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The City That Cycles With the Young, the Old, the Busy and the Dead

by hawkinspeter
Sat, Nov 23, 2019 10:46
3

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/09/world/europe/biking-copenhagen.html

Quote:

Copenhagen’s legendary bicycle setup has been propelled by all of these aspirations, but the critical element is the simplest: People here eagerly use their bicycles — in any weather, carrying the young, the infirm, the elderly and the dead — because it is typically the easiest way to get around.

“It’s A to B-ism,” said Mikael Colville-Andersen, a raffish bicycle evangelist who preaches the gospel of Copenhagen to other cities. “It’s the fastest way from point to point.”

The bicycle is liberation from municipal buses and their frequent stops. The bicycle spares people from having to worry about where to park cars. The bicycle puts people in control of when they leave and when they arrive.

“Some people ride their bikes to the hospital to give birth,” said Ms. Gulsrud, who is herself pregnant with her second child. “I’m not going to do that.”

A former neighbor operates a bicycle mortuary service, pedaling the departed to their final destinations in caskets. Mail carriers use bicycles to deliver parcels. People use bicycles to get to the airport, sometimes pushing wheeled suitcases alongside them while they roll.

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hawkinspeter | 4 years ago
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I didn't see much helmet wearing in Copenhagen when I spent a week holidaying there. We hired bikes for one day and the shop that we hired them from didn't push helmets at all. My wife brought up the question of helmets and though the shop could rent them out, the man was ambivalent about whether we'd need one or not. I suggested that we weren't planning on crashing, so we didn't bother with them and luckily had no need of them.

What I did see a lot of was bikes with storage pods/compartments on the front for holding children/dogs etc.

We did see lots of electric scooters (and tried them out briefly) - I wonder if they contribute significantly to the KSIs?

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CyclingInBeastMode | 4 years ago
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here's the danish stats for KSIs

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CyclingInBeastMode | 4 years ago
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He has a lot of criticism of Denmark/Copenhagen recently, the motor roads have been improved, certain cycling infra isn't as good as it should have been, whilst looking at Copenhagen is in most regards a massive step from what other cities have and the thinking behind it, even Denmark is floundering with regards motorisation and failing to provide adequte infra or simply ignore the even better solutions.

The Danes are also having problems with forcing helmet wearing which is on a significant increased curve, the fact that despite static bicycle use and more infra injuries/deaths have been on the rise and static respectively over the last 9 years should come as no surprise.

And yet the Danish road safety cpouncil are pushing helmet wearing and still using debunked studies as evidence!

 

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