Wowk

Walking through the city today I saw a stereotypical 'hippie' woman sporting one of these stickers on her bike, I have seen the stickers plenty of times, but it got me thinking today.

By sporting such stickers is it akin to saying 'I think I am better than you because I don't own a car and what I do is more environmentally responsible'?. I am not saying this is not necessarily untrue, just interested in everyone's thoughts.

Do you think that by broadcasting such sentiments that cyclists are exacerbating even more of a divide between car drivers and cyclists, if not the general non-riding public? I can imagine a driver going past someone on a bike with a 'One Less Car' sticker and thinking only negative thoughts about that cyclist, I personally don't think it will make a driver reconsider their decision to drive a car. Do you think that such stickers just make people dislike cyclists more?

For context, I have just given up my car and my bike is really my only form of transport at the moment. I am working towards leading a more minimalist, de-cluttered and simplified existence.

Artkansas 

Sounds like a statement of fact.

But then again, any kind of sticker with any message is pretty much saying "Here's what I think is best."

You can't generalize to imagine what people reactions will be. Some drivers might see it and wish they could start riding their bike. Some might feel challenged by a statement like that on a bicycle. Others may not even notice the sticker and get incensed that a bicyclist has the nerve to be on "their" road. A hundred motorists passing the same bike and one hundred different reactions.

dcrowell

You can have one of those stickers and a car. It's stating that there's one less car on the road right now, because I'm riding a bike - therefore easing traffic congestion.

Note: I don't actually own one of those stickers.

surreal

Those stickers are beyond embarrassing, in this day and age. (Full disclosure: as I type this, I'm wearing an old "cars-r-coffins" t-shirt, with the "666" license plate on the wheeled coffin, so I'm no stranger to outmoded, embarrassing "fashion".) Like I mentioned in a recent post, I once saw a car with a "two less rollerskates" sticker, but that had to be 5 years ago. I seem to recall other goofy spoofs online BITD, such as "one less helicopter".

Recumbent guys need to put "one less diamond-frame" stickers on the back of their seats, too.

My point is, this sticker is ages-old. I don't think it's likely to offend any drivers who aren't already offended, b/c they've most likely already seen these stickers. Sure, a driver who is already all bunched up about bikes is probably going to have a momentary increase in his/her anti-cyclist ire, but I can't imagine a motorist with a neutral or positive view regarding cyclists changing his/her opinion based on some hippie's goofball sticker.

I've got to make a "1 less toboggan" sticker, to be marketed towards fatbike enthusiasts....

Astrozombie

No way, don't antagonize, I once saw a fixie rider with a Bianchi (slick bike) that had these types of stickers plastered all over it (and he was riding in the door zone without a helmet) I think one even said "F your car".....

I-Like-To-Bike

Nothing worse than antagonizing both motorists and a bicycling safety nanny at the same time.

MEversbergII

Nothing worse than someone setting a bad example :/

M.

B. Carfree

I always liked the bumper sticker that was on a car owned by a bicycle shop owner is Sacramento. It said, "If I had ridden my bike to work today, you could have parked here." He always parked on the street when he drove in.

Back on topic, I don't think stickers really antagonize anyone. First of all, who even reads the stickers on a bike? Also, even motorists dislike roads clogged with other motorists, so a "one less car" sticker is unlikely to stick in their craw. Besides, I suspect most motorists correctly assume that most folks on bikes are also motorists, at least some of the time.

gerv 

Exactly. Motorists are speeding by so fast they can't read a sticker on a top tube.

The sticker itself does expresses the pride with which the rider views cycling.

I'm all for it.

surreal

I think the motorist on the road who is speeding by the cyclist with a bike festooned with stickers is, indeed, unlikely to notice any pro-bike or anti-car sentiments amongst those stickers.

However, the motorist who is dropping a quarter into the meter where a bestickered bike is locked may very well notice the pro bike and/or anti-car slogans, and s/he may very well form an opinion of those stickers and your bike, as well as theories about its rider, based on a combination of previously held views on cycling and a specific reaction to those stickers. Or, they may not even care. Either way, no big deal in the big picture.

