Bicycles and cars,
or rather the drivers of them, set themselves up in opposition to each other in
some sort of perverse contest to decide who ‘owns’ the road.
Motorists know they
are superior because they drive larger, more powerful vehicles, and believe they
‘pay their way’, and that cyclists are weak, pathetic and a bunch of
freeloaders. Cyclists know they are superior because cycling is less polluting,
more agile in heavy traffic, and better for your health, whilst motorists are
fat, slovenly, polluting road-hogs. Both sides cling dearly and often
irrationally to these beliefs and will listen to no dissenting view.
It doesn’t have to
be this way. Why should motorists and cyclists be so adversarial, as if they
have completely different reasons for being on the road? In the end, the roads
are for the movement of people, whichever method they choose to facilitate that
movement.
The arguments
continue, though: bicycles block the roads and impede traffic – cars drive
around without regard to the safety of cyclists – cyclists are freeloaders –
so are cars – I hate you – I hate you too – nya nya nya – oo, stop it,
it hurts. Often the argument isn’t quite that rational, but that gives you the
salient points.
Wouldn’t it be
better if everyone just got along? Here in Queensland there is a campaign
running called ‘Share the Road’. This makes nice advertising copy, but so
far there hasn’t been much dissertation of what this actually means. The TV
campaign touches on some aspects, but they reflect a fairly mechanistic approach
to the problem. I would like to suggest a subtler, but arguably more effective
approach.
To do this, let’s
examine what sharing actually means. ‘Share’ in the above context is the
verb form of the word. It is an act. The Collins Australian English Dictionary
on my desk defines it as “join with others in doing or using something”. So,
what does it mean to join with others? CAED again: “join v. come, or bring
together” Following the etymology, we come eventually to the Indo-European
root ‘oi-no-‘, which is the root for such words as a,
an, once, one, union, unite, unity, unanimous, universe, and unique. This
gives us the sense that sharing is an act that unites the many into a cohesive
whole, whereby all the parts work together for the orderly function, if not the
benefit of the whole.
Now, a vital part of
the bringing together of the many into one is surrender, or, to use a less
fashionable term, sacrifice. Indeed, it is impossible that union can happen
without it. This is a process of giving something up; giving up our ideas of
what our ‘rights’ are, giving up the idea that we ‘own’ our space on the
road (or indeed anything at all), giving up the idea that the road is there for my benefit alone, and so on.
This might give rise
to the idea that we also give up our freedom, but in practice, the opposite is
the case. Consider this – there is no act more liberating that sacrifice.
Freedom is inherent, it is not something we attain, or hang on to, or give up.
Freedom is hindered when we hang onto
things and refuse to give them up. All these accoutrements we collect bind us up
and restrict our freedom. Therefore the best way to release this freedom is to
get rid of the things that we pick up.
Bringing this back
to the idea of sharing the road, this means that to do this we must go through a
process of self examination and give up those ideas that inhibit our ability to
share. Primarily this means getting rid of this whole adversarial attitude that
exists between cyclists and motorists, and start seeing everyone as our brother
and sister road users. Sure they make mistakes occasionally, who doesn’t?, but
one of the functions of sacrifice is forgiveness, which can be as simple as not
reacting to these errors and just letting any angst go; after all what good does
it do us?
As a cyclist I am
often placed in a less than favourable position by the inattention or
carelessness of some drivers. Previously I would flip them off, or hurl abuse
and get a nice burst of anger-induced adrenalin coursing through my veins
sufficient to give me the shakes. I would then carry this anger for several
kilometres, and sometimes well into the next day (“How dare they invade MY
space like that!). For what purpose? Could it change what happened?
Not at all.
So why bother?
Why bother indeed.
Since learning the
importance of sacrifice I now simply watch out for these errors, steer around
them as best I can, and carry on riding. The anger doesn’t even arise. Well,
occasionally I let it, but I’m getting better at spotting it, and I let it go
before it does any serious damage. This is a much more preferable way of
responding to these situations, and it should be noted that it doesn’t require
any change in the other party, only in myself. The situation could be exactly
the same, but my response, and the way I feel about it is completely different.
Another process I
use to help me give up the idea that ‘I hate cars’ is that they often
actually increase my safety on the road. A significant number of car/bike
collisions occur at intersections. I can see how this happens; a bike can be a
hard thing to spot and judge the speed of. A car will often move across my path
either turning out of a side street or turning right from on oncoming lane.
However, if there is traffic moving in the same direction as me the turning
vehicle will give way to them whether they see me or not. I can use the
protection of that metal shell vicariously, and I am often thankful for it. If
it weren’t for these following cars, who knows how many more times cars would
have cut across my path?
I try to remember
these moments at the times when I am less tolerant of certain motorist’s
actions. On reflection it all balances out, with the result that I see all these
events as simply the ebb and flow of traffic, the giving and taking of ‘right
of way’, the fellowship of road users united in our common goal.
Sharing the road means being prepared to give it up for the benefit of another. Sharing the road means not only tolerating other’s presence, but welcoming it. Sharing the road means refusing to let anything that happens on it to effect our state of mind. Sharing the road means giving up myself and uniting with the traffic as an integral part of it.
©Allister McLaren, May 2000