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Comment by socialismisok | Hacker News Reader

I live in Seattle and my kid bikes to school almost every day. It's really easy if you say yourself up with an e-bike.

It really depends on where you live in the US. When I moved from Los Angeles to the Atlanta suburbs my daughter rode her bike to elementary school like she always had. The school principal called and told me it wasn't allowed. I offered to ride with her since I work from home and it wouldn't be a problem but she wouldn't budge. I offered to fund raise for bike racks, setup bike trains, and give safety courses. I tried for years and years, through three kids, and never got permission. My kids are all grown now except my oldest who does indeed ride an e-bike to high school.

What does she mean, "not allowed"? She's not the boss of your daughter. Couldn't you just tell the principal she can't forbid your daughter from riding a bicycle?

She said if my daughter showed up by bike she wouldn’t be allowed into the building. If they saw the bike locked up to the fence they’d cut the lock and impound it. She was apologetic and said it was a safety issue because everyone else drove and it’s not safe for students to be around cars and busses. I pointed out that everyone else drove because they weren’t allowing people to walk or ride their bikes. It was very frustrating. I was glad when we moved on to Jr High.

> She said if my daughter showed up by bike she wouldn’t be allowed into the building. If they saw the bike locked up to the fence they’d cut the lock and impound it.

I would try to record this conversation, and once I had the recording, warn the principal in a public letter that would be a criminal act and cause for a civil suit, and threaten to also take it to the local news media. Of course, if my daughter was willing to take up this fight.

Yeah, I was much younger then and much less self confident. If I had it to do over I'd escalate, like you suggest. Maybe get the super intendant involve. Another option would have been to find more parents that were interested and get some ground support.

It's been a few years since I've been to Seattle, but other than trails along the bay I don't recall biking within the city itself feeling safe. Were there many protected bike lanes?

Any city is safe to bike in if you either stick to residential roads or take the entire lane:

https://i.redd.it/x8qqewx3m7l91.png

Here's Seattle's network of protected bike lanes: <https://i.imgur.com/vEDhqoz.png>. Note that many of them are flawed in one or more ways:

* There are frequent car crossings at blind alleys and driveways, often every 20-30 feet.

* Many are "protected" by flexible posts that are easily driven over.

* When protected bike lanes run next to roads, drivers often turn across them at intersections without looking.

I generated the map with Overpass Turbo: <https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1mT6>. To make it render nicely, check "Don't display small features as POIs" under settings. If you want to try it for a different city, drag/zoom it into view and hit "Run".

Seattle has improved and there are now regular corridors through most of the city. You do sometimes have to join an arterial or cross it, but I can get from my house to downtown, Capitol Hill, or North Seattle/shoreline easily with a bike plus the train.

Seattle and surrounding areas have built bunch of protected bike lanes, but the main problem still remains: it's very hilly. Basically there are specific areas you can bike through, but it quickly fails as general transportation mode since not everyone is a super athlete.

E bikes make the hills here a non issue.

Which part of Seattle?

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