{"id":104,"date":"2018-02-01T21:26:45","date_gmt":"2018-02-01T21:26:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lockeruby.com\/WDV240\/Project2\/?p=104"},"modified":"2018-02-02T23:12:54","modified_gmt":"2018-02-02T23:12:54","slug":"myths-about-bicycling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/lockeruby.com\/WDV240\/Project2\/2018\/02\/myths-about-bicycling\/","title":{"rendered":"Myths about Bicycling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Boy, was I surprise that an article popped up about myths about bicycling.<\/span><\/p>\n

But you will be surprise what they said.\u00a0 They talk about helmet use, cyclists breaking laws, less noise and pollution, for the wealthy, and finally bike-sharing making it safer.\u00a0 I do not necessary agree with everything they say.\u00a0 But it does make you think.<\/span><\/p>\n

Five myths about bicycling – The Washington Post<\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n

Each year, 100 million Americans<\/a> jump on a bicycle at least once, especially when the weather gets warm. Some of these pedalers are recreational riders; others rely on their bikes for transportation to and from work. In the past few years, cities have rushed to accommodate such travelers: Scores of bike lanes and bike-share programs<\/a> have popped up. But there are still a lot of misconceptions about getting around on two wheels. As the number of cyclists rises, it\u2019s important to keep in mind some truths about who they are, how they behave and what impact they have on the space around us.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Mandating helmet use is the best way to keep riders safe.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no doubt about it: Helmets save lives. Studies show they reduce the risk of cyclist head injury<\/a> by 85 percent. Recently, bike advocates such as Greg Kaplan have argued<\/a> that riding without a helmet should be illegal. \u201cWearing a helmet while riding a bike is analogous to wearing a seatbelt while driving,\u201d he wrote in Bicycling magazine.<\/span><\/p>\n

In truth, there are better ways to keep cyclists safe. And legislating helmet use can distract<\/a> from the many policy interventions that would actually help more. Helmets don\u2019t prevent crashes, and people can be badly hurt in a collision with a moving vehicle, whether or not their heads are protected. Building dedicated infrastructure to keep bikes away from cars is a more effective way to save lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Here\u2019s proof: Most European cities don\u2019t require riders to wear helmets<\/a>. Yet in those cities, there are fewer cyclist deaths and injuries per capita than in the United States. Experts say that\u2019s because of their infrastructure. And studies show<\/a> that when drivers see cyclists in helmets, they behave more recklessly, driving closer to pedalers and increasing the possibility of accidents.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Mandating helmet use also tends to reduce overall ridership<\/a>, since some people would rather skip bicycling altogether than risk punishment for not wearing a helmet. When that happens, bike density decreases<\/a> and the presence of cyclists is less apparent, which leaves those who remain more vulnerable.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Cyclists break more traffic laws than drivers do.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

When confronted with cycling safety proposals, lawmakers across<\/a> the country have claimed<\/a> that bicyclists don\u2019t deserve new laws until they follow existing ones. When the Virginia Bicycling Federation was trying to get a new passing law enacted, it said it was told<\/a> that \u201cbicyclists are often lawbreakers, unworthy of any added protection under the law.\u201d Others echo this claim: The Spectator, a British magazine, called cyclists \u201ca menace to society<\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Most cyclists do say<\/a> they\u2019ve rolled through a red light once in a while, if the street was clear of oncoming cars, or have hopped on a sidewalk to avoid a crowded road. These acts are illegal in many cities. And occasionally, bikers act unpredictably and irresponsibly, putting themselves and drivers in danger.<\/span><\/p>\n

But let\u2019s put those bad acts in perspective: According to Wesley Marshall<\/a>, a University of Colorado engineering professor who surveyed<\/a> more than 17,000 cyclists and drivers, drivers copped to breaking the rules at a slightly higher rate than bikers. It\u2019s the rare driver who never speeds, after all. And sometimes, drivers think cyclists are breaking the law when they\u2019re really not \u2014 it\u2019s usually legal to take up a whole lane, for example, rather than staying on the right side of the road.<\/span><\/p>\n

3. If more people rode bikes, there\u2019d be noticeably less traffic and pollution.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

