I can already feel the hate coming from my right and left leaning friends on this one. But what better reason to post than that! “All that hate is gonna burn you up kid.” Dramatic pause… “Keeps me warm.” For those of you who don’t know about the greatest film in history, that’s a line from the original Red Dawn. Sometimes I think about Red Dawn and wonder if that scenario would actually be better, more fun even, than what we might be planning for our country now. Either way, if C. Thomas Howell ran for office he would immediately get my vote regardless of policy or plan.
But listen up, if you live your life through emotion and hate, or always being at odds with other people or groups, then skip this post. Don’t continue reading or watching. You WILL be triggered. If, however, you are interested in psychology, then by all means, dig in.
A few days ago I posted about my new motorcycle. I knew this post would draw the ire of some but would also cause others to pause and have a think. That’s what a good post does. Someone said motorcycles shouldn’t be allowed because they are too loud, but that simply doesn’t hold water. Motorcycles are already less than 3% of all registered vehicles, and the loud ones are a tiny fraction of the overall number making this argument mute, no pun intended, There are over 1,000,000 buses on the streets of the United States, the vast majority of which are far louder than motorcycles. Throw in diesel trucks, work vehicles, etc. and the number is even more one-sided. My wife’s RAV4 is far louder than my Honda, as is my Dodge Van.
A friend said the moto wouldn’t work for him due to living in a four season climate. I reminded him that I also live in a four season climate, and that many modern motorcycles come with heated seats, heated grips and things like cruise control. I don’t have any of these items but can still ride year round. I pause for snow/ice days but once the roads are salted, sanded or sun melted, it’s game on. Especially when you consider my trip to town is less than ten miles, and the vast majority of car trips in America are less than five miles.
“We can’t just build the world we had in the past.” “We need new policy makers.”
But I also mentioned in that earlier post that bicycles SHOULD be more of our plan, but due to fear, hate, safety issues, suburban sprawl distance issues, political radicalization, the power of oil and gas, and the mystical lure that automobiles hold on our population, this is not very likely. And it’s that last bit of “lure” I want to focus on. Turns out, we are not alone.
If you know cycling then you are familiar with Global Cycling Network. GCN is run by Brits, which means you Americans might need a dictionary. These dudes are funny, intelligent and they cover all realms of bike riding. I don’t spend much time at all watching this channel, can’t remember the last time I watched a full film, if ever, but I like what they do.(Okay, I remember watching something about the Brompton.) The wit alone is enough to keep me going even if only for a minute or two. I should say that I ride my bike a lot. My bike and my routine are well worn, so I’m less needy when it comes to souring YouTube for things I might not need or understand. (Just did 26 miles of gravel.)
Turns out, GCN did a little piece about automobiles, and it’s a fascinating one. Within the first minute you realize the point they are making. Street interviews highlighting the absolute insanity that cars inspire. The double standards, the hypocrisy, and that hate that bicycles inspire from those same folks. Speaking of hypocrisy, and those who lead with hate and emotion will surely bring this up. I drive a van and a motorcycle in addition to my bicycle. Yep, never said anything different. Don’t plan on giving up either anytime soon. Do I attempt to use my bike as much as possible. Yep. Do I now ride the moto far more than drive the van? Yep. Will it matter in the grand scheme of sinking our planet? No idea. It’s simply what I chose to do. Others sit and rage at the TV. I ride my bike and moto. (Van hasn’t moved in over a week.)
“You will feel the wrath if you even ponder challenging car culture.”
Before we end this little story I want to relay a personal experience. My nieces live in Texas. One is home schooled while the other attends a public school less than two miles from her home. You would think she would walk or ride her bike to school. Wrong. There are no sidewalks and no safe way to do this. When I dropped her off I saw exactly ONE kid riding a bike. ONE. What I did see, however, was a massive traffic jam of parents idling in their cars while being directed by the local police force. Not the school police. The actual city police department. We had to leave far earlier than need be because the traffic jam of parents dropping off their kids took so long to endure, and the design of the streets was so poorly planned that had the police not been there, it would have been total chaos. And people, this is a NEW community. These streets were built in the last five years. This is entirely inexcusable.
