Big Picture Stuff

Given the recent direction of numerous aus.bicycle threads about cyclist behaviour, awareness and necessary skills, I thought this following link provided by Mighk Wilson (author of "Bicyclists, Motorists and the Language of Marginalization") via the Bicycling Advocacy list might provide further insights, heads up or even broaden discussion.

The Social and Emotional Aspects of Transportation Cycling. by Bruce A. Mol
The social aspects of transportation cycling include personal and societal responsibilities. The personal responsibilities are the physical requirements needed to ensure the safety of self and society. The societal responsibilities include communication, courtesy and contribution.

The emotional aspects of transportation cycling include the context or presumptions under which cyclists engage with traffic and development of emotions and concern for self and society, to cope with traffic.

Together, the development of a cyclists social and emotional understanding of traffic leads to an eloquent cycling style that clearly communicates with other road users and is, by itself, a persuasive argument for the need and benefits of integrating cycling into societal norms of acceptable transportation.

In his original email, (of which I'm inclined to agree), Mighk posed the question of how a potential survey could score cyclists on the two axes, instead of the set categories. I appreciate the emphasise in this article upon societal responsibilities of transportation/utility cyclists, rather than pushing a punitive approach, or even trying to impart an attitude of "cyclist inferiority".