A lot of bicycle evangelists see cycling as the fix for all kinds of urban problems, from congestion to smog. Forbes wondered whether bringing back bicycles<\/a> could fix Beijing\u2019s traffic woes. Bicycling magazine says cyclists could be a \u201chuge part<\/a>\u201d of combating global warming. \u201cHow much can bicycling help fight climate change?\u201d Streetsblog asks<\/a>. \u201cA lot, if cities try.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sure, if everyone gave up their cars tomorrow, the health of our cities and our climate would improve. But this is wishful thinking. Just 1 percent of Americans regularly commute by bicycle<\/a>. Even if that number doubled, cycling wouldn\u2019t significantly cut smog and congestion. And for many people \u2014 families with small children, the millions<\/a> who live 10 miles or more from their jobs, the elderly and the infirm \u2014 biking just isn\u2019t a realistic possibility.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even if significantly more people rode bikes, it probably wouldn\u2019t make a serious dent in our traffic problems. Studies have shown<\/a> that congestion increases in cities where there are more bike riders but no new bike lanes. As city planners have long realized<\/a>, the only thing powerful enough to lure drivers out of their cars is a combination of robust bike infrastructure and a comprehensive transit system. Just look at the cities where the most people get to work<\/a> using biking and transit: High shares of one mode tend to correspond with high shares of the other. Many cities simply don\u2019t have anything like what it would take to meaningfully reduce car use.<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Bicycling is mostly for the wealthy.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

You probably know the stereotype of city cyclists: spandex-clad guys tooling around on bikes that cost more than your car. \u201cTwenty-five years ago, they might have gone out to buy a Porsche or a supersport motorbike, now it\u2019s a $5,100 carbon fiber bike,\u201d marketing specialist Michael Oliver told<\/a> Business Insider. Anthropologist Adonia Lugo explains<\/a> that bicycling is often promoted as \u201can urban lifestyle. You don\u2019t do it because it\u2019s cheap and you need to get somewhere. It\u2019s presented as an opportunity to be part of urban chic fashion.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But statistics suggest that bicycling is equally prevalent among people of all income levels or may even be more common<\/a> in the lowest-earning quartile. One PeopleForBikes study found that 40 percent of American adults who ride have incomes<\/a> of less than $20,000. That makes sense: For distances slightly too far to walk, biking is often the fastest, cheapest way to get around, especially for people who can\u2019t afford to buy and maintain cars. Unfortunately, the infrastructure has yet to catch up. People who make less than $20,000 a year say they\u2019re less satisfied than others with the bike paths, lanes and trails in their neighborhoods.<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Bike-sharing programs make roads less safe.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Whenever a U.S. city considers installing a bike-sharing program, people worry. When New York proposed its Citi Bike system, the Daily News warned of \u201chell on wheels<\/a>\u201d and suggested that it would be nearly impossible to keep pedalers safe. The city\u2019s comptroller warned that the program would lead to more accident lawsuits against the city<\/a>. This fear seems understandable. People rent big, clunky bikes and ride them slowly around town, often without helmets, probably careening into stationary objects and causing pile-ups behind them. Right?<\/span><\/p>\n

After a few years of collecting data on the systems that have sprouted in cities across the country, researchers have found this not to be true. According to a report released in March<\/a> by the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University, there have been zero fatalities from bike-sharing programs in the United States since the first systems were established in 2010. They also have a lower non-fatal injury rate than bicycling generally, and researchers think that\u2019s precisely because the bikes are so large and visible, and riders can\u2019t pilot them as aggressively as conventional bikes.<\/span><\/p>\n

In European cities, these systems make the rest of the cycling population safer as well, as they increase driver awareness, slow down traffic and increase pressure for safety-enhancing street infrastructure, such as protected bike lanes, for everyone to use.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boy, was I surprise that an article popped up about myths about bicycling. But you will be surprise what they said.\u00a0 They talk about helmet use, cyclists breaking laws, less noise and pollution, for the wealthy, and finally bike-sharing making it safer.\u00a0 I do not necessary agree with everything they say.\u00a0 But it does make […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":105,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/lockeruby.com\/WDV240\/Project2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/lockeruby.com\/WDV240\/Project2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/lockeruby.com\/WDV240\/Project2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lockeruby.com\/WDV240\/Project2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lockeruby.com\/WDV240\/Project2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/lockeruby.com\/WDV240\/Project2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":148,"href":"http:\/\/lockeruby.com\/WDV240\/Project2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104\/revisions\/148"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lockeruby.com\/WDV240\/Project2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/lockeruby.com\/WDV240\/Project2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lockeruby.com\/WDV240\/Project2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lockeruby.com\/WDV240\/Project2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}