Twitter shows what it'd be like if we treated cars like bikes

A funny thing happened late last week: people on Twitter started talking about cars the way we normally talk about bikes.

Specifically, a bunch of people started using the hashtag #replacecbikewithcar. The idea is that you take a phrase people usually use while talking about bikes — for example, "bikes are great, but I don't think the city is a safe place to ride them" — and replace the word "bike" with "car."

The exercise proved entertaining and sometimes absurd for those who participated. But it also did something else: it exposed some of the absurdity in the way we talk about cycling, driving and transportation policies in general.

Here's a tiny sampling:

A car lane on our street? It will be bad for business! Plus, everyone knows cars are dangerous & don't obey laws #ReplaceBikeWithCar

— Cassandra Fulgham (@cfulgham) April 5, 2014

I'll never understand cars in the middle of the street when there's a perfectly good sidewalk right next to them. #ReplaceBikeWithCar

— Patrick V Barrett (@hugetiny) April 5, 2014

These damn cars are using lanes that were made for bikes! They should just drive on the sidewalk. #ReplaceBikeWithCar

— Nol (@NPMcLeezy) April 5, 2014

Signed up for Drive My Car to Work day today. I want to set an example for my kids. #ReplaceBikeWithCar

— DanaM (@temporarily_ing) April 5, 2014

I can't stand when cars are in the street. They should keep to the sidewalk. #ReplaceBikeWithCar

— ∆ndrew (@SoBe_Says) April 5, 2014

The underlying assumption behind these tweets is that bicycling is a legitimate form of transportation but very often is treated like a marginal activity. Or, put another way, these tweets are plumbing the tension between the past, when streets tended to be shared by people using various modes of transportation, and the present, when cars often automatically get precedence without a second thought.

Each of these tweets is a subtle (or sometimes blatant) critique of that view. So, the idea these tweets were getting at is that streets would be better places if cities treated cyclists a little better and treated cars more like we currently treat bikes.

— Jim Dalrymple II

Twitter: @jimmycdii