It sure would be nice if abled critics of car culture could realize that blanket statements about banning cars and never taking a car are ableist AF.

Ableism has made me *less* able to ride a cycle places and has made it more expensive for me when I do. Very very few abled cyclists ever joined me in fighting this.

And I remember that when I see blanket statements about how nobody should be using a car to get to the gym. Because if you're disabled with mobility issues, you can't exercise at all, right?

There are better ways to advocate for deprioritizing car use.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fV-3d-J7pw&t=99s

https://bikinginla.com/2020/07/28/enough-a-fight-for-handicap-access-and-inclusive-bicycling-at-uc-davis-and-the-university-of-california-system/ #Ableism #BikeTooter

@meganL
Not sure if this can be blamed on the critics of car culture, of which I am one.

First, very few of them are talking about blanket bans, but more so of prioritising other modes of transport over cars. This would still include the ability to drive, but it wouldn't be the most attractive method for most.

Second; we seldom or never get what we actually advocate, which is bicycle infrastructure that is safe and accessible for everyone.
>

@meganL

The design and construction is done by the city and that's often where it goes south. Too narrow, not interconnected, objects in way, sharp turns, curbs, lack of parking, poorly maintaned et.c.

I'm as frustrated by this as anyone in need of it. It's not what the evil bicycle lobbyists advocate but it's what politicians, economists and traffic engineers collaborate to build in the end.

@bike4climate As you know, I am also a critic of car culture.

I was subtooting a toot I just saw that is representative of a kind of statement and lack of consideration I have seen repeatedly in my 3 decades of being a disabled cyclist.

So I am not addressing {critics of car culture} in this toot. I am addressing {abled critics of car culture who make blanket statements online that no one should be driving to a gym, showing a gross lack of understanding of disability & accessibility}.

@meganL I wish it was more than just "abled critics", but when they reach into politics and gets to decide stuff, then stuff gets really tricky for those that already have it tricky enough.

As it is now, the more "bike friendly" a city has gotten, the less likely it is that I can travel there with my partner.

They talk so warmly about inclusion but stuff become so problematic when you tell them that this isn't working. "We cannot manage to do everything!" is a lame excuse for making it better for "the many" but worse for the few that really NEEDS it better.

"There are now more disabled parking slots!" yes but a LOT less regular ones, meaning the disabled ones fill up much faster, they really think every disabled person use the "reserved for disabled" parking???

"You should not NEED to be dependent on a car!" - GREAT! but wait with making it harder for us UNTIL we are not!!!

@meganL And toilets? Where the f... are the toilets? How hard is it to get the memo that people that cannot walk fast / far and often in addition need to go more frequently CANNOT use public transport unless this is made easily accessible in many locations?

I am not going to forget the time me and my partner went to see a light show by the Oslo harbor, a very "no-drive" area. There were signs pointing to where the toilets were so we followed them, only to be met by a closed door because the shopping mall was closed.

It feels like people think a disabled person is "like a regular person but in wheelchair" and as long as you can use a wheelchair, "things are fine"

Companies need to invest a lot of money and resources into making web pages accessible for blind people, and that is all good, but when my partner cannot go many places simply because there are not enough restrooms, how are we doing with inclusion???

@bike4climate I'm disappointed that in feeling defensive about this, you've told me that the lack of accessibility isn't due to abled cycle advocates but to abled politicians, economists, and traffic engineers. As if the cycling world does not have its own ableism.

That is among the work the cycling community at large has to do - has to realize that ableism exists within cycling and even the ideal designs that cycling orgs submit.

Nothing improves if people are unwilling to admit imperfection.