[ck2]

You think this generation is going to be riding more bicycles?

Likely far far less, the roads are insanely dangerous and toxic now.

I don't know what it is like in other cities but in mine at least one out of ten vehicles is now one of those new ridiculous monster sized trucks that not only cannot see you, they wouldn't care if they did.

The bicycle lane line is now something to cruise over for these drivers while they look down at their phones.

It's only going to take one more generation for people to stop even trying to bike anywhere, people don't want to be that stressed out.

[JambalayaJim]

In my city they are massively increasing the bike lane network, along with the city run bike service. The result is that bike ridership has been increasing steadily with each passing year.

I absolutely expect more people to be riding bicycles in this generation. It would be a complete failure on urban planners / municipal governments if that were not to happen.

[toss1]

Yup. I used to be an avid road biker, 10-40mi rides multiple time per week, hopping on 80mi day trips, Tuesday evening time trials, racing, etc.

But it has been over a decade since my road bike has seen pavement. I keep it to mountain biking on trails now because the traffic everywhere has gotten too insane, and the drivers just seem less and less aware/alert/smart/skilled.

And I've noticed in the last few month bad news of almost a half dozen champion bike racers killed on roads, the most memorable one in Italy, and one in San Francisco last week. The risk just doesn't seem manageable anymore.

This is the opposite of the direction we should be going, but it is what we have.

[jmoak3]

In a car dependent society such as our America, how do we expect a humongous and rapidly aging demographic to handle their loss of motor skills? By simply staying inside and becoming entirely dependent on kids they never had?

They’ll be out on the roads - get a bigger car and don’t bike. I’m sad about it as well but I don’t see many options unless you’re in a unique area.

For context, 1/3rd of Americans today are over 55.

Due to exponential growth and innovation everything any of us have ever known is one of a series of crazy experiments. I don’t think car dependency will turn out to be a good one.

[toss1]

>>I don’t think car dependency will turn out to be a good one

VERY True!

And a huge amount of it is due to the corporations influencing against any form of public transportation in past decades.

The only thing that (almost paradoxically) is may be helping progress, is the surge in e-bikes. It's both bringing a lot of people into biking, and/or enabling them to bike longer distances, so encouraging a lot more. And apparently, the net exercise amounts are similar, so it's still a health benefit. With all that, maybe we'll get to serious support for biking one day. Soon, I hope.

[ben-schaaf]

You're describing the status quo since streets were handed over to cars and prioritized over everything else. Bicycle gutters were always something inattentive or malicious drivers cruise into.

That's not to say those yank tanks aren't crazy dangerous; they absolutely are. But getting rid of them doesn't make bicycling safe. Cars as a whole are the hazard.

[tcmart14]

Yea. The force generated by a 3,000 LB Toyota Prius is just as deadly as a 5,000 to 7,000 LB Ford F350. At 35 MPH, that is still quiet a few Newtons. According to a handy internet calculator, the Prius has an impact force of over 4 million Newtons or feels like being pressed by almost 1,000,000 pounds. The biggest problem with the Ford F350 is probably the sitting high and less visibility coupled with a false sense of safety some may have that causes them to drive more recklessly. Sort of like at 18 you think nothing can kill you so you do crazy shit.

[Schroedingersat]

You're a generation behind. Those things all happened and now people are fighting to regain the right for humans to occupy outdoor space.