It’s legal to ride on the road, and often either required, or the sidewalk is terribly designed to permit cycling.
Not to mention, you’re blaming the victims of car wrecks. This is how car-centric the US is, where we blame the cyclist piloting a 30 lb machine, not the driver piloting a 2000 lb machine.
You’re forgetting about the humans in cars (again, we’re so car-centric in our thinking, we often only consider what’s outside the car).
Additionally…
No human is a good driver. Not a single one. Even top Formula 1, NASCAR, or the super fast off-road drivers. Because human evolution hasn’t caught up to the advances of how a car can perform.
Traveling 30+ mph [48 kph] is not something humans are evolved to do well. Our visual acquisition, muscle response, and even the way our organs slosh about in our body do not equate to good driving capability. We aren’t a Peregrine Falcon, or any other bird that is better at moving faster.
Globally, 3700 people die every day to car wrecks. That’s 2.5 every minute. And yeah, we’re trying to mitigate that with better in-car tech, but fewer cars on the road would help mitigate that even faster.
Don’t blame the cyclist. The onus of responsibility is on the drivers, since they’re the faster vehicle.
Edited to add: Here’s a simple basic proposition. With curbs each between cars / bikes / pedestrians.
It’s legal to ride on the road, and often either required, or the sidewalk is terribly designed to permit cycling.
Not to mention, you’re blaming the victims of car wrecks. This is how car-centric the US is, where we blame the cyclist piloting a 30 lb machine, not the driver piloting a 2000 lb machine.
If you stay on the sidewalk and look both ways before crossing the street, there are no risks of a car wreck.
You’re forgetting about the humans in cars (again, we’re so car-centric in our thinking, we often only consider what’s outside the car).
Additionally…
No human is a good driver. Not a single one. Even top Formula 1, NASCAR, or the super fast off-road drivers. Because human evolution hasn’t caught up to the advances of how a car can perform.
Traveling 30+ mph [48 kph] is not something humans are evolved to do well. Our visual acquisition, muscle response, and even the way our organs slosh about in our body do not equate to good driving capability. We aren’t a Peregrine Falcon, or any other bird that is better at moving faster.
Globally, 3700 people die every day to car wrecks. That’s 2.5 every minute. And yeah, we’re trying to mitigate that with better in-car tech, but fewer cars on the road would help mitigate that even faster.
Don’t blame the cyclist. The onus of responsibility is on the drivers, since they’re the faster vehicle.
Edited to add: Here’s a simple basic proposition. With curbs each between cars / bikes / pedestrians.
You just spelled out why it’s safer to stay on the sidewalks than I ever could have.
Sidewalks are terrible. We need designated bike infrastructure.
And fewer cars.
Edited to add: Here’s a simple basic proposition. With curbs each between cars / bikes / pedestrians.
But still safer than roads. Which was my point.