Maybe this entire thing is about ownership. Ownership of hearts and minds. Our own. That’s it. You taking ownership of your heart and mind and me doing the same. Not lobby groups, or politicians, or group think, or hate, or fear, or misinformation. And last but not least, let us remember the title of my past blog post, “One Possible Partial Solution.” I never said this was the only way. I never said we are going to rid the world of cars and force people to ride motorcycles or bikes. I just said “Think about it.” You have to build the system before the behavior will follow. Not the other way around. If you watched the entire film you would have see something called “The Goodwin curve.” I love this thing because we’ve seen it play out again and again through history but the hate-filled legions are always slow to comprehend it until they begin to see the benefit.
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I’m originally from Italy, specifically Ferrara, a city known as “The City of Bicycles.” Despite this title, Ferrara’s cycling infrastructure is far from ideal—its streets are filled with potholes, cobblestones, and uneven pavement. Yet, people still ride around on battered old bikes.
Over the years, I’ve lived in several cities: Bologna, London, Toronto, Milan, and now Stockholm. I’ve always had a passion for bicycles as a practical means of daily transportation, not as a sport. I’ve also always disliked traffic and cars, especially when used by a single occupant. Over time, I’ve come to realize that the real issue lies in the mindset people have developed—especially in America—around car use, extreme individualism, and the wasteful infrastructure that has damaged our planet.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved the road trips I’ve taken in California, Arizona, and Iceland, but in my opinion, we need to shift our mindset about this obsessive need to use cars for everything (which, by the way, exponentially increases our irritability), and this urge to own ever-larger vehicles—99% of the time, without any real necessity.
Now that I live in Stockholm, a cyclist’s paradise despite its harsh winters, I’ve seen how simple and sustainable it could be to make meaningful change. I’m not a fan of the “Think about it” approach anymore—there’s no time left for merely thinking about creating more respectful transportation methods. In fact, it might already be too late to start, and sadly, I don’t see the will to change.
Author
Totally agree. Mindset, and we are now living in a world where people will double down on things that are in direct opposition to their situation. Americans in particular typically respond to money more than anything else. Save the planet, no, but you show them how it can save money suddenly there is a slight glimmer of hope.
What the actual f…..?! Ok, admittedly I don’t bike nearly as much as I used to. There was a time when it was perfectly normal to log 250 to 300 miles a week biking. Lots of group rides with the local club, biking to get from here to there. When my son was in late elementary up to early high school, he rode his bike to school. 95% of the time, his bike was the only one in the provided rack. Life changed, things happened… biking became more rare. And I miss it. Thing is, I was never afraid to bike until one day this complete asshole followed me into the grocery store parking lot and then screamed at me because he claimed he had the right of way. He did not. Light was green going my way, he was trying to turn right on a red. I am not one to tolerate being screamed at so I went about my business. Came out to find my tires slashed. I’m 100% sure it was him. Good, bad, right or wrong, I the experience took up some residence in my head. Nowadays, when I’m driving around (in a Forester if you’re curious) and I see the foolishness happening on the roads… it gives me pause. But I miss biking. I miss everything about it. The rebel in me adores the counter culture act of riding a bike. Reading this, watching the video… I’m thinking I’ll wash off one of the bikes and get back out there. Take it slow. Take it easy. But get back out there. Thanks for the nudge.
Author
Hey, I got yelled at in a grocery store parking lot too!! An old man caught in parking lot gridlock got out of his car and told me I had “No right to be grocery shopping off my bicycle.” I told him he was about to have a close encounter with my hook kick. He was shaking with rage. A typical Newport richie who was pissed he was caught in traffic.
DM, I am definitely a person who leans politically, but this piece has made me wonder if I lean center as opposed to left or right. As a former cyclist in the City of Brotherly Love, which, let’s just say was never designed for cars and bikes to share the road, I wish more people could ride safely in our cities. And I do think it would help kids out to be able to bike to school for many reasons. Nevertheless, no one thinks like that anymore and the suburban/ex-urban sprawl has made cycling anywhere difficult unless you’re Greg Lemond on the last leg of the Tour (a time trial into Paris).
