Originally Posted by
Underground
So tonight I told my wife about wanting to commute to work and getting everything set up so I could. She basically told me she does not want me to do that because she will worry about me…
… She even mentioned rush hour traffic and how dangerous it is. I simply stated that since I work night shift, I will be going against the bulk of the traffic, so it shouldn't be a problem…
My question to you is, what would be a good way to get her in my corner? I can't play the money card because I know she would say "I'd rather spend extra money knowing you get there safe…
Plus if traffic gets bad, I have plenty of sidewalks/shoulders I can get on to get out of the main flow.
Originally Posted by
no1mad
Does she do any riding on her own? She may not realize how alive one becomes when propelling their self under their own power.
Originally Posted by
fastbartender
Go out of your way to fred your bike up with lights, an air zound, reflective tape, vest, helmet the whole nine yards. Maybe if she sees that you plan on being as safe as possible she will worry about you less...
I'm a hard-core, year-round reverse commuter and my domestic situation is that my wife (and son) are happy to see me commute because we have one car, and it’s freed up for them. One car is not so much a money issue, but we just don’t need N+1. Nonetheless money saved plus convenience for the other drivers in the family works for me. Even beyond that, my wife and I were bicycle tourists for years, including a cross-country ride, so she understands.
I won't rake over the all the benefits of cycle commuting as an argument, but I’m occasionally confronted by people at work who do question my safety, sometimes even with hostility because they fear the possibility of
hitting me. I do list all my safety precautions and safe routes. Adding to the above Fredliness argument I would urge a rearview mirror; I even use left
and right eyeglass mirrors. Also while I avoid sidewalk riding as much as possible, I have done it on high density, fast, heavy commercial routes.
I once posted about one rather unique line of reasoning to counter the safety argument, that I believe is valid:
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
I deal with those comments too. Besides describing all my safety precautions and the relative safety of my routes, one other unique response was suggested on a prior thread. Just point out that from the vantage point of a car driver, a cyclist looks pretty unprotected and in danger, whereas the cyclist might feel pretty secure in traffic, and is quite aware of the surroundings…