Yesterday a woman was hit by a truck while riding her bicycle in the west end of Toronto. She died.
That woman, Jenna Morrison, was a yoga teacher and a mother. She was also 5 months pregnant with her second child.
I only stopped biking about two weeks ago. That woman could very easily been me. [Edited to add: Because I am six months pregnant myself. Thought I'd add that for new readers.]
Back when Michael Bryant basically murdered Darcy Sheppard and got away with it, I started writing something which I never published: The Driver Privilege Checklist.
If you’re unfamiliar with how the concept of privilege is used in social justice circles, read this primer, then the two most famous checklists: The Male Privilege Checklist and The White Privilege Checklist.
Note: if you are on the un-privileged side of one of these checklists, you will probably find yourself nodding firmly and occasionally saying “Exactly!” out loud. If you are on the privileged side of one of these (and all of us are in one realm or another), you will probably bristle or feel attacked. This is perfectly normal. Because you are a nice person, you’re not trying to be racist/sexist/classist/whatever-ist, and how can anyone BLAME you for getting these benefits you TOTALLY didn’t ask for?
Well, they can’t, and they aren’t. Remember when you read this: If you have privilege in a situation, that doesn’t make you evil. It doesn’t mean that you have no problems and your life is perfect. Hell, it doesn’t mean that you aren’t un-privileged in another way! What it means is that you have a greater chance than a non-privileged person of being an asshole under this specific set of circumstances, and thus you have a greater responsibility to act in such a way as to not be an asshole. That’s really about it.
So…
The Driver Privilege Checklist
1. If I am hurt or killed while driving, unless I am intoxicated or grossly negligent, I will not be blamed for my decision to drive.
2. If I live in North America, my driving is subsidized by my local, regional, and federal government, who provide roads and infrastructure. This subsidy is far beyond that given to any other form of daily transportation.
3. Learning to drive is a rite of passage, seen as a normal and necessary step towards adulthood, whereas other forms of transport are seen as childish or impractical.
4. If I choose to transport my children in a car, I will not be called a bad parent or berated for doing so.
5. If my child is injured or killed while in my car, I will not be blamed for their death unless I was intoxicated or otherwise grossly negligent.
6. If while driving I injure or kill another person, whether they are another driver, a passenger, a pedestrian, or a cyclist, unless I am intoxicated or otherwise grossly negligent this will be seen nothing more than a regrettable accident.
7. Large areas of the city, suburb, or rural area I live in are built and laid out with driving in mind to the exclusion of other forms of transportation, and may be totally inaccessible to non-drivers.
8. While travelling I do not have to experience cold, heat, rain, or snow for more than a few moments unless I choose to.
9. I can complain to friends, family, and aquaintances about minor accidents and other annoyances without being told that I should stop driving.
10. It is easier for me than it is for non-drivers to buy many staple goods, such as groceries, as they are often sold in car-centric locations which are difficult to access by other means of transport. I also have the advantage of more easily buying in bulk.
11. Unless I am very extravagant, the money I spend on purchasing and running my car is not seen as wasted, as a car is seen as a necessity.
And the most obvious:
12. While in transit, I am protected by a 2-tonne metal machine which is faster, stronger, and more durable than anything else I encounter on the road besides larger cars and trucks. If I am in a collision with a pedestrian or a cyclist, even if I am not at fault, I am much more likely to escape without serious injury or death.
That’s all I can think of right now. I’m sure there are more.
As you can tell, pretty much all of these are re-phrasings of either direct statements I’ve heard/attitudes I’ve observed about cycling. The point of rephrasing them as benefits to drivers as opposed to disadvantages to/defects of cyclists is to raise the awareness of motorists in hopes of making them more aware and safer drivers. It isn’t to make you feel bad for driving any more than the Male Privilege Checklist is to make you feel bad for owning a penis. It’s to make it easier for you, the driver/penis owner, always be the good person you already know you are, that you would always be if it weren’t too easy for you to be thoughtless.
It all boils down to number 12: if you are in a car you are much, much more powerful than anyone else in the road except for people driving giant trucks (or tanks, if your city happens to suffer a military coup while you’re out in your Tercel). And as we all learned from Peter Parker’s wise Uncle Ben, with great power comes great responsibility.
