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Get a bike to save the planet

#81
fokof said:
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I totally agree.
It's a philosophy that I live.

I'm 50 (soon 51) , never had a car in my life , I never had a driver license.
I bike 365 days a week (North east Americas)
I have a full/satisfying professional life.
I use Trains/Taxis/Bus when I can't bike.
Yes I can transport my stuff to gigs by bike :)

I think I'm in good shape
To be exact, I don't know , I never go to hospitals, maybe I got something I don't know :)

Cities are designed around the automobiles but if more people takes up cycling , authorities will adapt like they did in Danemark or other bike friendly places.
That may not apply to most of the USA .......

Discuss
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You save the world. I'll get places expediently and with gear and other people in tow. ;)
 
#83
fdeck said:
But if she gets in the habit of staying safe on her bike, maybe some of those habits will translate to driving. And maybe she won't want to drive as much. A lot of the teenagers among my kids' circle of friends are ambivalent about driving. They all got their drivers licenses, but are happy getting around by bike, walking, bus, etc.

Learning those habits early is a good thing. The US has something like twice the rate of traffic deaths as other civilized countries, so it's not like putting 4000 pounds of steel around us is all that reassuring.
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Just to pursue my earlier post....the reason I have a steel plate in my leg is that I was young. I'd be much better off riding a motorcycle today, because I KNOW what stupid stuff other drivers do. I didn't then.

"...if she gets in the habit of staying safe on her bike..." is the critical point. On a bike or motorcycle, it's at least three times easier for a young person to get hurt or killed. They don't have the experience in traffic that older drivers do. I'd much rather have my kids wrapped in 4000 pounds of steel, because there is no arguing that a driver in a car is safer in a collision than a rider on a bike. It's not debatable.

The one invariable rule of bike riding I know is that when a bike and a car meet, the bike rider loses. Every time.

I agree with Fdeck that training kids to ride safely is important! However, my opinion is that kids are more likely to get hurt because they haven't learned to watch for the kinds of traffic hazards that adults have encountered.

That's not a reason to avoid riding, but I don't personally make it a point to encourage my daughters "not to drive as much." They both live in Denver and if they never put a bike tire on the ground except to ride on bike paths, I'd be happier. Its fine if they want to save the planet, but my first priority is always to save THEM.
 
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#84
Pilgrim said:
That's not a reason to avoid riding, but I don't personally make it a point to encourage my daughters "not to drive as much." They both live in Denver and if they never put a bike tire on the ground except to ride on bike paths, I'd be happier. Its fine if they want to save the planet, but my first priority is always to save THEM.
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Indeed. And the higher car accident statistics in the US compared to other countries should be of concern for cyclists, because it means we're dealing with worse drivers, more dangerous roads, or both.

On the other hand, traffic accident statistics tend to be given on a per-mile basis, and people drive a lot further than they would ride on a bike. AFAIK nothing kills more teenagers than car accidents. My preference is to live in a town where it's not necessary to drive a lot.

Also, they're too busy with homework to go anywhere. ;)
 
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#85
fdeck said:
It'll be the same thing when she learns to drive a car: How to explain that you're supposed to obey the speed limit and stop at stop signs, when none of the other drivers do. I've had this conversation with my kids: "Just because everybody else is an idiot doesn't mean you need to be one."

But if she gets in the habit of staying safe on her bike, maybe some of those habits will translate to driving. And maybe she won't want to drive as much. A lot of the teenagers among my kids' circle of friends are ambivalent about driving. They all got their drivers licenses, but are happy getting around by bike, walking, bus, etc.

Learning those habits early is a good thing. The US has something like twice the rate of traffic deaths as other civilized countries, so it's not like putting 4000 pounds of steel around us is all that reassuring.
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She is learning to drive. Last time she was here I had her drive both an auto and stick around the property. But she has long since learned how things are out there, as I've had to run her up here and back every other weekend for the last 14 years, 175 miles away. We've seen a lot. She's familar with the trend of people racing up on Friday to play, and racing back home on Sunday. Certain days of the year that are the worst time to be on the road.

Mainly she would like to be able to drive to a job. Other than that it's ho hum. It's not the same as when I was a kid. Kids these days can do pretty much everything on the computer, including video chat with their friends. Why mess with the expenses and dangers of driving? Even when they do get their license it's limited anyway.
 
#87
Whether you need to drive or not depends on where you live.

In much of the Central and Western US (aka: flyover country) public transportation is limited or absent, and distances are great. My daughters drove up to 120 miles one-way in high school, just to get to softball games. Everyday commuting on many roads is 10+ miles each way with no bike paths. My wife grew up seven miles down a twisty farm road that was half gravel and had no shoulders. I grew up 5 miles out of town on a road with no shoulders and 10-foot deep ditches on each side of the road, and didn't even have fog lines at the edges... at least that road has fog lines now with a foot or two of pavement outside the fog line. In Texas, I know of families that drive their kids 20 miles to grade school.

