Benjamin RossPeople who say "not everyone can ride a bicycle" don't seem to care all that much when you say "not everyone can drive a car."
schlaf@BenRossTransit also no solidarity with those that can not *afford* cars. vae victis in the road war! if you can't get a car, you don't deserve mobility.
Virginia S. O'Possum@schlaf @BenRossTransit I don't think that's true. I think it's a metonym -- we need to think about *all* forms of mobility and barriers to it. And TBF, there are some pro-bike people who are really quite dismissive of other mobility needs. Better public transportation could do a lot.
dragonfrog@VirginiaSOpossum @schlaf @BenRossTransit they say the best transportation plan is a good land use plan - having more stuff closer together, not separated by vast roads and parking lots and highways with few crossable intersections, means all forms of transportation work better. More stuff is in any given person's ability-determined walking or cycling distance, transit has the density it needs to work...
esa@BenRossTransit
I think that's part of why they say it. They're afraid that people are going to treat motorists the way motorists treat everyone else.
@TheWarOnCars
I think that's part of why they say it. They're afraid that people are going to treat motorists the way motorists treat everyone else.
@TheWarOnCars
kayak175@BenRossTransit good point - t
Batat@BenRossTransit car-oriented infrastructure eliminates from the freely exercised social life children and teenagers, people with blindness, suffering seizures, with impaired motorics or vision, with frequent migraines (or, well, should), with learning disabilities - or those who just can't afford it. They tout cars as freedom and then can't go to a bar on Friday evening to drink with friends. Freedom to whom, freedom when?
@BenRossTransit so, yes, a majority of those who can't ride a bike should not drive either.
Simon Brooke@BenRossTransit And very, very few people can't ride a cycle at all. There's a woman paralysed from the chest down cycling to the south pole this year, and plenty of blind folk who cycle.
🦇Anthra🦇@simon_brooke @BenRossTransit i cannot ride a bicycle.
AvonLovesBlake@simon_brooke @BenRossTransit There are lots of people with conditions that cause one or more of
a) severe physical fatigue
b) severe pain
c) severe balance problems
can't ride a bicycle. I 100% support safe dedicated cycling infrastructure, but there are many people who can't cycle.
A friend of mine is fit and healthy and can walk at 8km/hour to 10km/hour, but he can't cycle due to balance problems.
@Lilysea @BenRossTransit we weren't talking about bicycles. Yes, bicycles are impossible for people with balance problems, so they need cycles with at least three wheels. Yes, people with chronic fatigue or other conditions that reduce strength need some degree of power assist. And yes, plenty of people don't want to cycle, and that's OK too.
But very few actually cannot.
TassieDi@BenRossTransit But with luck, it will make them reflect on their kneejerk defensive passive aggressive response.
Will Lowe*very concerned expression*
but what about disabled...
*ankle is shattered by wheelchair footplate*
@BenRossTransit I use a power wheelchair to get around, and trust me, I want both dedicated safe cycling infrastructure AND for people who need to for health/disability reasons to be able to park/get dropped off close to their destination.
@BenRossTransit Disabled and Chronically Ill people care A LOT about both, trust me!