here's to biking

Though my poor dear fiancé now currently suffers from a lip laceration and chipped tooth, general cosmetic unpleasantness, and medical bills, his mother is still recovering from brain damage inflicted by a rear SUV collision in Feburary.

So I wonder why do people think SUV’s are safer than cars? Look at these statistics (these are odds of dying if you’re in a crash):

Odds of Death vs. Injury in Crashes by Vehicle
Vehicle	Deaths	Injuries	Odds
Bus	17	17,000	1 in 1000
Car, Station Wagon	21,969	2,378,000	1 in 108
Pickup, SUV, Van	10,224	768,000	1 in 75
Bicycle	813	58,000	1 in 71
Large Truck	717	31,000	1 in 43
Motorcycle, Motorbike	2,106	54,000	1 in 26
On Foot	5,307	77,000	1 in 15
Data From NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts 1997

~ From Is Cycling Dangerous? on Ken Kifer’s Bike Pages

My apologies to those I know who are SUV drivers, but they only offer the illusion of safety!* Not only are they gas guzzlers, but they endanger both who ride within it and others who are on the road. So if you really must buy a car, in the case that a car sharing program or public transportation is unavailable, please atleast invest in something sensible that doesn’t take up three quarters of the road.

But please do consider riding a bike! I am by no means one of those crazy super intense bike-obsessed people like my fiancé (I don’t eagerly find myself commenting on Bike Snob though I do read it…..). To be honest, I prefer the comfort of a car where I’m not as exposed to the wind and other various unpleasant elements.** In fact, it’s usually a struggle to make myself ride my bike to work, but when I do, the moment I start peddling, I’m usually glad I did. So in the interests of sustainability, exercise and the practicality of getting places fast without a car, here’s to biking!


For those of you who are a little wary of navigating the roads on two wheels, it does take a bit of adjustment. When I bought my bike in June, I had not biked regularly since childhood, much less done any city riding. It was scary to bike on city roads at first. I went slowly (well, I still go slowly) and started making mental notes of all potentially dangerous hazards (cars, car doors, pedestrians, and trolley tracks) and situations (two-way unprotected left turns because cars turning left don't notice that you have the right of way, getting squished between a row of automobiles because cars don't notice you, right turning cars that don’t notice you…). It took me until the end of July (and the loss of my subway pass) before I attempted to ride to work, and probably until the end of September or October before I started enjoying the ride. Even now, it’s still stressful for me to bike at night, but I’ve found myself in close-call situations far less often than when I began.

And in the spirit of my previous blog entry and at the risk of sounding really tacky, it is good to experience the physicality of riding a bike. Instead of the climate controlled metal shell of a car where the outside world can sometimes seem simulacral, when you ride a bike, the rest of the world feels real. You feel directly connected with the ground, with your environment and with your movement as you pedal and steer. You might be able to fly around in the air in Second Life and see magnificent aerial shots on your monitor, but you certainly won't be able to feel the wind on your cheeks or the gentle increase of your heart rate as you do when you cycle around the city.


*Okay, to be fair, there’s always evidence to support both sides of the argument. In a brief google search, I found a few articles claiming that SUV’s are safer than cars:

• Some government pdf study
• IIHS and NHTSA Agree: SUV’s Safer Than Cars
• An article based on the SUV Owners of America

Here’s stuff saying that SUVs are less safe:

• Some links from Detnews, carcarscars.blogs.com and cnn.com about a Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia study that shows children are no safer in SUVs than cars.
• Myths and Realities about SUVS
• SUVs: Live And Let Die

** … as long as I’m not driving!
*** If you don’t own a bike, consider investing in a good one. Be prepared to spend several hundred dollars on a decent used bike, and up to a thousand for a new one. If you’re in Philly, check out Firehouse Bikes for a good quality used bike or Trophy Bikes for something new that’s pricier. There are also some neat nonprofits relating to biking: Neighbourhood Bike Works and Spokesperson.
**** My brother has built a website with comics about bears sometimes.