One piece of hopeful news, I am on vacation right now on Block Island, RI. As you know, a small island off the coast of RI (let’s call it the “Poor Man’s Martha’s Vineyard”). In any event, this year I noticed a substantial increase in bicycling around the island, PLUS most of the retail stores (like the grocery, surf, and apparel shops) all have brand new bike racks out front.
Perhaps there is hope for all of us!
Best, David (the Geezer of Gear and Gears!)
Author
Most business will initially fight anything to do with bike lanes or bike incorporation. But this system has proved WILDLY positive for businesses located along newly improved cycling infrastructure. They fight it, they fight it, they fight it, and then realize their business is up. This has happened again and again worldwide.
Love the Goodwin Curve. It applies to way more than transportation. I read somewhere that it requires 75 tries to change a habit successfully. Ghandi was correct- “Be the change you want to see in the world”. As a photographer, it scares me how many of the wonderful things I have photographed are gone, in the short time since I got my first DSLR. It is the first year I have seen large brown patches of trees in the local mountainside from my kitchen window. Record-setting warm temperatures, lack of rainfall over several summers, and more severe windstorms make the forest vulnerable, and then add hemlock looper moth and you get dead trees.
Author
Yes. I live in bark beetle territory. Crazy how much dead we have now. If it ever goes up it’s all perfect kindling. And morons are still making fires in the national forrest. Gotta get those perfect IG campsite photos….
Interesting video. I live in London, have done for 30 years. There are all kinds of problems riding a bike in London. The roads are too narrow, there are potholes everywhere, the cars are aggressive, or rather drivers…and it’s getting worse.
But probably more significant is the amount of bikes that are stolen. I would choose to cycle in town every time, but I just know my bike would at some point get stolen. Here in London, fatal accidents involving bikes are marked with the placement of an old bike painted white at the point where the fatality occurred, and sadly you see them quite often. The other point about cycling in London is that it’s quite different to say, Copenhagen. London is a big city and some journeys are several miles, which encourages the cycling commuter to ‘lycra up’ and ride a serious racing bike with tyres the width of a pencil..and they fly along at often 30-40 miles an hour, this is often why pedestrians find them intimidating. This doesn’t often happen in other cities ; the pace is much slower and the bikes more suitable to a leisurely ride. The speed limits for cars in London is now 20mph, I’m frequently overtaken by bikes doing 30 mph. I honestly believe most of the issues around cycling in London are caused by these ‘speed cyclists.’ Things have changesd considerably in the last 2-3 years…..most ‘bicycles’ I now see are electric, some of these, ridden by feckless individuals can travel silently at 40mph and they are all categorised as cyclists.
Author
Most of the issues around cycling in London are based on city design to make it nearly impossible to ride safely as they clearly illustrated in the film. When the entire design of the roadway network is based on cars alone, pedestrians and cyclists are going to feel the brunt. The speed cyclist is a tiny fraction of the cycling public. Same here in the US. And we too have a blizzard of white bicycles where people have died, and the vast majority of the time the offending drivers are never punished. At all.
We have some places in the Carolinas, mostly coastal, where biking is the norm. They are really wonderful! And there are (minute) pockets of places in the USA where walkability/bikeability were seen as paramount and the infrastructure was fashioned and/or adapted accordingly. It is interesting to note that such places are wildly appreciated by people who live there and enjoy thriving economies. You’d think others would see this and think ‘hey, what a good idea!’ but alas…
When I was heavy into biking in the full on lycra gear (not for sport but for the joy of riding country roads around here) with my local bike club, I would suggest to the cyclists who were into the sport of it that if they obeyed traffic laws and offered a little courtesy to those they passed, they might enjoy a little more respect and return courtesy from pedestrians and motorists. They were aghast at the suggestion, never stopping to realize they were shooting themselves in the foot.
Author
Yes, sadly. There are quite a few entitled assholes who make it more difficult for everyone else. Running lights and stop signs, riding in the middle of the lane as a single rider. 99% men. 99% macho idiots who think they are far better than they actually are. They have power meters and watch replays of the Giro and think that’s it, that’s how I’m going to impress everyone.