Yesterday a woman lost her life for no good reason due to the carelessness of one driver. I don’t care if you think cycling is for nerds or yoga is hippie bullshit. She was a human being who deserved to see her children grow up, who deserved to grow old herself. This shouldn’t happen, and the only way to stop it from happening is for drivers to take responsibility for their power, and use it responsibly.
Now flame away!
I forgot a big one!
13. If I make a mistake while driving, am in an accident, or cause injury to myself or others, this will not be held against all drivers or considered proof that driving is inherently dangerous or irresponsible.
I love it! The list that is. Good post.
If I am fined for breaking the law while driving, I can expect sympathy. Traffic fines are just a form of taxation put in place by greedy politicians.
If I don’t have room to park my vehicle or vehicles on my own property the government will provide me with free or low cost storage space on streets near my home.
If another car driver commits a traffic infraction or drives inconsiderately, I won’t be blamed as a fellow car driver.
Great list. I disagree with your last statement though:
“the only way to stop it from happening is for drivers to take responsibility for their power, and use it responsibly.”
Another way to reduce how often ‘it’ happens is to build better, safer infrastructure for human-powered transport.
Infrastructure for human-powered transport AND adequate, quality public transport. They go hand in hand, along with better urban planning that eliminates car-only areas and mitigates sprawl.
For example, in Amsterdam the number of tramlines is as impressive as the number of cycle paths and lanes, and the trams are now accessible to people of limited mobility (including wheelchairs) and to parents with small children in strollers or prams. Announcements of stops are both visual and auditive,
I know some people need their vehicles for their work or due to dreadful urban planning, but many could do without them far more easily and painlessly than a man can do without his penis or a woman without the corresponding lady parts.
That said, this is a useful list, and a good warning against the victim blaming that is more the rule than the exception when reporting motorist-cyclist collisions.
I totally agree with Antony! I ride my bike to a state college not too far from where I live. Since the first day of class, the sidewalks have been under construction, as well as the roads. The bike path was closed for the first month of class, THEN they started digging a hole where the bike path leads into campus. I have been biking to class under very dangerous conditions, and I feel this should be illegal!!
Decades of brainwashing has convinced most of the public that death by vehicle is acceptable collateral damage and that drivers should not be inconvenienced just to saves a few lives.
FUCKING AWESOME. Thank you for writing this.
Every trip made with a 4000lb pavement destroying vehicle nor the muti-trillion dollar oil wars fought to acquire “cheap” gas will be blamed for our crumbling infrastructure. “Entitlements” like social security, pensions and education will.
I was directed to this post via urbancountry.com and I will be using it in a blog post of my own. I’ve known about the P. McIntosh “White Privilege Checklist” for sometime and have always struggled with a way of explaining biking transportation in terms of “norms” and “marginalized groups”. This help a bunch, thank you so much writing this.
Good additions, Peter!
Antony and Christy: Obviously, fewer people driving will equal fewer road deaths, and I am entirely in favour of that. But now that the motor vehicle genie is out of the bottle, I do not see it going away no matter how walkable/bikeable/transitable our cities are. I think it comes down to two factors:
- Comfort: if you get around on a bike or by walking you will be exposed to the elements, and no matter where you live this is not always pleasant. I have a fully waterproof suit for our rainy spring and fall and a full snowsuit for winter, but I am in the minority. People do not want to get cold, wet, or sweaty, and if they can avoid it a good number will.
- Snobbery: No matter how awesome and convenient your public transit system is, if you take it you will have to share it with everyone else. This will inevitably include homeless people, people with mental illnesses, rude people, drunk people, smelly people, and people you are prejudiced against. This is a deal-breaker for the non-trivial numb
er of bigots among us.
Continued: And even if vehicle traffic is reduced to 1/10th of its current volume, drivers will still hold some of the above privileges, ESPECIALLY that of being in a big, fast, powerful vehicle.
Lagatta a Montreal: fucking analogies, how do they work? :p Driving is to driver privilege as penis-having is to male privilege. That’s the only comparison I was trying to draw. I think it’s great when people give up their cars; I think you should hold onto your penis for dear life! (Unless you’re a trans woman, of course.)
