Originally Posted by
Machka
And at what point do we find ourselves in a "nanny society"?
Oh good lord. Now you are starting to sound like the locals who hate any sort of social safety net and have a years worth of dry military rations for when the government comes for their guns. *rolls eyes* That's the thing about social programs. To work, you have to start at the bottom... and then pull everyone up slowly. The bootstraps thing, even in biking, just doesn't work for the majority of people.
Originally Posted by
Machka
I was taught cycling safety in school as a part of either "Health" or "Physical Education". Weren't you?
And back in that day and age, everyone cycled to school. I started cycle commuting at the age of 6 too. That was probably a large part of the reason they had a cycling safety program in school.
We had it as a gym class in high school. It was no substitute for bike lanes. We rode around a course in the football field and had to already own a bike.
Originally Posted by
Roody
. Proper bike infrastructure reduces injuries and increases participation immediately from the day it's installed.
.
This. So much this. It doesn't rely on some sort of mythic generational exchange that may or may not happen.
Originally Posted by
Ekdog
I've been cycling all of my life, and I remember being shown films about bike safety when I was in elementary school. That's all well and good, but it's no substitute for good cycling infrastructure, IMO.
Yes, and I'm so jealous of your roads. Very nice!
Originally Posted by
Machka
Start early. Start teaching children to ride.
As I mentioned earlier, at the age of 6 I was already riding on the road. I was fortunate to have cycling parents who took the time to teach me to ride.
And my mother was taught from an early age to ride horses. Guess whose only been on a horse a hand full of times? Having paents into a thing does not mean they will always pass it on.