3 ms·
> forcing cars to be safe to cyclists is a dead end Isn’t it? Cars are drastically different. Visibility is poor in a car, so it’s difficult to see narrow obje
by noahtallen 4y ago
> forcing cars to be safe to cyclists is a dead end
Isn’t it? Cars are drastically different. Visibility is poor in a car, so it’s difficult to see narrow objects like a bike. Cars normally drive much faster than a bike — 20mph is slow for a car but fast (ish) for a bike. Cars are vastly heavier and larger, meaning they cause a severe amount of damage when they hit a smaller object like a bike or human.
Cars and bikes sharing the road is not ideal for either. Countries with excellent bike cultures and safety records (the Netherlands) promote separate infrastructure for different modes of transit, and it works well.
- makeitdouble 4y agoAll of these are our choices though. For instance changing taxation to make small, slow and pedestrian friendly cars way cheaper could have a drastic effect (some countries do). That can be combined with putting limitations on what category of vehicle can enter city centers. Introducing parking lot sizes privileging smaller cars etc. It’s all cultural, and either solution will take decades of effort, education, changing people’s behavior and costs tremendous money anyway.