I remember once seeing a comedian ask the question "Can you imagine if people walked the way that they drive?" & then followed up with the scenario "you're motoring down the footpath, just over the limit, when some woman with a pram & two small kids trailing pulls out of a side-shop without looking, right in front of you!" Everyone should be allowed to use their horn when walking ... hang on, that's right, it's illegal to use your horn to show frustration at another person's lack of skill or perception.
Maybe we should follow the road rules when walking, but only as written ...
When you ride a motorbike, the general rule is that every car driver is out to kill you, & it's your job to minimise their chance of success. That's taking the responsibility back on you, the rider. It's a recipe for staying alive longer. On a bike, you can't afford to get frustrated with the other road users, you can't pretend you're indestructible or bigger than everyone else. If your mind wavers from the task of riding for any short period, you could be dead, with only yourself to blame.
I'm suggesting that people should definitely drive like bike riders. They should also walk like bike riders. Some people who've never ridden think that riders are arrogant speed-demons putting their lives at risk. The reality is that they are concentrating so hard on the riding that they are capable of bending time & making it appear as though they're going faster (with a nod to Will Self).
I've also done this when walking through a crowd. It doesn't matter how haphazardly & seemingly unaware the people flowing along are, there's usually a way through that isn't obvious unless you've got all of your will bent on finding it. It's a matter then of adjusting your speed, your angles, your position in the crowd, to make the most of that slim gap - at no danger to you or the people around you - & be on your way.
I like to think of it as mindful walking. It takes a similar level of consciousness & conscientiousness as does riding, to me. You can't afford to ignore a bump in the road, a movement in the corner of your eye, the changing traffic up ahead, or any wandering of your mind. It's something that only comes with practice. Don't believe me, just try it.
I was walking through a shopping centre today, & a young mother was hunched over her pram, fiddling with her phone (as people constantly do), & weaving crazily about (without actually hitting the railing). I went to go past her on one side, then managed it on the other. She was probably completely oblivious to my existence, & I might normally have forgotten about her instantly, except that I noticed someone giving me a funny look as I zoomed past her with my mission foremost in mind - getting to the cafe a little further along.
That look is the same one I've seen non-rider friends give to a motorbike that slides between cars in light traffic & gently disappears into the distance. It's a look of ... disgust ... that someone can "get ahead" so easily & leave them - & all normal people - behind.
Well, normal people, you may not all be mothers with prams & small children, but, increasingly, you are the ones playing with phones in your hands & not concentrating on your surrounds. You are being left behind.