Yike, a “privilege” checklist, is indeed a very powerful way of bringing this issue into sharp focus. I love it. Thanks
It is not always appropriate to frame things in terms of structural privilege and oppression. I don’t think this is one of those times when it is appropriate. An *advantage* is not necessarily structural. Privilege checklists are tools; they need to be grounded in a strong understanding of what oppression actually is.
Cyclists are not oppressed for being cyclists. Having to deal with some rude comments is not oppression. Being vulnerable to large vehicles is not unique to cyclists (pedestrians) and being in a large vehicle is not unique to drivers (bus riders), and neither of these fit in a privilege/oppression framework. It is not oppression to be rained on or to be cold. If it were you could make a privilege checklist for people living in the tropics where the weather is nice–but that would ignore many other factors that go into a geographical identity politics, such as wealth and nationality.
Similarly, this driver’s privilege checklist is completely disconnected from the reality of what might be a useful social justice analysis of transportation. A class analysis might be useful here. A discussion of urban vs suburban vs rural land might be useful here. A disability analysis might be useful here. But you don’t bring any of that to the table. What happens on the road is a complex, dynamic web of interactions that may *create* certain advantages for drivers over cyclists in *some* circumstances (though not all), but this is not sufficient reason to build a driver’s privilege over cyclists framework.
Again, a privilege checklist is a tool that needs to be grounded in a strong, comprehensive analysis. This one is unaccompanied, which makes it a poor tool, and it grossly misuses social justice concepts of privilege and oppression.
Waiting for a strong, comprehensive analysis of transportation from Quixotess*
*not really
If you’re the smaller, more vulnerable object trying to occupy the same space as a much larger object, you will get hurt or worse. Best to look out for yourself and not blame others in this case. Smart to do that actually.
Not sure I fully agree, but great tool for thinking about road user dynamics.
How about:
“Drivers are free to pollute the environment and thereby kill blamelessly.”
Have commented in more detail (from a UK perspective) here:
http://aroomwithmyviews.blogspot.com/2011/11/driver-privilege-checklist.html
Thanks for dropping by to inform us that might does, after all, mean right, Rotary. Lovely world you live in there!
Rotary:
I think you’re missing the point here. I’m sure we’re all aware that, yes, all other things being equal, cyclists will not fair as well as drivers/cars/trucks if and when they come into forceful contact with each other. And no one – at least not that I’ve been able to see here – as suggested that cyclists don’t have a responsibility to do as much as possible to look after their own safety.
The point is that there is a bias against cycling as a legitimate means of transportation. No matter who’s fault it turns out to be, many people’s immediate reaction is “well, if they haven’t been riding their bicycle, this wouldn’t have happened.” No one ever says “well, if they hadn’t been driving their car/truck/whatever, this wouldn’t have happened.”
With the exception of restricted access/400-series highways here in Ontario, bicycles have just as much right to be on the road as a car. We are governed under the same Highway Traffic Act, and we have the same privileges and responsibilities under said Act.
Incidently, I almost got smashed by a taxi today while riding up Ossington (very near where a cyclist was recently hit by a driver in brutal case of road rage). I almost got hit because, despite the fact that I was travelling on the ride side of the road and following all the traffic regulations, a taxi coming the opposing way pulled a quick u-turn without looking and forced me up onto the side walk. If I had been hit, is it still my fault because the taxi is bigger than I am? “Looking out for yourself” is fine, but everyone has to follow the same rules for that to be at all successful.
A few sane words from a driver
I’m an automobile driver and I must admit it is frustrating when car drivers don’t realize how much the roads are designed in our favour. You have to go out of your way to break the rules in a car, so the conclusion that car drivers are ‘better’ at following the rules of the road is an incorrect assumption. If everything is spelt out for you, your lanes don’t suddenly end, etc. well heck yah you’re going to be fool-proof at maneuvering on the road!
Also I wish we all realized we can all be pedestrians, cyclists, drivers at any given time… it shouldn’t be an epic, polarized battle between one method of transportation against the other; our focus should not be on blaming and finger-pointing but on collectively helping each other stay safe. It’s fair game to say that more respect between each other (or seeing the person, and not what they are riding/driving/etc.) will mean more vigilance on our part in keeping our roads safe.
