It's worth it to at least try biking a few times – the world looks a lot different from out there. I bike, bus & drive, and I think every driver should have to bike sometimes just to keep in mind what the world looks like from outside the car windows. (And bikers should pay attention from inside cars, too – it's amazing how bad the visibility from inside a car is, it makes the need for lights & bright colors way more obvious.)

p.s. i've been hauling my son around in a trailer since he was 18 months old, and our worst near-death experiences have been while walking across streets with walk lights, because drivers don't look before they turn with a green light – i've never had a near-death experience while hauling the trailer. It's big & yellow and drivers notice it.

I bike to work on non-rainy days for 6 months of the year. Yay bikes!

http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org/site/

The Alliance for Biking & Walking, formerly known as Thunderhead Alliance, is the North American coalition of grassroots bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations. We unite advocacy leaders to help them become more effective by sharing best practices and innovations. We strengthen organizations through resource sharing and training opportunities. We help advocates create organizations in underserved communities. Alliance organizations are working together to transform communities into great places to bike and walk.

~ We use a bike cart to haul everything from children, to groceries, to hardware, through to moving. Bonus – you get to have a big flag!!!
~ We also have a transferrable baby seat on the back of a bike.
~ I recommend folding bike racks to the rear for the most weight, and cargo rack in front with brackets to the wheel as a secondary basket. This makes steering easiest.

In a car accident in which there are serious injuries, babies properly strapped in car seats have a 51% chance of survival. This is the kind of statistic that makes you vomit, or wake up screaming at night if you're a mother.

Most people I know don't have cars. I do not know any children hurt in cycling accidents. I do know that:
1. My eldest daughter's pre school friend was brained and severely disabled when run over by a car in her stroller on the sidewalk. Her friend was murdered this way at the same time. The driver suffered a ticket for speeding.
2. My eldest daughter's best friend broke her thigh in 3 places as a 3 year old when properly strapped in a car seat and 3 months in traction and a year learning to walk again. None of the adults in the car were injured in the low speed collision.
3. My ex neighbours ran over their pre schooler son at the bottom of the street and broke his arm.
4. Two toddlers were killed a year apart on their own front lawns/patios by speeding or out of control drivers racing down the hill near my house before they put in traffic lights.

Maybe we don't see cars as dangerous or as weapons when we drive them, but they sure as hell look dangerous to me at times.

Love & RRRevolution, Tracey

If I had, I might have ended up in traction at the hospital but I would have had a smile on my face because when bikes are hitting bikes it means we have a number of them on the street.

Why did we almost collide? Because his bike was so quiet I didn’t hear him approaching. But he wasn’t quiet when he thought we might bump into each other. Another reason to bike – you can hear the comments of others clearly, no need for obscene gestures!

On the subject of safety…I’ve put in over 15 years of daily biking in Chicago and suburbs and haven’t had an accident. You have to look at it as you would a car. People have accidents in cars all the time but they get right back on the road. Once you accept it as your mode of transportation, that’s what you do. What I don’t do is listen to an Ipod while riding. Being alert is job one.