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We Need to Dream Bigger Than Bike Lanes

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Re: We Need to Dream Bigger Than Bike Lanes

#511

Post by watt3rpig »

alistairSH wrote: post #342
cgrealy wrote: post #3

I live in Christchurch, NZ. After a massive earthquake in 2011, I had high hopes that we might redesign the city for the next 100 years instead of the previous 50 (i.e. for people, not cars). Instead the city council built a few bike lanes and even then people lost their goddamn minds. "You're taking away parking space!" "All these bike lanes are slowing traffic" "No one wants to bike into the city" Meanwhile, cyclis…

Ugh. We get the same thing here in suburban DC (not the earthquakes but the outright hostility towards any changes in road infrastructure that don't involve adding lanes). The main street in front of my neighborhood was recently repaved end-to-end (3 miles or so). Prior to that, it was 2 lanes in each direction, with a few left turn lanes. As part of the repave, they wanted to add a semi-protected bike lane (by remov…

Yup cycling is so dumb here. I bike 20 miles a day on the weekend but don’t commute by bike because of how bad the infrastructure is.

Re: We Need to Dream Bigger Than Bike Lanes

#512

Post by crooked-v »

bluGill wrote: post #386
m1sta_ wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every cyclist frees up a car park.

But they need a bike park instead. Granted you can park 5-10 bikes in the space of a car (depending on the size of the bikes and car), but we still need to have this space.

> Granted you can park 5-10 bikes in the space of a car

Substantially more than that. Don't forget about vertical staggering and about the space saved from not needing a safety margin between car spaces.

Re: We Need to Dream Bigger Than Bike Lanes

#513

Post by marcoseliziario »

vkou wrote: post #439
dsfyu404ed wrote: post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In almost every other context in which risk of physical harm comes up the overwhelmingly dominant opinion is that forgoing any means of reducing that risk is a non-starter more or less regardless of cost. Anyone suggesting that risk and cost/benefit need to be assessed is received about as well as someone proclaiming god doesn't exist in the middle of a church circa 1500. As a safety heretic I fully agree with you th…

And yet, drivers and passengers of automobiles are not required to wear racing helmets, or five-point safety belts - nor are all cars factory-equipped with breathalyzer ignition interlocks - or speed governors which limit a vehicle's sustained maximum speed to 63 mph.

This single thing, breathalyzer interlocks, probably would save a huge portion of the lives that would be saved by fully autonomous driving, but for a fraction of the cost, and basically right now. It could even be installed on existing cars, and probably insurance companies would help you cover the cost.

Re: We Need to Dream Bigger Than Bike Lanes

#514

Post by emanuensis »

kevstev wrote: post #509
magduf wrote: post #482

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not advocating for mandatory helmet laws in that post, I'm just pointing out why you should wear a helmet on a bike, regardless of any laws. You, personally, will be safer with a helmet; it's a simple fact of physics. Sure, fewer cars means it's safer for cyclists, but you keep focusing on cars and ignoring other dangers with cycling: other cyclists, pedestrians, slippery/uneven roads, or just plain mistakes by t…

Do you also wear boots, an armored jacket and pants? Gloves? I bike to work every day, and spent a good part of my childhood on a bike- mountain biking on trails in the woods. I have had countless banged up knees, elbows, ankles and hands, but never had a head injury. I used to ride a motorcycle, and wore the full getup aside from pants, and I feel cyclists would be far more protected wearing a jacket and gloves. Ane…

+1 gloves

Re: We Need to Dream Bigger Than Bike Lanes

#515

Post by NickBusey »

CDSlice wrote: post #495
ghaff wrote: post #446

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of people get really dogmatic about safety gear in very specific ways. I'm willing to bet that a lot of the same people who think that not wearing a bike helmet (and especially allowing a child not to wear one) should be a criminal offense would think the idea of having to wear a helmet driving is just silly. The attitudes around helmets for downhill skiing have gone through a similar shift. It used to be that…

> I'm willing to bet that a lot of the same people who think that not wearing a bike helmet (and especially allowing a child not to wear one) should be a criminal offense would think the idea of having to wear a helmet driving is just silly. Although I don't think biking without a helmet should be a criminal offense for adults, I think the comparison with cars isn't quite right. We do require people to use safety equ…

I'm curious why you think a helmet wouldn't do much in a car crash, seeing as in any car race every driver is wearing a helmet.

