Comment 11577

By joejoe (anonymous) | Posted September 10, 2007 at 08:16:50

Here's the crucial point:
"Bike infrastructure can certainly help: streets with clearly marked, well-maintained bike lanes are safer than streets without them. It's also clear that bike lanes increase the perception of safety for would-be cyclists"
I wonder what the bike accident stats are in countries like Holland and Germany where dedicated bike lanes (i.e. lanes seperated by medians and not token white lines) separate the bikes from the road?

The fundamental problem, as I see it, is the way we mingle bikes and cars. Can you imagine how many more pedestrians would die if we all had to walk on the road?

Take a trip to Europe and go biking there. You will truly understand why cycling is so dangerous here.

Note also that our attitude to cycling is not just about the actual accident stats, it's about how dangerous cycling in North America makes us FEEL.

Ultimately the best way to encourage cycling (and I agree we should encourage it) is to design our road network to accomodate all modes of transport - and I don't mean 3 feet of sidewalk and token white lines that stop abruptly every few miles.

Permalink | Context

Events Calendar

There are no upcoming events right now.
Why not post one?

Recent Articles

Article Archives

Blog Archives

Site Tools

Feeds