With the global warming and gas prices nearing $5.00 a gallon, I have had a recurring fantasy of an alternative to car driving. I've imagined what it would be like if everybody rode their bikes to almost everywhere. Of course, a lot of people who live in snow country would not be able to do it, but imagine if most of the people in California did it.
With all that exercise our health would be so much better. We would not have a high occurence of heart disease, and heart disease/heart attack would not be the number one killer of Americans. We would have a lot less fatalities since head on bicycle crashes would hardly kill you unless you are going down a steep decline. There would be more truck and bike crashes, but there would still be a lot less car crashes. Drunk driving would hardly be a problem; how much damage could a drunk do on a bike. The likelihood is that he will fall off the bike and sleep on the pavement. Imagine how much cheaper health insurance would be since we would be more healthy and have less chance of cancer, heart disease, obesity, and whatever comes about from lack of exercise.
Imagine what L.A. would look like if the only vehicles on the road are trucks and semis to transport food etc. The environment and climate would be in so much better shape if we rode bikes instead of cars. Not to mention we would have less problems with asthma.
There are some drawbacks to my fantasy; after all we would lose a lot of jobs in the car industry, and Michigan and Detroit would be hurting even more. They could go from car making to bike making, and of course there are the tubes and tires that you need to replace after about a 1000 miles which should be pretty easy to get to if you are riding everywhere, everyday. Then there are all the necessities and accessories like bike pumps, containers to put on your bike to carry your stuff, odometers, gloves and helmets. Of course, we also would be hurting the oil companies, but who cares about them? It won't hurt if they suffer a little.
Imagine also that highways would hardly need to be widened as you could easily get all the bikes you need onto two lanes going in each direction. Bikes would probably put less wear and tear on the roads, and you would not have to repair them as often.
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When I lived in America, I drove my car every day. I drove to work, the store, to visit people, etc. I drove everywhere.
Since moving to Japan, I ride my bike everywhere. If the weather is crappy, I take the bus or train. It's been an absolutely wonderful and liberating experience. Not only is it a totally free form of transportation (after buying the bike, of course, which quickly pays for itself), but it's also environmentally friendly, not prone to traffic jams (just zig-zag between those suckers!), and it saves on the gym membership!!
Unfortunately, many cities in the USA aren't very bike-friendly. However, if more people took to their bikes, cities would have no choice but to become more bike-friendly. If you can manage it, give a bike a try. You'll be glad you did.
Yea, I have ridden to school ocasionally which is about twelve miles one way, and I rode my bike to errands and such, but I would like to do more, and I wish that more people would ride their bikes.