJun 29, 2024
@ekuber @jwz @idlestate absolutely 100%.
Show threadKōtarō KashimaJun 29, 2024
@ekuber @jwz The constant fear that your feet could be easily run over by a car standing next to you or how you could not even be seen by a lorry or truck driver when you are near them at an intersection drives me crazy. Every near-miss I've faced is because of some speeding motor vehicles, but I would be the one who would be getting sermons that I should stay at the edge of the road.
Show threadNoah GibbsJul 1, 2024

@ekuber @jwz

Yeah. It's been hard for me to get into cycling. It's *very* convenient in our city, the infrastructure is decent, I don't leave the house all that much -- cycling is nearly *perfect* for my actual needs.

But the combination of being threatened by cars and not having time to take up a new activist cause means I don't get along with car people *or* cycle people.

The instructional materials, etc. for biking are those of an activist cause -- so they're not amazing, logistically.