Author
But it should also be said that most people who hate “lycra types” are people who are either out of shape or who just hate cyclists in general and use that as an excuse. And as excuses go, it’s totally lame.
London was planned centuries ago, before cars. There’s no way you can alter the roads here. They have tried, but it means there’s a bunch a cyclists on the cycle ‘path’ from 7.30 -9am and then nothing until 6pm. Meanwhile, cars sit, motionless, chugging out fumes in narrow lanes. Unless you ban motor vehicles completely, it just won’t work. I think eventually it will go that way. All deliveries will have to be completed before 7am, then no vehicles except electric buses..it’s the only way. But then there’s the thieves ! 🙁
Author
Again, I’m not one for saying “never.” I was in Paris the day they turned the right lane into a cycling lane. The news reports…”It will never work.” A week later, “Oh, it worked.” I watched other cities build infrastructure over a less than ten year plan with wild success. Each city has challenged. Santa Fe is the oldest cap city in America. You can’t add bike lanes to the central area, but you sure can for the surrounding area, and they have. It’s about realizing what we are doing isn’t working now, and surely won’t in the future, so what are we going to do?
In the 1970s when I was a teen, we rode our BMX bikes everywhere. And I lived in the hills of Los Gatos, Ca, so it was a workout. Now I live in Southern Nevada and all the kids ride electric bikes, zipping around everywhere. Which I understand during the summer when it’s 110 degrees, but the rest of the time they’re still on the electric bikes, so not much fitness going on. Still, it’s better than having more cars on the road.
I used to ride but bikes get stolen a lot in the UK and the police don’t do anything about it, even if you ride beaters and lock them up, they get stolen or stripped. It gets to a point where riding as a mode of transport is not worth it. Walking, trains and busses are less hassle.
Cycling is objectively a good thing but more people have had an unpleasant but not serious experience with cyclists than they have with cars in the UK. I walk a lot, the average day you have cyclists riding on the pavement in their little world almost hitting people or riding behind pedestrians trying to get past them. Areas with cyclist dismount signs are ignored and for the most part, any interaction you will have with them is rude.
Author
Same here. Bike theft is RAMPANT and no one wants to do anything about it. And Mark, why do you think the cyclists are riding where they are? It’s because London city planners have made it virtually impossible to ride separate from pedestrians.
So how to you propose to get this done? If you ca’t persuade people to WANT to do it the alternative seems to be government force to do it. They won’t end well.
Author
The government doesn’t want to do it. Not at all. Where we used to live, it was the insurance policies that kept change from happening. This was done specifically so local government had an out. If a city like Newport wanted to install fifty feet of bike lanes, they were mandated to pay for the umbrella insurance that had to cover local, state and federal jurisdiction. So, fifty feet of bike lane was over a million dollars in insurance. Locals then could say “No way we can afford it.” And I make no fantasy that this will ever happen in my lifetime. I’m starting. a new movement here in good old Merica. KADA. Keep America Dumb Again: For Kids Who Don’t Read Two Good. Our primary city design model is sprawl void of public transit, sidewalks and stand alone bike infrastructure. It would take a miracle to solve any one piece of this let alone all of it. We are mired in outdated ideology, corruption and greed. I don’t see change anytime soon. The only thing someone can do is move to a local that allows for bicycle infrastructure. There are more and more popping up, but again, they are the tiny minority. Ft. Worth, Boulder, Long Beach types. Santa Fe is pretty good which is one reason we live here. Can easily access the entire city without hitting roads.
Cars and bikes don’t mix well; cars and motorbikes don’t mix well either.
I couldn’t watch that video all the way through. The biased “reporting” was as much propaganda as anything the car culture could dream up. Take that piece of idiocy where the younger smug paces out a joining of roads, and equates it to speed: no, the extra width is to allow for the different direction of turns a car has to make, either left, right, or sometimes straight across the intersecting road. Clearly, that wider part of the road was required because of those directional choices; the other side of the road, the narrower one, was unidirectional (you can only turn up into it) hence no need for extra width. One has to wonder if those two speakers had any idea of what driving is all about, how it has to be done. If they do, then the more cynical their little bit of propaganda. Such reporting is an insult.