OTOH, if your bike has a "one less car" sticker on it, everyone under the age of 52 will think you're a berk, unless you're trying to create a retro build for some kind of turn-of-the-century bike. If you're building a late-90s Bianchi Pista with era-accurate upgrades and stickers, then you might actually want a "one less car" sticker.

I'm considering getting a "one less car" sticker for my pickup truck. Technically, it's appropriate.

Ridefreemc

+1

Rowan

The better sticker, in my view, that I've seen lately is the one-metre/three foot one. There is an important message there, and in places where there is a legal requirement to pass a bike with that distance, and if the sticker says "it's the law", so much the better.

The One Less Car one is a message that we as cyclists understand, but I suspect for a vast majority of non-cyclists, it really doesn't mean much. And for those who do understand, yes, they delight in the fact that you aren't driving and they can get to work quicker.

daihard 

That doesn't make sense, though. If anything, the motorist should thank the cyclist for putting out one fewer car on the street, which translates into a little less congestion. Good for the drivers, isn't it?

Artkansas 

I sold my car and am getting around by bike and bus. But it's still around on this planet somewhere, so its not one less car.

Machka 

Absolutely right. Thank you for pointing that out. It's not like we're waving a magic wand and removing a car from existence.

daihard 

I'm pretty sure many of you carfree folks have owned a car at one point, though. "One fewer car" applies to them.

[EDIT] Nevermind, I read Artkansas' post incorrectly.

Machka 

No ... that's just it. If we owned a car, and now we don't, it isn't "one fewer car". That car still exists ... someone else owns it now. Same number of cars out there.

daihard 

Yeah, that's why I edited my reply as above. It's time I went to bed...

That said, if fewer and fewer people own cars, the number of cars on the planet will eventually decrease.

Roody

thats absurd...

The last car I owned was scrapped years ago. (It still exists in the metaphysical sense, but that's all.) All the cars I could have owned since that last one were never even built. So it isn't one less car, it's several less cars.

That last car of mine was never materially replaced, in other words. Once it died, it stayed dead.

Machka 

That might be your story ... but lots of people sell their cars.


In my ex-husband and my case, he wrote off our van which was the trigger for me to become "car-free" ... but we could have bought the van back and fixed it, instead it would have gone up for auction or something. And then a few months later, my ex-husband bought another car. Knowing him ... probably several.

Rowan

Sorry, Roody, but look at the registration figures countrywide, and tell us how it is one car or even several cars less. I am not talking about car sales, but total registrations (and, of course, there are the unregistered ones out there, too).

Have a look at this trend in Australia, for example;

https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/9309.0

I can't imagine the American figures being much different in comparative terms.

surreal

So, following the logic from these last few posts, we should wear patches or pins on our lapels that read "one less driver", but the "one less car" doesn't belong on the bike, even in cases where the bike has replaced the next theoretical car that the user would've bought, had s/he not decided to bike instead?

I'm sorry, this discussion is downright goofy at this point. If you ride instead of driving, the bike is representing "one less car" that could've been wherever the bike is rolling or parked. Even though my gut reaction to that is "no big deal", we still oughta give credit where credit's due.

surreal

+1. Even if the total number of cars in existence continues to grow rapidly, there'd be at least one more car out there if Roody had replaced his with a new one, or even contributed to demand by purchasing a used one. The sticker says "one less car" which, for Roody or a person in a similiar situation, is true. The sticker does not say "one fewer car, overall, worldwide." The statement is more about the user's lifestyle choices, than the overall trend.

Machka 

I'd make it simpler than that. I simply wouldn't use any sort of "one less car" sticker, patch, pin or whatever.

I do, however, like the One Metre Matters stickers, signs, posters, etc.

Ekdog

+1

That's all that matters, really. If I had a bumper on my bike, I'd be proud to display such a sticker, especially because they seem to enrage cagers (several of whom frequent this subforum and shall remain nameless ). I do believe provocative T-shirts are more practical for the fashionable car-free cyclist.