I recently befriended a nice fella named Jan. He’s into graphic design and has been known to collect the odd plastic novelty toy. Hailing from the Czech Republic, the 30-year-old came to Vancouver at age 11 and is one of those annoying Europeans whose English is better than many native speakers.
He gave me a questioning look when I asked him about any formal safety education he may have been taught in the Czech Republic. He does remember a once-a-year bomb drill where everyone went to the school basement and tried on gas masks.
Like Natasha who I interviewed for a previous blog, Jan doesn’t remember having to wear a seatbelt when he was in a car with his parents. In fact, he doesn’t remember seatbelts even being in cars.
As for his parents’s direction in the safety department, “They weren’t overhanded (with safety prevention), Jan told me.
“I think they let us explore quite a bit, so the minor stuff like using a knife meant letting us get nicked a few times. This was part of the learning process for us.”
In Canada, he says he learned more about safety from experience than through school, friends, or television.
While riding a bike quickly down a street without a helmet, he was once pulled over by the police and asked why he wasn’t wearing one. Despite the incident, Jan hasn’t invested in a helmet of any kind yet.
“I still bike without a helmet, but its more recreational biking along the sea wall,” the relaxed Jan told me; however, he followed up with, “I know I should wear one.”
Jan has never broken a body part before. This speaks to his conscientious nature but also speaks to his reluctance to not wear a helmet. He told me that if he had ever injured himself riding his bike, skate boarding, or skiing, he might actually put a helmet on.
To get around the possible dangerous of riding a bike in traffic, Jan takes the bus instead. He says he’s seen too many near accidents between bikes and cars to want to ride in traffic. As a pedestrian, he’s vigilant about his safety, but he’s not so sure of others.
“If you’re a pedestrian in Amsterdam, you have to watch out for bikes and cars. There’s definitely a hierarchy in Europe, and pedestrians are at the bottom of it.”
Jan went on to tell me,
“I don’t know if it’s a Canadian or North American phenomenon, but I think overall people here assume that other people will look out for them. I think in Europe they’re more conscious of themselves (in traffic). The boundaries are more established. In Prague, even if you’re walking in a crosswalk, you know the car may not stop for you. Here I see people getting off the bus, and immediately they jump into the street.”
Jan comments made me think about my attitudes about how traffic is supposed to work. I have found myself more than once stepping into traffic relying on the car speeding towards me to stop.
As a pedestrian or cyclist what’s your attitude towards safety in traffic?
