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The 20 year old Civic was a small subcompact. The current Civic is more similar what was the Accord. The Honda Fit is a bit like the old Civic hatch, but still larger and heavier.
Not in the mood to look it up, but the most dangerous roads are moderately fast (but not interstate fast) roads with lots of intersections. Worse would be lots of shopping center merges and such.
Not sure, but I'd guess that was true for the US, but not for many other parts of the world.
Snow would make it a pain, but many climate with snow don't get snow all the time, let alone every day. Rest of the time, the roads are plowed. However, they may get narrower and bicycling less comfortable.
Plowing? Where? Not here. Not much anyway.
I believe it is not recommended to put a baby that can't sit up on her own (under age 6-8 months) in one of those bike trailers, either.
Last edited by Katarina Witt; 07-24-2014 at 09:06 PM..
Not sure, but I'd guess that was true for the US, but not for many other parts of the world.
Snow would make it a pain, but many climate with snow don't get snow all the time, let alone every day. Rest of the time, the roads are plowed. However, they may get narrower and bicycling less comfortable.
Snow, rain, temperature(too hot/ too cold) and time constants tend to push people away from the bike.
9.6 miles an hour is pretty slow by automobile standards for parents time gets more important and thus the faster method of travel along with the fewer trips gets preferred. Less child care hassle(baby sitting or repeated tending to small kids in the store).
Less time between important events. Kid A needs to be at dance school by 5:00. Daddy needs to get to work but is keeping an eye on the Kids until mother gets back from work at 4:30 , Kid B can't go to dance school because they have an rule against it(kid is too young and Dance School ain't baby sitting). Now try to do all of that on an bike or public transit only and it quickly gets ugly.
With an car that is easy. The fast non-stop direct route means mother can load up both kids in the car and get there by 5:00. If you totally depend on public transit then you have to factor in wait time between buses and wait time to transfer and trust me you will not get far in 30 mins. by bus.
Mother can immediately depart from work and not get tied up with waiting on the bus, or transferring. This means both the distance away from home that she can work as well as the time frame where she can be at work have expanded vs. public transit or the bike. She can take that job 9.6 miles away with better hours or benefits and be home in 30 mins because she isn't riding an bike. She can depart at 4:00 and get there by 4:30. Hence why the automobile has become dominate. Now I expect in some sci fi world in the future where people can beam like star trek the distance could increase even more.
I wasn't arguing any of that. My post was specifically on how big of an effect snow is for biking. Just because it snows in the winter doesn't mean the snow is on the road most of the winter.
I wasn't arguing any of that. My post was specifically on how big of an effect snow is for biking. Just because it snows in the winter doesn't mean the snow is on the road most of the winter.
True, but there is also cold(do you want to haul your kid out in 20F weather?), rain( nothing worse than getting caught in an cold rain storm...then you get the fun of being cold and wet), heat(biking in hot weather is an great way to get heat stroke), sun(for those prone to sun-burn). Bikes are an great way to travel, but 90% of the time the car is more practical.
Incorrect. Cycling is no less safe than driving statistically. When one considers the health costs, cycling is considerably "safer" than driving in a car. Drivers have higher rates of obesity and inhale more exhaust fumes. If your argument is... car + bicycle = dead bicycle than sure.. but most cycling crashes don't involve car-bicycle conflicts. They are usually the cyclist falling off his bike.
You misread. The argument is bicycle loses against car.
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Originally Posted by Opin_Yunated
Like I said, have fun inhaling fumes and suffering from high blood pressure due to road rage. Maybe spending 2 hours in your car every day will help the back problems too
I doubt being hunched over a bike is helping anyone's back problems. As far as the air is concerned you already get to inhale the same air. I think you've inhaled too much. I suspect you prefer diesel.
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Originally Posted by Opin_Yunated
Think my argument through logically. If there were 50 million bikes on the road instead of 50 million cars, there would still be plenty of accidents. The consequences of those accidents would be less fatalities, due to less mass riding around. Our cars are 4,000 lb steel cages to protect ourselves from other 4,000 lb steel cages. Hence, the chicken and egg syndrome. If the car's frame was made of styrofoam, we would also have less fatalities.
Yes there would be accidents and probably even more accidents with cars due the increase in bicyclists despite a decrease in cars. However there is always a tradeoff between functionality, usefulness, practicality, etc. Bikes aren't practical for most households.
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Originally Posted by Opin_Yunated
Why wouldn't you?
More excuses. Kids have a pair of legs too. Never heard of bike trailers or tandem bikes?
Sure lots of kids do. However, it's impractical and unsafe to haul kids (or anyone else) any distance in your bike trailer. Bike is also not particularly secure place to leave things when making multiple stops. Issues with weather exposure and risk exposure are just a few additional examples of reasons bikes are not workable for most folks. Bicycles are not a practical solution for most households in this country.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Opin_Yunated
The manners in which Americans use personal vehicles (then ***** about health problems) is a self-inflicted problem. Then we beg oil companies to keep gas prices low, and cities to create 12 lane highways.
??? Nothing wrong with building road capacity adequate to handle the load. Cuts down on the other concerns you raised like pollution and wait time. So what's your complaint?
I've said this before, but I think that obesity isn't caused by cars, but increased driving is caused by obesity. There are fit people who drive to work, and during their free time they go to the gym, jog around their neighborhood, or find other ways to stay in shape. Yet every day they drive a car to work. You can also find obese individuals riding public transit as well. I find that blaming the car for the obesity epidemic is a sign of anti-car beliefs. The fault with being obese lies with the person not taking the time to exercise. In several suburban areas, there are several parks, sidewalks, and gyms that people can go to. If you can't afford a gym, then walking around the block or through the park is free. But people who want to be in shape will find a way. People who gain too much weight will find anything to blame but themselves.And once that weight is gained, it becomes harder to move around without using some sort of assistance. That's why you never see obese people walking or riding a bike, but you always see them in cars. Biking does help you stay in shape, driving a car does not make you fat.
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