I used to ride to school, everywhere else that I could go and not get my pretty bike stolen. In winter or the often rainy days of Scottish summer, I would be obliged to wear a cycling cape that covered me from the handlebars to the seat. 50s Glasgow had a plethora of cobbled roads, and tramlines; wet cobbles, tramlines and capes mean one thing: when you get caught in a track you fall down, trapped within the friggin’ cape. It happened to me right in front of a bus about seventy yards from home. Fortunately, the bus had just left a stop, had built up no momentum as I tumbled. At normal speed, it would have crushed me. And nobody would have been to blame. Simply a fatally flawed mix.
That’s really the point: bikes and riding them are designs and concepts for an antique world where nothing went faster than a horse cart. They have no place in the world of today, a world designed for a far faster life. It’s pointless looking for successful coexistence where there can’t be any.
Of course cars cause problems, and electric cars will probably end up causing more pedestrian or cyclist deaths than anything else: especially as you age, you can’t hear the mothers coming up behind you. Sound is a great aid in road safety, almost as invaluable as sight. Silent electrics are stealth killers.
As I have remarked here before, Mallorca, where I live, has become cycle hell. They come from across Europe to don their lycra, ignore most traffic laws, and cause despair within normal users and those who actually contribute to the running costs of the island’s roads. As already suggested, the solution is a simple one: build them a huge bespoke track where they can do all the crazy speeds they desire, many miles long, scenic, with frequent bars along the way where they can tank up on liquids of their choice. The island has the space, the tech, and if other commercial interests desirous of keeping them on existing roads can be overcome, mutual satisfaction becomes guaranteed.
We use cars because they solve problems. That other problems spring directly from them is indisputable. We all face a definitive choice: back to the pre-industrial stone age, or develop better versions of the transport machines we have.
My view is this: Big Brother is not sitting quietly on his hands, doing nothing. In fact, he has already worked out the answer, which is to price the poorer driver right off the road. I am horrified at the price of new cars today; a reasonably good one is now right out of my reach. Even a handful of years ago I could have bought myself a new Mercedes or BMW, but no more. Okay, I am a pensioner, but remember this: we are an aging population and more and more the percentage of those earning and contributing to the pensions of those retired will shrink compared with those in receipt. We are doing our best to make human labour redundant with no idea how to finance those unable to find employment. And no longer is it just the lesser educated at risk of permanent unemployment. To further the distance between car ownership of rich and poor: if you don’t live in a private house, have access to your own charging point, how do you get your battery charged? I now live in an apartment. No way can any of us find a route to charging an electric vehicle, however much we may want to try one. Physical impossibility aside, the cost will be astronomical. Running electrical heating and cooking systems alone makes one wince for half the year. Even in the supposedly warm Med, fuel poverty is very real, with many facing the stark choice between heat or eat.
Author
You can’t watch the film, I can’t take time to read the comment. And your “biased reporting” comment is totally lame. If you watched the film you would realize how off that is. Rob my suggestion is to realize you don’t know everything.
“bikes and riding them are designs and concepts for an antique world where nothing went faster than a horse cart. They have no place in the world of today, a world designed for a far faster life. It’s pointless looking for successful coexistence where there can’t be any”
This is honestly one of the most absurd statements I’ve ever heard on this topic. So, anything that doesn’t move “fast” enough is considered outdated? What about pedestrians? Or those in wheelchairs? With all due respect, this is a completely nonsensical argument.
We need to slow down in life, to enjoy the scenery, to travel in different ways, and perhaps even get some physical exercise. Of course, this requires the right infrastructure to support those who choose alternative modes of transportation. The automobile and oil industries have shaped our movement patterns for their own benefit, in a completely unsustainable way, and this is in no way justifiable.
It’s also crucial to understand that, while a cyclist or pedestrian might be inattentive, they are still the most vulnerable road users. A bike or a pedestrian won’t kill you if they collide with you, but a car can. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the driver, who chooses this mode of transport, to be more attentive, fully aware of the potential “weapon” they are operating.
