With few exceptions, nobody wants to hurt people with their driving. No one thinks, I might run over a small child going 50 on this road, but it's worth it to get to work on time. And all drivers, including myself, occasionally find themselves reacting to the road emotionally and making unwise decisions. An excellent description of this phenomenon comes from the essential Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream by New Urbanism leaders Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck:
The average American, when placed behind the wheel of a car, ceases to be a citizen and becomes instead a motorist. As a motorist, you cannot get to know your neighbor, because the prevailing relationship is competitive. You are competing for asphalt, and if you so much as hesitate or make a wrong move, your neighbor immediately punishes you, by honking the horn, taking your space, running into you, or committing some other antisocial act, the most egregious of which have been well documented....The social contract is voided.
Driving removes us from our normal human compassion, consideration, and prudence. It takes deliberate effort to reconnect the driver with the caring person.
This is what got me thinking about Mindful Transportation. The concept of cultivating mindfulness through daily activities is central to the writings of Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, who recommends this verse as a reminder upon starting one's car:
Before starting the car,
I know where I am going.
The car and I are one.
If the car goes fast, I go fast.
What would it do to traffic fatalities if every person, before turning the key in the ignition, spoke those words? Or even sat in the driver's seat and meditated for two minutes? Whenever I'm on my bicycle and stopped at a red light, I use the opportunity to take a drink from my water bottle. What if drivers did the same thing, using red lights as hydration breaks and opportunities to connect with physical human needs.
Mindful Transportation isn't limited to car drivers, either. It starts with being mindful about what mode is being chosen, and balancing factors like time, distance, emissions, exercise, and all the rest.. Regardless of which mode is chosen, every traveler benefits from taking deep breaths and having awareness of the people and places they move around.
I still believe design and engineering solutions are most important for creating safer roads, but they take a lot of money, time, and political will to implement. In the meantime, anyone who is driving and wants to improve the world can just - breathe.
