‘Critical Manners’ Responds to ‘Critical Mass’

A group in San Francisco have decided to demonstrate road-sharing in response to mild disgust at the behavior of local Critical Mass riders.

I’ve always felt Critical Mass sent the wrong message. While I see a point of militancy in social movements, at the same time I’ve always had concern what an encounter with a bunch of Critical ‘Massholes’ does for a motorist’s perception of a lone rider, later — even if that lone rider is riding in a legal manner. Critical Mass is almost the definitional opposite of ‘traffic calming’ — it’s angry people making other people angry.

I like the Critical Manners concept. It will be interesting to see if this particular cycling meme spreads.