Author
Well, I was hoping to address some of this with today’s post. Logical thinking. We’ve lot it when it comes to the auto. And that was the entire point of the film. I don’t feel a differing opinion is “biased.”
Can of worms…..lid off !
Author
But that’s a good thing. This is a good discussion. And I love how some folks have so much experience with different places that have integrated at least some new protocols to address a worsening problem. What’s the alternative? Keep doing what we are doing?
Early one morning as we cruised back into our suburban ‘hood from a good 20 mile road ride, my buddy look at me through his Lance Armstrong signature model sunglasses and said, “I have never regretted going for a ride”. This at a time when young family obligations were actively drowning us. His comment, I think, perfectly captures the ‘joy of riding’. Easier to change the world with Joy than Force. Think Tesla drivers or Macbook fanboys….proof of the world changing power of Joy. (Maybe my next photo project will ‘The Joy of Riding’ ala Dr. Alex Comfort)
Author
Yep. If you ride you know. And it’s not like we are asking everyone to like riding. Or to sell their car. It’s all about the ability to think logically about the automobile.
Well said
Speaking of bike infrastructure: Watching videos by The Wheeler View, I was at first impressed by what they have done in Paris, France. But after a while it became clear to me that an awful lot is horrendeously dangerously designed and executed, despite all the green paint. Their recent series of videos from Valencia, Spain, is even more shocking.
Author
Those look pretty good to me. Paris looks great. At least it’s a start. What else are we going to do? Keep doing what we are doing? Madness.
Dan (I can only reply to my post, not to your answer),
sure the bike lanes in Paris and Valencia look good (from the wide-angle views of TWV’s videos), but I would be scared of the curbs and posts sticking into the lane at odd angles, the obviously tight turns without added space to the sides, and the svervings at street crossings. But, as you say, it’s certainly a start, especially when compared to my home country and its perverted traffic/infrastructure ministry.
Author
Ha, compared to what we are used to riding here, those posts and poles and such are a dream! We have Dodge Rams rolling coal!
“You can’t watch the film, I can’t take time to read the comment. And your “biased reporting” comment is totally lame. If you watched the film you would realize how off that is. Rob my suggestion is to realize you don’t know everything.”… Dan.
I certainly know, Dan, that I don’t know even a relatively minor part of “everything”; in fact, take away photography and I’m left with not a lot of options at all. My other dimensions are pretty much all of a flat plane. I used to know quite a lot about literature and even art, as in painting, but by now, about the only artist who rings bells of instant recognition is Vinny van G. The rest of them, apart from portraits with earings, ladies standing in shells etc. become a mezcla of all of it. Much like most vernacular photography has also become, really.
I won’t enter into an argument with you about that video; all I want to add is that I gave it a fair time in which to make itself and its intentions known. There’s much in it, even within the bit that I watched, that rings warning bells. You may not be open to English accents and how very much they can inform you about the speaker’s status in life. If you listen to enough UK radio or tv, with the memory of how it was some years ago, well before the advent of PC and all that shit, you get a vivid snapshot of where people in the media have their roots and what may be their social and political beliefs – at least, the publicly expressed ones. I’m sure you can probably sound out the same positions in America, where I would be blind to them. Crudely put: a university degree today guarantees very little reassuring about the broader nature of the holder.
As this is about cars: this morning, about thirty feet BEYOND a pedestrian crossing, I watched as a girl of about twenty years of age, cellphone in hand, stepped into the street, mind and attention deep in the handheld world. A car screeched to a stop about a yard before her, and the driver gave her all the verbal greeting he could muster. She stopped when she reached the pavement, looked at him in amazement, at which point an older woman, perhaps her mother, still on the other side of the road, hurled abuse in English at the driver! To his credit, he yelled right back at her in English, telling her to shut up. Then, the twenty-year old pulled out the crying act and yes, started right back across the road the way she had come. If that driver hadn’t been so quick to react, she’d have been toast. Yet, I bet the sympathy would have gone to the young woman, the driver would have been left with God alone knows what problems, both legal and mental.
