Comment 71457

By fmurray (registered) | Posted November 19, 2011 at 18:21:21

This is a great article. I was trying to explain some of these things to people at work (about losing momentum and having more awareness of surroundings when on a bike as compared to a car), but didn't have the knowledge of physics. I guess for me, the crux of this argument is that the Idaho stop has worked in Idaho for 30 YEARS. Why (and this is a constant question that I ask) do we always say: THIS WON'T WORK HERE? Why? We need more people on City Council and especially the mayor to say WHY NOT? Why not in Hamilton? Is there some factor that makes us less able to accept progressive alternatives -- LRT, more bike lanes, the Idaho-style stop?

Unforunately, I do believe there is a cultural factor in Hamilton and possibly all of Canada that plays into decisions that are progressive -- we freak about changing our lifestyles in the smallest way and are very risk-averse in decisions that may spend money in "unproven" investments. And there's a jealousy/fairness factor too -- "if I have to come to a full stop in my car, then you have to do it on your bike, even though it may make absolutely no sense for you to do so -- because IT'S FAIR".

A lot of people have descended from European stock in this country, but somehow Europeans have developed a more progressive outlook.

This city has so much potential.

Permalink | Context

Events Calendar

There are no upcoming events right now.
Why not post one?

Recent Articles

Article Archives

Blog Archives

Site Tools

Feeds