“Together, let’s say, ‘I solemnly pledge to behave as considerately as possible no matter how I get around.’”
— Part of a crowd exercise led by Mia Birk in response to a fired up citizen
One of the many things that keeps my fire burning here at BikePortland is a sense that knowledge is power. I know it’s almost trite, but from where I sit, it’s something that proves itself almost every day. Bottom line is that when you know the context of an issue and you know how to respectfully convey your opinion, you can have a huge influence.
On that note, I wanted to bring to your attention two very smart people who have recently shared how they responded to two issues that have a long and storied history of thorniness in the bike world — helmet use and the ‘all-cyclists-are-scofflaws-and-we-need-to-start-enforcing-laws-against-them’ thing.
The first one is from the leader of the BTA, Rob Sadowsky. The Oregonian printed his letter to the editor today that laid out his (and therefore the BTA’s) position on helmet use. Sadowsky’s letter came in response to another letter that called out the BTA for not doing more to encourage and promote helmet use. Here are a few excerpts from Sadowsky’s response:
“Helmets do not prevent crashes. Crashes are prevented by improved road and pathway conditions, driver education, better legal protections for cyclists and increased numbers of bicyclists… A complete streets policy would be much more effective.
The risks of cycling are low… There are significantly higher fatalities for swimmers over bicyclists, yet we do not demand that swimmers wear helmets.
… helmet laws are often used inequitably by law enforcement. The most underserved communities, particularly communities of color, are often disproportionately targeted. Portland already has one of the highest rates of helmet use currently in the nation, and we have accomplished this through effective education and encouragement.
Helmet laws set in place a ready-made “blame the victim” reaction so that each time a helmetless cyclist is in a crash, their bare head becomes the focus — even if the driver deliberately ran them over and they died not from head injuries, but internal injuries.”
It’s not just the content of Sadowsky’s response that are important, but the way his tone does not diminish or insult the other person’s intelligence or opinion. Read the full letter here.
The next example comes from another one of Portland’s very smart bicycle people, author and planning consultant Mia Birk (who will have an event at Powell’s Books on January 4th).
At a recent talk in Ithaca, New York, a man stood up and delivered what Birk called a “tirade” about how bikeway are “inconveniencing motorists” and how “cyclists” are “doing whatever the hell they want, all the time” without any police enforcement. “Where is the enforcement?!” the man demanded to know.
As a former bike program manager for the City of Portland, Mia has handled countless public meetings where folks have offered similar sentiments, so she’s figured out a calm and collected way to respond. But first, she shared three things to remember when someone launches into the infamous “all bicyclists are scofflaws” tirade:
- Don’t bother trying to explain the laws of physics, meaning that on a bicycle, we use our body for propelling the vehicle and thus it is desirable, normal, and natural to want to keep moving.
- Skip the lecture about how our traffic laws need to evolve in lockstep with the re-balancing and re-design of our transportation systems toward bicycling and walking.
- Refrain from comparing cyclists and motorists’ relative level of misbehavior.
As for how Mia responded to the man’s question. Well, it involved hand-raising and a pledge of civility by everyone in the room (seriously):
“Together, let’s say, ‘I solemnly pledge to behave as considerately as possible no matter how I get around.’”
Did it work? Mia reports that the man “stormed out of the room,” so either he was even more incensed or just humiliated. It’s hard to tell. Read the full pledge and see how Mia responded on her blog.
Whether or not you agree with everything Rob and Mia say, their methods for responding are worth noticing and taking note of.