bpohl, do you want to write this up as a blog entry? (for
http://bikeculturetheory.wordpress.com)?
i have some thoughts on this as well, as well as some interesting sociological lit on the topic to add to it, we could make it a collaborative post. anyhow, yes, the duhaminization of modes of transport as well as many other technologies (that Marshall McLuhan points out become like so many prostheses for human action and agency) fundamentally alter our relations with one another as human beings. the car vs. bike, car vs. pedestrian dynamic is imbued with a whole host of power relationships where the auto functions as a kind of strange, de-facto impetus for sadism.
J (eichenlaub@gmail.com)