Re:We Need to Dream Bigger Than Bike Lanes
by claudeganon on Wednesday October 23, 2019 @06:22AM
(#21333109)
It may seem tangential, but I think that biking culture can’t really take off in the US without universal, good quality healthcare. I’ve had a couple of friends suffer some serious and very expensive accidents and it has certainly made me hesitant to ride as much. When combined with the fact that US car culture has created circumstances in many states where you can kill bicyclists and more or less get away it, seems like a losing bet.
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Re:We Need to Dream Bigger Than Bike Lanes
by rapnie on Wednesday October 23, 2019 @06:39AM
(#21333201)
Yes, these may be very inhibiting factors. It's a bit of a chicken/egg problem too, because once bycicle culture grows, road safety also increases significantly:
> Despite the relative safety compared to automobiles, the number of fatalities and hospitalizations from cycling is significantly greater in the United States compared to other western states such as Germany, Canada, and the Netherlands. In a 2014 analysis, incidence of cycling death took place at a mean rate of 4.7 deaths per 100 million kilometers cycled in the U.S., compared to 1.3 deaths per 100 million kilometers in Germany, 1.0 in the Netherlands, and 1.1 in Denmark.