The War on Cars
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EPISODE 128: Women's Freedom to Ride
🕑 Added 2024-06-11 10:01:01 +0000 UTCHello!
If you've heard our emergency episode on New York Governor Kathy Hochul's congestion pricing flip-flop, you know it's been a wild week. There will surely be more news to come, but we now return to our regularly scheduled programming.
We turn our attention to the other side of the pond, where the advocacy group London Cycling Campaign wanted to know... why don’t more women ride bicycles in London? The asked and what they discovered was disturbing: Among more than a thousand women surveyed, nine out of ten said they experienced verbal abuse and aggression while biking. Ninety-three percent said drivers had used vehicles to intimidate them. One in five said they had given up riding permanently or temporarily after they had been harassed. And when women reported incidents of aggression to the police? The cops almost never followed up.
Sarah spoke with the London Cycling Campaign’s Kate Bartlett about what women face on the road and what advocates are doing to make cycling safer and more accessible for all.
And check out the London Cycling Campaign’s initiative to get more women out and riding freely.
ALSO: We want to hear from you about your own experiences being harassed while riding your bike. Leave us a voice memo and we may use your story on an upcoming show. Please try to keep your voice memo to between 90 seconds and 2 minutes and be sure to tell us your name — first name only is fine — and where you're from. Thanks in advance for sharing your stories.
And thanks to all of you for your support.
All the best,
Aaron, Sarah and Doug
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Comments
Steffen Entzeroth
As a cyclist I recognise these patterns... but happen to be male. I don't believe that this is a specific female issue but can understand that women might suffer more from it as the originator is probably male.
Nicole Rodriguez
I never passed up an opportunity to punch back verbally at male harassment. Not at age 12 walking to school and not in my mid-40s biking, walking, or taking transit. And women who shun women like me for throwing mud back, are just as bad.
