Went to the dog park right after work and walked up on a classic "yelling about SF politics" convo. It veered into wild car brain territory, so I said
"How about way fewer cars?"
A guy replied "I can't bike. I'm not 25 and single."
To me (53) still in my hiviz jacket, standing next to my partner.
This person's answer to traffic safety was "we need a lot more cops. we have a shortage."
I was revving up Godzilla style to reply, but then the icy summer wind came up and we all had to get out of there.
Back in the mid-1980’s in SF, they did exactly that. They added a large force of motorcycle cops. Problem was, they were always pulling over bicyclists rather than motorists. We cyclists were much easier targets.
unsurprising.
I don't know how we get from the "catch the bad guy (who is obviously not me)" mindset to "safety is an emergent property of a functional community and built environment".
Over the years, I think the Critical Mass rides and the SF Bicycle Coalition did wonders to raise awareness and improve bicycle safety in the city. That said, the trend to make the city more friendly to biking and walking needs to continue. With e-bikes, the “I’m not 25” argument fails miserably.
E-bikes are so fun. I have one for commuting and errands when my goal is not to ride up a mountain for its own sake.
I truly believe the most effective climate/traffic calming action is “get a dad an ebike” x 10 million.
I was just in SF last weekend and was impressed with the number of bike lanes, and the cyclists on the road.
There's not much you can do about the deeply car-brained (hand out copies of There Are No Accidents maybe) but the neutral and supportive but not actives are easier to shift.
