I feel like in Europe and America, the attitude is
"If somebody breaks the rules, it's morally justified to endanger that person".
I recently experienced cycling in Taipei. Traffic rules seem to be somewhat "loose" compared to the situation in European cities. Two lanes, but some space? Let's make a third lane. Red light? Better pay attention while running it.
But, and that's my main takeaway, people don't want to kill each other and keep calm in any situation.
Riding the bicycle doesn't feel like "one against them", it's more like "I'm in this chaos together with all the others".
[edit]
I'm not advocating for less rules, but for a more harmonic attitude towards others in traffic.
This is a generalization but very many less developed countries have much less adherence to traffic laws and very many more traffic injuries. The attitude might be better but the outcomes are worse.
I can't find numbers specifically for bikes being hit by cars, but it looks like vehicle related deaths per vehicle owned are significantly higher for Taiwan than the US.
If you take into consideration that Americans drive more per person than any other country, driving is much more dangerous in Taiwan. I'd imagine biking is also fairly dangerous.
Oh it sure is, the traffic is crazy after all. But there is no hostile attitude towards each other.
My point is not that traffic rules should be loose -- it is that we're in traffic together and we should relax from time to time, watching out for others.
Walking can also be dangerous. Especially if you follow the laws. If find it a lot safer the do the made up crime of "jaywalking" between intersections than crossing legally. I have had several close calls crossing legally because of people just not paying attention. I have had zero close calls crossing between intersections.
Am I right in thinking that American traffic lights don’t actually stop cars for pedestrians? They just sort of give you more priority don’t they? What’s the advantage of crossing away from the lights?
In the UK as well. As someone from Australia, I was so surprised so many people riding in all conditions, when back home it was incredibly rare even though the conditions were so good, all the time.
Keep in mind this is the American Community Survey, which, unlike the full census, only counts about 1% of the population.
Given that cyclist commuters only only account for 0.3% of the population already, the large swings become a little less statistically significant.
I don’t find it hard to believe that cyclist commuting decreased by a few percent overall, but it is hard to believe that
cycling decreased in Oakland by 25% while increasing in Philadelphia by 20% in one year.
Is this a surprise? America's run on the car for over 100 years; it's deeply ingrained in the culture. Replacing that culture was never a matter of trails, lanes, or bike sharing.
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I recently experienced cycling in Taipei. Traffic rules seem to be somewhat "loose" compared to the situation in European cities. Two lanes, but some space? Let's make a third lane. Red light? Better pay attention while running it.
But, and that's my main takeaway, people don't want to kill each other and keep calm in any situation.
Riding the bicycle doesn't feel like "one against them", it's more like "I'm in this chaos together with all the others".
[edit] I'm not advocating for less rules, but for a more harmonic attitude towards others in traffic.
Taiwan's HDI is between Austria and Luxembourg.
If you take into consideration that Americans drive more per person than any other country, driving is much more dangerous in Taiwan. I'd imagine biking is also fairly dangerous.
My point is not that traffic rules should be loose -- it is that we're in traffic together and we should relax from time to time, watching out for others.
Otherwise, it's just too dangerous from my perspective. Too many drivers do not pay attention.
At the company I'm working at there is some programs where you can buy a bicycle and the company pays you some percentage of the price back [1]
[1]: https://www.jobrad.org
Given that cyclist commuters only only account for 0.3% of the population already, the large swings become a little less statistically significant.
I don’t find it hard to believe that cyclist commuting decreased by a few percent overall, but it is hard to believe that cycling decreased in Oakland by 25% while increasing in Philadelphia by 20% in one year.
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