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Re:Building from Zero After Addiction, Prison, and a Felony by klibertp on Sunday June 07, 2026 @06:19PM (#48439163)
Probably depends on the locale. In Europe, riding a moped in a big city is a way to drastically cut your commute compared to driving a car. It's not exactly dangerous when all the other road users are moving at 5m/min, and being able to just skip all the traffic jams is a godsend. By car, my trip to the office was about 45min - it was 15min on a moped, a stop at a shop for some snacks included. And that's with riding speed never exceeding 50km/h.

I had two accidents during my 5 years of commuting, and both times I only got minor scratches and had to replace my shoes. Both happened at speeds a determined bicycle rider could achieve, but I suspect I wouldn't be as well protected on a bicycle (both the machine itself and the protective gear tend to be much lighter there than on a moped). If I needed to do that again, I'd buy a model with two wheels at the front, which would have prevented both accidents - though I'm not sure if added stability wouldn't encourage me to ride faster.

So it's pretty specific, but if you're somewhere where driving culture is not too cutthroat, the roads can support single-track vehicles, and the traffic rather than actual distance is the limiting factor - owning a bike can be an objectively better option.

Re:Building from Zero After Addiction, Prison, and a Felony by newaccountman2 on Sunday June 07, 2026 @07:27PM (#48439711)
oh interesting, I should have realized it was fairly common in Europe
Re:Building from Zero After Addiction, Prison, and a Felony by coldtea on Monday June 08, 2026 @03:12AM (#48442194)
In Europe many people have both, and use the motorcycle to go to work/etc because it's faster and more convenient, especially in a larger city with traffic jams.
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Re:Building from Zero After Addiction, Prison, and a Felony by ProllyInfamous on Monday June 08, 2026 @12:10PM (#48447204)
>Riding bus is time consuming and expensive.

I've always thought it made more sense that instead of large metrobuses the local transit authority operate more like a locals-only taxiservice – similar to their already-existant handicapped-access services (which send a solitary transport driver, with ramped single-occupant van/vehicle).