How Smart Language Helped END Seattle's Paralyzing Bikelash @peopleforbikes

Broadway, Seattle.

Instead of "cyclists," people biking. Instead of "accident," collision. Instead of "cycle track," protected bike lane.

It can come off as trivial word policing. But if you want proof that language shapes thoughts, look no further than Seattle — where one of the country's biggest bikelashes has turned decisively around in the last four years.

For a while in 2010 and 2011, the three-word phrase "war on cars," which had risen to prominence in Rob Ford's Toronto and spread to Seattle in 2009, threatened to poison every conversation about improving bicycling in the city.

[Keep reading at People for Bikes]