<div style="CLEAR: both">better to bike than take the bus <A href="http://news.aol.com/article/passenger-stabbed-beheaded-on-bus/111785">http://news.aol.com/article/passenger-stabbed-beheaded-on-bus/111785</A><br>
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maybe the dude wasn't so polite? </div>
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-----Original Message-----<br>
From: Kate Ziegler <ziegler.kate@gmail.com><br>
To: list@bostoncriticalmass.org<br>
Sent: Fri, 1 Aug 2008 12:44 pm<br>
Subject: Re: [*BCM*] Longfellow/Cambridge Bike Police, Systemic Change,<br>
<br>
<div id=AOLMsgPart_3_97993fc3-958c-401c-a5db-df9a194a55ac>
<div>I personally choose the polite/courteous route for several reasons. First, in my experience, people are completely thrown off by being called out on their actions, and are even more confused when the person stopping them is being calm and rational. Yelling and throwing insults won't make them reconsider their position, or even make them stop yelling (Boston drivers like to yell...imagine that...) The vast majority of the people I have stopped and spoken with in the street stare open-mouthed and apologize profusely, because they really just don't think about the consequences of their actions, or think that anyone will call them out individually from within their car. The driving style of Boston is a product of the same do-or-die requirement that makes us ride as aggressively as we do; it's not until someone points out an individual incident, rationally, that people will consider the fact that their cars are more deadly than our bikes and that their actions have real consequences for others.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Secondly, I'm frankly afraid of escalation. I'm not big, I'm not intimidating (I think?) and because of that alone, I'd really rather not provoke people to confrontation. I just want to explain my standpoint so that, optimistically, they think twice about their own. And, in doing so politely and calmly, I'd like to believe that a driver is even more likely to sit back, calm down and really think, rather than finish their commute angry and not thinking about the situation at all.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I also think Jamie raised a really good point - more often than not, drivers honk and yell? While we all hate the drivers that do so, if I think of all the cars I pass during my rush hour commute from Brigham Circle to South Station, though I may have one or two incidents per day, the percentage is hugely in favor of all of the cars that steer clear and pass without incident. If any one of us is having more people yelling than not at any time, we may need to reevaluate our riding styles.</div>
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-- <br>
Kate Ziegler<br>
"Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." </div>
</div>
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