I am in favour of reducing our reliance on cars, especially in urban sprawls, though. Using a car to go from Toronto to Montreal makes sense, but to go around the block in downtown Toronto during rush hour? Not so much. One certainly doesn’t get there faster… might as well be travelling to Montreal instead
[...] other big social media hit among cyclists this week has been the The Driver Privilege Checklist by Kristin Mueller-Heaslip in Toronto. This list highlights the invisible but real assumptions [...]
Foot, Horse, Horse and Carriage, Bicycle, then the Car. Roads where built to move from one place to another for all, not just for our cars. (Train in there too)
Larger should always lookout for the smaller, always.
Great post.
Is a new privilege checklist the best way for framing this issue? I think they are overused as it is, but the original checklist makes sense as a way to look at institutionalized privilege, which this isn’t. As Quixotess said, not every issue is an instance of institutionalized privilege and oppression, even really important issues. No one chooses whether to be born white, or male. People do choose to bike or drive; there may be other circumstances at play that influences those choices, but no one is born being a car driver.
I think the points you bring up are generally right, and I disagree with Quixotess that it is just a matter of some rude comments by some people; its an attitude that influences and contributes to the car-centric culture that can be deadly for non-drivers, such as the case that you mention. I just think there are better ways to talk about the ways are cities are set up for cars at the expense of people. Plus framing it as cyclists vs. drivers helps divide them into two inseparable groups which I don’t this is benificial. I would like people to be more aware of the power imbalance between cars and everyone else, but also think about the effects cars have on cities, and the positives of cycling. which this doesn’t cover. Though I realize that wasn’t the point of your post.
Hi, this is an interesting exercise and a good start to the list. Really, unfortunately you’ve missed a lot.
Obviously problems get solved by working together and adversarial thinking can be problematic. But it’s important to find truth if we are to move forward. And truth is very much lacking when people normally speak about cars.
These would be my additions to the list by catagory:
Cars take up most of our public space, especially in cities. It’s hard to appreciate how much that impacts our daily life.
A few examples:
-Nearly every house has a paved route servicing it. This space is not safe to occupy as a non driver. If you enter this space and are killed it is very likely going to be your fault.
-I feel a strong privilege and relief in public when I’m in a car. This is because all the road signs and signals are designed for me. Everything is geared to facilitate my driving. There are even reminders if I am forgetful. Parking is expected and required. If I am delayed the police will quickly clear me a path even if it means moving injured people out of my way.
-There is no room for alternatives because the space is taken up by the cars. Most of what we call Bike or Pedestrian street facilities is in fact built to accommodate driving first, by removing pedestrians, bikes, transit from being obstacles to drivers or preventing cars from injuring them (thereby delaying car traffic) A fence, a crosswalk, a traffic signal that stops cars, a painted bike lane. All of these things would not be useful to non-motorised travellers except as a way of interacting with cars. We don’t have facilities that actually speed cyclists – we have facilities that seperate cars from cyclists thereby incidentally not slowing the cyclists.
-…probably more
Transportation is a social system, cars dominate this.
-In a car a driver is a sovereign individual. The interdependancy with others is hidden with the burden of that ignorance bearing on the other non-drivers.
-all sorts of assumptions about driving that you’ve addressed already
-advertising makes people do things they wouldn’t otherwise. Car advertising has been the largest single advertising catagory by spending. (Though cell phones are starting to catch up) This provides a lot of social pressure to make everyone think driving is safe and necessary.
-private and public spending… too big to count all that.
Laws:
-Cars have special laws regulating them. These laws defy other more general legal norms – such as don’t murder, and freedom to do what doesn’t hurt others. These laws apply to everyone entering the public space of “the road” which is the vast majority of all public space…
Umm, the environment.
-This is shared by all of us. Hogging and destroying it is antisocial. There are health problems. There is really too much in that category to provide a summary.
-I’ve glossed over and missed a lot. Probably I haven’t even made much of the case for specific examples of priviledge in each category but there are myriad.
