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Comment by aeharding | Hacker News Reader

Because in this country the options are

1. Buy a car because it’s required in order to literally feed yourself, or

2. Live in one of the highly desirable, expensive pre-war neighborhoods that remain walkable

Many Americans can’t just “give up cars” even if they wanted to. Car dependency is literally codified in out zoning and street building (MUTCD)

Maybe if car dependency wasn’t such a requirement in order to live, maybe if everyone could easily walk to the bar, we wouldn’t need alcohol detection in cars.

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> Maybe if car dependency wasn’t such a requirement in order to live, maybe if everyone could easily walk to the bar, we wouldn’t need alcohol detection in cars.

This is the goal that is worth spending political action on, not snake oil remedies designed only to advance the careers of politicians peddling them.

>Buy a car because it’s required in order to literally feed yourself

One doesn't eat a car, nor need a car. It sure is nice to have but other options exists for most trips. An electric bicycle makes it easy to go anywhere needed. Even a non electric bicycle can go a great distance.

On the other hand I just looked up the average commute to work distance and it is way higher than I would have though, 27.6miles [1] Still a long distance but not too long for an ebike.

[1] https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2021/one-way-...

I usually WFH, but that's about the distance to my job if I take the highway, where bikes aren't allowed. If I were to go using side streets it would easily be double that.

Wouldn't be looking forward to a 50 mile ebike commute!

Truly what a self-indulgent, privileged comment from someone who evidently doesn't share the lives, practical needs or economic circumstances of millions of people who truly, really, fucking absolutely need cars for their daily living needs. Oh hey.. Let's flippantly recommend an "ebike"... Because of course that's the perfect solution for all the ranchers, farmers, far-suburban residents and millions of people who live in neighborhoods and cities where public transit and bikes are absurdly impractical for the jobs they need to do each day to pay the bills.

Truly, some of the people on HN are incredible at taking their own little bubbles of life and just cluelessly extrapolating them outward to any situation without a single pause. It's laughable.

Let us ignore the huge cost saving brought on by truck-trailers.

We cannot imagine a fleet of electric bike pulling one truck-trailer, in the spirit of slaves pulling blocks toward an Egyptian pyramid.

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