Re: We Need to Dream Bigger Than Bike Lanes

#516

Post by shkkmo »

kevstev wrote: post #509
magduf wrote: post #482

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not advocating for mandatory helmet laws in that post, I'm just pointing out why you should wear a helmet on a bike, regardless of any laws. You, personally, will be safer with a helmet; it's a simple fact of physics. Sure, fewer cars means it's safer for cyclists, but you keep focusing on cars and ignoring other dangers with cycling: other cyclists, pedestrians, slippery/uneven roads, or just plain mistakes by t…

Do you also wear boots, an armored jacket and pants? Gloves? I bike to work every day, and spent a good part of my childhood on a bike- mountain biking on trails in the woods. I have had countless banged up knees, elbows, ankles and hands, but never had a head injury. I used to ride a motorcycle, and wore the full getup aside from pants, and I feel cyclists would be far more protected wearing a jacket and gloves. Ane…

> From that same source, roughly 1% of all head injuries admitted into hospitals are from cycling, and 60% are alcohol related. Yet people would find it ridiculous if you suggested they wear a drinking helmet.

That is a hilarious and wonderful comparison. I'm gonna save that one for future discussion of helmets and safety.

Re: We Need to Dream Bigger Than Bike Lanes

#517

Post by shkkmo »

s_y_n_t_a_x wrote: post #424
cyborgx7 wrote: post #377

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How silly of me. We should definitely organize MORE of our society around the needs of car owners. /s

Have fun getting your stores stocked by trucks with no roads. Having a baby? Hop on a train, hopefully it's not delayed. Mother dying? Walk a few blocks, train, hopefully she'll make it. Public transportation in American cities barely works as is, and usually only for tourists (see LA) and yet you want to rely solely on it?

Buses, ambulances and delivery trucks are not cars.

Re: We Need to Dream Bigger Than Bike Lanes

#518

Post by namibj »

aidenn0 wrote: post #419
brnt wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a Dutchman who's lived in a few places abroad, the cycling 'problem' is quite simple: it needs to be the norm. No helmet, because neither do you require them for pedestrians. You can cycle in all weather, just as you would walking (a hard mental one, my non-Dutch partner can't get over the idea cycling is for sunshine). Public space design must start with safe (no sharp turns, looking at you France!) and separate…

I live in a very mild clime, but still don't bike when it's rainy. What do you suggest gear-wise for bicycling in say 5-10C but wet? I have a 30 minute bicycle commute that I'd like to do more often. A typical waist-length jacket leaves most of my body wet, but a longer jacket is awkward to bike in. If it's over 10C, I can just wear shorts that don't absorb water, but under 10, it gets quite uncomfortable.

The German military has some literal pullover pant+jacket rain combo. It is quite robust woven nylon on the outside with PTFE membrane below (shielded from the inner garments with thin woven PET). You need gloves to prevent moisture wicking up, and might have to get creative around the face/hood/chin border, but otherwise this (I'd suggest a civil clone; the original seems to only exist in Flecktarn) should do the trick. And it's highly breathable.

Re: We Need to Dream Bigger Than Bike Lanes

#519

Post by flukus »

jnty wrote: post #249
ivanhoe wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In 1438 there was no supermarkets with huge parking lots that will lure away all your customers. It's not just that people will have to walk to you (so competition located closer will win), they will also have to carry the stuff they buy back to the car, so they'll probably not be willing to buy a lot, or anything heavier. If you're selling souvenirs or t-shirts it's not a big deal, but for people selling say wines o…

Why would you drive into the medieval centre of a city to do a large supermarket shop if you can drive to an out-of-town one already? Studies show that - particularly in Europe - most people are already walking to these shops everywhere. The 'weekly shop' is not really a thing that inner-city dwellers tend to do that often - they either rely on deliveries (cheap and efficient due to density) or smaller shops througho…

> The 'weekly shop' is not really a thing that inner-city dwellers tend to do that often

Something I wish the holier than though types thought of when they banned plastic bags here. No I can't just keep my reusable bags in the back of my SUV so I have them when I go shopping.

Re: We Need to Dream Bigger Than Bike Lanes

#520

Post by CDSlice »

NickBusey wrote: post #515
CDSlice wrote: post #495

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm willing to bet that a lot of the same people who think that not wearing a bike helmet (and especially allowing a child not to wear one) should be a criminal offense would think the idea of having to wear a helmet driving is just silly. Although I don't think biking without a helmet should be a criminal offense for adults, I think the comparison with cars isn't quite right. We do require people to use safety equ…

I'm curious why you think a helmet wouldn't do much in a car crash, seeing as in any car race every driver is wearing a helmet.

I was talking about the kind of helmets bicyclists wear. The only thing a bicycle helmet would save you from in a car wreck is hitting your head against the windshield/dash which is what we have airbags and seatbelts for.

Also, race cars aren't really comparable to normal driving situations since they go much faster and have a different set of constraints than normal cars. The racing helmets, rollcages, and 5 point harnesses aren't really as necessary at 70mph as they are at 200mph

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