Anyway, it’s a good list. Books and Doctoral papers could be written on this stuff and still not get to the bottom of it. Cars dominate our economy and society. We are mostly blind and thing their use is normal and acceptable. “Accidental” car death is also the leading cause of death, 2nd only to disease and natural causes. It is the leading cause of death between about the ages 2yrs and 52yrs (ages where natural death and disease are less likely). Plus if one were to factor in the death due to sedentary lifestyle, pollution, global warming…
Very well written! As both a driver and a rider, it saddens me that there exists a “we” against “they” mentality as to who owns the roads. There needs to be more safe routes for bicyclists, and when there are safe paths, bicyclists need to use them instead of the road. Minneapolis is a city blessed with wonderful biking trails and routes, and yet many cyclists choose the narrow urban roads when there are bike paths 4 feet away (and we even have separate pedestrian paths in many of these routes). Both drivers and cyclists need to adhere to safety laws.
[...] The Driver Privilege Checklist [...]
It really is time to end the culture of the sacred drivers licence…
You can always tell when it’s springtime because my hometown newspaper in Cape Girardeau gets filled with rants about law-breaking cyclists who need to be banned / taxed / licensed or neutered if they ride a bicycle after the age of nine.
On the front page of the paper a couple of days ago was a six-car crash that happened when one car turned in front of another at an intersection and chaos ensued.
There was not a single reader comment suggesting that driving is dangerous, that traffic laws be enforced more stringently or that cars should be banned from the highway.
What I find particularly amusing / galling is that one of the roads that the writers complain about cyclists using is one that my dad built as a road contractor back in 1949 and I’ve ridden on it from age 12 on. Bleep ‘em. I’m grandfathered in on that road.
You are statistically almost as likely to be killed in an SUV (they roll over very easily) as on a bicycle. If autos paid their own way (via higher fuel taxes) we would be driving lighter, slower SOVs (single occupancy vehicles) better able to share the roads with other forms of transportation, including bicycles. I have bicycled in Beijing, Saigon, Lima and Baku, among others, and believe me, we have it good. We have made great progress (at least here in Tucson) at integrating bicycles into transportation. Put your energy into your local bicycle advocacy group, safe routes to schools, bicycle safety classes etc… Our day will come.
This “privilege” list makes a mockery of the previous two (race, gender). It is as though the author completely misunderstands the point. Method of transport is a choice with inherent risks. Race and gender are un-chosen physical characteristics with no inherent risks. This list is without intelligence.
Andrew, you don’t get it. Transport is NOT a choice. And it isn’t diminishing the real issues of racism and sexism that do exist. Not everyone can “choose” to drive a car. And nearly ALL of the public space is taken up by cars – if you aren’t using one in that space you may be killed. If moving around safely in your own city isn’t a matter of basic rights then nothing is. Sure you can get off your bike and hitch a ride sometimes. You could also dress in a costume and hide your race or gender sometimes. Neither is something people should feel forced to do to feel safe. Oppression isn’t a contest where only the worst forms of it get to “count.” All oppression should be addressed and eliminated. It helps everyone for that to happen, even people when they are acting as car drivers.
I should say transport is not ALWAYS a choice. Sometimes of course it is.
[...] to the death of a cyclist in her city, Toronto-based blogger Kristin Mueller-Heaslip, wrote a post on the “Driver Privilege Checklist.” In spite of the sadness I feel because this was written in response to a cyclist that was killed [...]
I’m so glad to have come across this! Pardon my tardiness.
n. If my mode of transportation is out of commission, i will probably not be casually asked why i don’t just walk instead.
n + 1. I can expect people not to draw conclusions about my attitudes toward health, environmentalism, or industry from my mode of transportation.
n + 2. I will almost certainly not be taunted or accosted by fellow travelers for no reason other than my mode of transportation.
Part of the importance of recognizing these privileges is that cycling can be a choice, and a great one at that, but that so many people choose otherwise due to the second-class standing and treatment of cyclists.
[...] a result of this incident, fellow Toronto citizen and cyclist Kristin MH wrote “The Driver Privilege Checklist”, a list of privileges that drivers often take for granted. The list is essentially disadvantages [...]