In metro areas, if you're brave enough to bike, or if there is a good bike lane system, it's a real option. But remember that the US growth pattern was (and mostly still is) based on cars as transportation, not bikes. The viability of bike commuting is still far secondary to that of vehicular traffic.

I strongly applaud those who teach kids to follow traffic laws, including that most neglected of skills: SIGNALING TURNS. It's rare among bikers, but it seems only logical as a way to avoid turning into someone's hood ornament.
 
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#88
Arvin said:
But I won't. Every couple of months another cyclist is either maimed or killed in a traffic accident where a driver either didn't see them, didn't react in time, or, in a few extremely unfortunate circumstances, decided it'd be "cool" to haze someone on a bicycle (yeah, we've had some of those). There are far more ghost bikes chained to lightpoles around town than I'm comfortable with. So I stay off the streets for the most part, and confine my riding to the bike paths in the parks, and suburban side streets where no one drives. And there aren't many "safe" bike routes that can get me where I need to go, so I don't take my chances.

With the current state of bike-friendly commute options in my town, I keep my cycling squarely in the "recreation" box. No commuting for me, thanks.
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2014= 30 000 Death by car
Pedestrian & Bicycle Information Center
2015 = 725 Death by bike

(Haven't found both stats on single site)

How do you commute if you find that there is too much death by bike ?

Aviation is the safest :)
 
#90
fokof said:
Link Removed
2014= 30 000 Death by car
Pedestrian & Bicycle Information Center
2015 = 725 Death by bike

(Haven't found both stats on single site)

How do you commute if you find that there is too much death by bike ?

Aviation is the safest :)
Click to expand...

Any comparison of death relative to the number of participants? Because, otherwise, it's just numbers.
 
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#91
gttim said:
I had an acquaintance and his family move to Amsterdam and live on bikes now. They love the lifestyle. They will load up a huge cargo bike at IKEA and pedal home. The two kids have been on bikes since day one. When they lived in the US, they did keep a minivan. I am an avid cyclist. I also have two cars. While I may sell my old Mustang, I will always keep one. I have no children so I do not need to save the planet, just postpone its inevitable destruction for a bit.
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I was in Amsterdam recently and was impressed as the traffic (cars) was so light. It's very well set up with trams and trains as well as for bicycles. It really seems to be done right. Being flat doesn't hurt, of course.
 
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#93
Gorn said:
Sure it can change but that's not the direction we're going. Electric self driving cars is what the infrastructure will evolve to accommodate. Maybe more bicycle friendly paths will be part of that.
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With the ability of self driving cars to entrain themselves there is the potential for the existing four lane roads to carry as much traffic on two, maybe, meaning an option for cycle routes.
 
#95
-Asdfgh- said:
I was in Amsterdam recently and was impressed as the traffic (cars) was so light. It's very well set up with trams and trains as well as for bicycles. It really seems to be done right. Being flat doesn't hurt, of course.
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I was there last July (unfortunately for less than one full day) and felt the same. A really fascinating city overall, I'd love to go back.
 
#96
-Asdfgh- said:
I was in Amsterdam recently and was impressed as the traffic (cars) was so light. It's very well set up with trams and trains as well as for bicycles. It really seems to be done right. Being flat doesn't hurt, of course.
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I guess you were not there for rush hour. When I am in the car, what takes me 30 minutes after 9:00 pm takes me about 1-1/2 hours between 4:00 and 7:00 pm. Even with a motorcycle (lane splitting allowed) it still doesn't save much time because the roads are so narrow.

All those buses and trams end up taking roads away from cars and actually makes the cars drive 3x as far due to all the one way streets. I saved 5 minutes (no traffic) one time because I took a bus lane by accident. Now I have to go in a U shape because of the bus lane.
 
#98
5544 said:
I guess you were not there for rush hour.
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I was there for rush hour, but it looked really tame compared to the UK rush hour in a similarly sized city where the split between bus, tram and cars is much less good. An example might be Sheffield as that has trams and about the same population.
5544 said:
I guess you were not there for rush hour. When I am in the car, what takes me 30 minutes after 9:00 pm takes me about 1-1/2 hours between 4:00 and 7:00 pm. Even with a motorcycle (lane splitting allowed) it still doesn't save much time because the roads are so narrow.

All those buses and trams end up taking roads away from cars and actually makes the cars drive 3x as far due to all the one way streets. I saved 5 minutes (no traffic) one time because I took a bus lane by accident. Now I have to go in a U shape because of the bus lane.
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I was there for the rush hour, but it seemed really mild compared to that of a UK city of a similar size (e.g. Sheffield with trams or Leeds without... I don't know much about traffic outside Yorkshire). But I'm saddened that your commute is painful.
 
#99
The planet is going to out live us no matter what. Everyone thinks they know what will happen if we do XY&Z. For all we know we will be wiped out, and the Earth will eventually heal itself. We don't know and we will never know.

As far as using a bike. I love biking but due to distance and my career using a bike to get anywhere not only is dangerous but too far and not conducive to where I live and where I go for work. I can say if I worked and lived in NYC it might be the way to go.
 
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