Taking a look at some of the great actions that you are doing as part of your campaigns against car culture.

Contents

T. Raax for Mayor

Carmen Mills [issue no. 7]

The Dinosaurs Against Fossil Fuels, Vancouver’s legendary band of bike activists dressed up in dinosuits (see Carbusters #3), are ready to take over the city! They’ve become a political party, and a certain Mr. T. Raax actually stood as their candidate for mayor in the November 20 Vancouver city elections.

Calling themselves "the only party honest enough to admit it’s out of date," the Dinos ran on a platform that pushes for sane transport and the opposition to burning fossil fuels, for example in the engines of cars. As T. Raax put it: "There are already way too many cars in this city. They’re poisoning our air, wrecking our neighbourhoods and giving our citizenry fat butts. This fossil-fuel addiction is killing all of us and that really sucks. Extinction stinks—ask any dinosaur!"

"Fortunately we underestimated how seriously people such as Dr. Evil and T. Raxx take their foolishness," editorialised the Vancouver Sun. "Mock candidates do not really want the job so much as an opportunity to ask impolitic questions or simply say what no one else will, whether it wins them votes or not. There should always be room for that somewhere in the political process."

Where the Dinos are going remains to be seen. At one of their latest meetings they were reported to have been bursting into a spontaneous chant of "Raax For Premier!"

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Switch Off Campaign

[issue no. 6]

It started with 50 fake road signs which appeared around Bristol, England, one night, asking drivers to switch off their engines while waiting in traffic. The media loved it, and local parliamentarians pledged their support. The culprits—the Bristol Cycling Campaign—then distributed fluorescent stickers with the same message, followed quickly by an action on the M32, then a postcard campaign. In July the city council discussed whether to erect official signs, while campaigners picketted outside. In October the council voted yes. Bristol now boasts the first "Please switch off engine while waiting" signs in the country, with other cities set to follow their lead. "Perhaps for the first time there is a crucial change in public opinion that car fumes are fundamentally undesirable," state the proud campaigners.

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Pedestrian Activists Paint Memorials to Car Victims

[issue no. 5]

The pedestrian rights group Right of Way observed "Street Memorial Day" on Saturday, March 20, by painting 120 memorials across New York City to protest violence by cars against pedestrians and bicyclists. Each memorial is a life-size body outline, with the victim’s name and the date he or she was "KILLED BY AUTOMOBILE" painted in a crosswalk or sidewalk.

The memorials, located throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, commemorate some of the 270 pedestrians and cyclists killed by cars in the city in 1997. Among them, Alice Yang, a 35-year-old art curator and historian, killed Feb. 7, 1997, by a hit-and-run driver; Dante Curry, a six-year-old boy killed Oct. 2, 1997, in the South Bronx; and Jill Solomon, a 30-year-old bicyclist killed on April 2, 1997, by an oversized tractor-trailer truck turning onto the Queensboro Bridge in Manhattan.

Right of Way began making street memorials in 1996 to call attention to what it calls "car violence" in New York City. The group’s new statistical study of four years’ worth of fatalities, "Killed by Automobile," was released March 19, the day before the memorial action (see Studies and Reports page), concluding that most pedestrian fatalities are caused by driver carelessness or aggression.

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Berkeley Bikers Pedal Sofas

[issue no. 3]

The couch is usually occupied when watching television in those gaps of time between driving to work and working to drive. On August 14, the couch enjoyed a more active role, rolling along in the Berkeley Critical Mass.

"New riders joined along the way, and many motorists’ confused or ‘oh yeah, Critical Mass’ expressions turned into pure joy," recounted participant Jason Meggs. "Much waving and honking in support ensued. Nothing like taking The Couch on the road. Our mascot!"

"It’s the most plush experience," said Caycee Cullen, who divided her riding time between the couch and the bicycle that pulled it. "You are on this bouncy, cushiony piece of furniture sailing along the street!"

Police behaved better than the month before, but did block the couch and create a huge scene in the middle of Telegraph Avenue until the fun-loving riders won the release of The Couch from the "thug patrol." Such cheering! Such relief! The sea of riders separated and the couch rolled on.

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Guerilla Bike Lane Painter Cited for Malicious Damage

[issue no. 2]

A frustrated cyclist who painted fake bike lanes along Sydney street was let off a malicious damage charge March 31 with a warning from a magistrate and a $51 fine. Manuela Crank, 27, was one of a number of people who painted bicycle-lane symbols around midnight on November 26. More than 40 of the symbols were applied to a busy thoroughfare before police arrived. Said one anonymous member of the group: "the action was carried out by a group of cyclists who had become tired of asking nicely for better facilities. "In the past we’ve had no success working within the system," he said. He said more bicycle lanes were likely to pop up soon. "The councils don’t seem to have enough money to build enough bicycle facilities so we’re helping them out," he added. - AAP

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Petrol-Free Petrol Station

Sheila Freeman [issue no. 1]

[London activists took over an unused petrol station during the Kyoto climate conference in December. Here’s a post-action report.] The No Petrol station is no more. We packed everything up, but left some of the banners hoping they would remain for a while. Every night between about 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. we had to get up several times, put our shoes on, and go out to explain the complexities of Kyoto and climate change to drunken yobs [vandals] who would otherwise have trashed the place. The petrol station football match went very well. The Oil Companies and Politicians dressed in suits kicked the world about (as they do) for about 15 minutes in the street until police arrived. As soon as we saw them, the whistle was blown for "half time". Orange slices were passed around to the exhausted players, music came on and all danced, socialized, drank cups of tea. "Bill Clinton" was even there and lots of children added to the party atmosphere. Even the police were amused.

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