There was an experiment done in Ottawa, Canada where they took a road that was strictly meant for cars. The installed a walking lane and a bicycle lane. On that street businesses increased sales because all of the people driving on the road never stopped to shop. It increased the foot traffic and bicycle traffic hugely. Some of the longest lived communities already have bike lanes and easy access to foot traffic.
Author
That has been done in numerous communities around the world to the same result. What’s funny is that most of the businesses initially fight the entire thing.
While I could listen to Rob go on forever with his tales about how everyone is stupid and/or biased (except for him of course), we must move on to more pressing issues …. are you still using the Nikon Zf???!!!
Here in the Pacific Northwest the inner core of Portland and Seattle and the smaller cities like Eugene and Bend have reasonably good bike infrastructure (though quite a bit of that feels pasted on), but you don’t have to venture far from that to find yourself in a hell-scape of taking your life in your hands car world. That won’t be changing anytime soon. Car-centric life is locked in for most places.
Author
Yep. We love our machines. And thank GOD someone asked about the Zf!
The good news is that there is a solution that abandons the idea of private car/motorcyle ownership, needs no parking lot, reduces pollution and noise (yeah I’m the guy who’s anti motorcycle… happy to expand my rant) and moves everyone conveniently.
The bad news is that it’s gonna cost you… at least at first.
And that solution is…
LRT
Author
Yes, but here that is labeled as “socialism” or “communism,” and half our nation believes in this crap, so LRT is viewed as a “leftie” thing. Oil and gas dominates the right and left.
Just wait until you get to Kyoto especially, but nearly any Japanese city really.
Mayhem. Cars and bicycles everywhere. There is little infrastructure for cycling but everyone lives in (almost) harmony because the law here automatically blames the driver if there’s an accident because it is the bigger vehicle (“yeah, that cyclist was an idiot and wasn’t looking because he was on his smartphone cycling on the wrong side of the road, but still, you’re driving a far more dangerous machine so you’d better be careful anyway because even idiots don’t deserve an untimely death”), and if a cyclist hits a pedestrian the cyclist gets the blame.
It makes everyone more careful and in a small way makes up for the crappy infrastructure or lack there of.
Author
That is hilarious. Here it is the polar opposite. Most fatalities caused by automobiles on cyclists go entirely unpunished.
I’m not sure where I stand on this. I spent much of my life (until I joined the Army) riding at least a few times per week. Sometimes riding in North Dakota winters just to laugh about it with the few acquaintances I had who did the same. I have a poor neglected bike hanging from hooks in my garage as we speak, and in truth it would only take a bit of prior planning for me to get on it this weekend and put in some miles. The caveat is that I would “need” to drive to a suitable ride location.
As for my driving life, I’m in construction. On any given day there is a 75% chance I will have to shuffle tools and materials from one place to another. I can’t think of a way to make this safe and/or efficient driving anything except a truck or van. An electric vehicle for those of us in the trades would be pretty cool. The cybertruck isn’t it, neither is the Rivian. The e-van Amazon uses that is partially Rivian could work. (my longest work drive is 30 miles).
I’ve digressed. The methods and changes I see within Seattle to make cycling safer are strange and sometimes downright confusing. They are all “Oh Shit.” knee jerk responses in specific neighborhoods at specific intersections. The Burke-Gillman trail is a pretty cool thing, but getting to it can be dicey, and they are still working to get it properly linked.
I applaud anyone who has the hutzpah to commute by bicycle around here.
Due to my truck driving, I can see a lot of what people are doing in the cars in front of me. I can’t tell you how many times I see someone’s phone up on the dash or windscreen and they are scrolling while driving.
Cars and almost anything could co-exist if people put their phones down. Typed as I run over a pedestrian who hasn’t looked up in 100 feet.
Author
Phones have made all transportation more dangerous. And that includes planes, trains and automobiles. Motos, bikes, etc. Phones have made walking more dangerous. We’ve made it nearly impossible to make systemic change. That’s why so many people cop out by saying things like “Just relax.” It’s far easier to quit.
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