A heated debate recently erupted on social media about whether reckless driving and reckless biking are morally equivalent. It began, as so many of these wars of words do, with a post on Facebook.
Drivers are legally obligated to make sure the coast is clear before making turns. But Ignaczak is correct that, unlike their counterparts in European cities like Amsterdam and Copenhagen, where the cycling rate is about 17 times higher, Chicago motorists often neglect to check for bikes before making turns or opening doors, which is why “right-hook” and “left-hook” crashes and doorings are common here. It also sounds like the cyclists truly were behaving irresponsibly and would’ve been at least partly to blame if they’d been struck and seriously injured or killed.
That didn’t sit well with Ignaczak and many of my fellow bike commuters on the thread. “Feels like you are giving [cyclists] a pass to be said jerks,” Ignaczak wrote. “No.”
To dig into the ethics of the matter, I contacted Anthony Laden. He chairs the philosophy department at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is associate director of the Center for Ethics and Education, and for good measure he also happens to ride a bike to work. Laden reframed the question a bit: Are reckless biking and reckless driving unsafe in the same way?
But here’s indisputable reality: Reckless driving has far more potential for death and destruction than any other individual travel mode, and as such, the focus of traffic enforcement, infrastructure, and education efforts should be to prevent it. Still, whether you’re behind the wheel, in the saddle, or on foot, you have the ability to inflict physical or psychic damage upon others. That’s a serious responsibility. So, to driver, cyclist, and pedestrian alike: Don’t be a jackhole. There’s too much at stake. v
