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Comment by jmclnx | Hacker News Reader

Most of my work career I was able to commute by bicycle. Only in winter was it impossible (snow/ice).

I always surprises me that in areas of the US were bicycle travel could easy be done all year round, it is highly discouraged and in many of those places it can be very dangerous.

I remember visiting some of those areas and I noticed the way the roads were designed made bicycle travel very scary. In one case, I tried to ride somewhere and I really thought I was going to get killed. All I heard was beeping horns and people yelling at me for a short 10 mile (~16km) round trip errand run.

I guess I am lucky being born in a place that the roads were put in place by cows :) These days, the State Gov started promoting this kind of travel, all that is needed is to fix public transportation after decades of corruption.

Edit: I have even ridden through NYC a few times, to me, NYC it is far safer then places I have seen in those areas.

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The case of bicycle travel is interesting because from a distance perspective it's practical even in less dense US cities in a way walking isn't. The usual claim why the US is so car focused is that it's spread out, but even in my medium density city there are a lot of things within biking distance of my house. The problem though is that there is no safe way to actually reach a lot of those things by bicycle, you just have to ride on high-speed roads with no separated bike lanes. Fixing that problem wouldn't require restructuring cities or getting rid of cars.

This highlights a problem with car dependency - cars tend to push out other modes of travel until the only way to travel is via cars.

I can’t say I’ve ever felt safe in a bike here, anywhere someone can easily drive an F150 over you and not even be charged with a crime is too dangerous for me, not sure if it’s just me but the last few times I’ve visited NYC i saw many more large pick up trucks :(

Actually the last time I rode in NYC was over 25 years ago, before the massive size Pickups. So I wonder if it it changed. I heard there were many bike lanes build there in the last 20 years. Are they being ignored by cars and pickups ?

Drivers don’t respect anything in NYC, not sure why bike lanes would be better. The ones that have the plasticky poles are somewhat better if the poles haven’t been driven over already but I saw a lot of unprotected lanes.

>Drivers don’t respect anything in NYC, not sure why bike lanes would be better.

Nor anywhere else, but where I am at least the roads all have a place a bike can travel on.

To see how bike lanes should be designed, check out Montreal Quebec. Where I am, what 'real' bike lanes that exist all go from nowhere to nowhere with nothing in between.

It's significantly better, but very area dependent. Some routes can still be very dangerous and it's not to the standard of many European cities. Still, you might be pleasantly surprised.

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