I love bikes, and don’t own a car. But, this is misleading.
Bikes are terrible off road where there are no paths. They’re decent if there’s a well worn path, as long as there are no exposed roots or big rocks, but if the path isn’t well maintained walking is probably better.
Where bikes excel is very flat surfaces. The modern world is filled with those. The problem is that in most places the assumption is that those flat surfaces belong to either cars or pedestrians. Theoretically, in many places, bikes are allowed in the same places as cars most of the time. But, if a biker shares the space with cars, it’s just a matter of time before that biker collides with a car. When that happens, the person in the car won’t be injured. The biker may be dead.
When a driver hits a car, normally the driver gets off easy. Even if there’s evidence of malicious intent, it’s almost never treated as manslaughter or even murder. If there’s no evidence of malice, it’s treated as an “oopsie daisy” and there’s virtually no chance that the driver will spend any time in jail or prison.
Finally, bikes aren’t treated as important property that the law should protect the way that cars are. Even in places like Amsterdam where biking is one of the most common ways to get around, the canals are filled with bikes that have been stolen and thrown in. If you steal a car and get caught, you’re in serious trouble. If you steal a bike, the odds of getting caught are tiny, and if it happens it’s not treated as a very serious issue.
Sure, laws can be changed. But, drivers tend to be older and richer. The older they are, the more dependent they are on their cars. So, they almost always manage to defeat any potential changes to the law.
Bikes do give you a lot of freedom, but in a world designed around cars first, it’s not as much freedom as you get with a car. Maybe in 50 years it will be different. I hope so.
The problem is banks own the majority of cars. Stealing a car is stealing a banks property. The banks have enough money to get pissy about this and make the government do something.
If cars didn’t require loans and had entire major industries profiting off them then it’s likely cars would be treated like bikes.
I love bikes, and don’t own a car. But, this is misleading.
Bikes are terrible off road where there are no paths. They’re decent if there’s a well worn path, as long as there are no exposed roots or big rocks, but if the path isn’t well maintained walking is probably better.
Where bikes excel is very flat surfaces. The modern world is filled with those. The problem is that in most places the assumption is that those flat surfaces belong to either cars or pedestrians. Theoretically, in many places, bikes are allowed in the same places as cars most of the time. But, if a biker shares the space with cars, it’s just a matter of time before that biker collides with a car. When that happens, the person in the car won’t be injured. The biker may be dead.
When a driver hits a car, normally the driver gets off easy. Even if there’s evidence of malicious intent, it’s almost never treated as manslaughter or even murder. If there’s no evidence of malice, it’s treated as an “oopsie daisy” and there’s virtually no chance that the driver will spend any time in jail or prison.
Finally, bikes aren’t treated as important property that the law should protect the way that cars are. Even in places like Amsterdam where biking is one of the most common ways to get around, the canals are filled with bikes that have been stolen and thrown in. If you steal a car and get caught, you’re in serious trouble. If you steal a bike, the odds of getting caught are tiny, and if it happens it’s not treated as a very serious issue.
Sure, laws can be changed. But, drivers tend to be older and richer. The older they are, the more dependent they are on their cars. So, they almost always manage to defeat any potential changes to the law.
Bikes do give you a lot of freedom, but in a world designed around cars first, it’s not as much freedom as you get with a car. Maybe in 50 years it will be different. I hope so.
The problem is banks own the majority of cars. Stealing a car is stealing a banks property. The banks have enough money to get pissy about this and make the government do something.
If cars didn’t require loans and had entire major industries profiting off them then it’s likely cars would be treated like bikes.