The dual white lines marking the areas reserved for cyclists have become an increasingly common sight on roadways. However, while painted with good intentions, these lines do little to protect bikes from the dangers of the road.
During the last few decades, in keeping with the rise of sustainability awareness and initiatives, bikes have been increasingly recognized as a legitimate form of transportation.
Cities around America have experimented with an approach referred to as “Copenhagenization,” the process of urban planning around bike accessibility.
Despite America’s long love affair with the automobile, bikes are proving both useful and popular. Bike Shop owner and bike sustainability advocate Philip Koopman attributes the boom in usage to increasing awareness of environmental issues.
“I think it’s definitely tied in with the focus on sustainability,” said Koopman. “I also think people are seeing the health benefits of biking everywhere instead of driving.”
“Like it or not, climate change is going to force our hand eventually,” said Koopman. “In the 1950s, they (car companies) created a whole industry around convincing people, through advertising, to all buy their own cars. It’s just not sustainable, and it’s not realistic to think that we can all keep driving cars.”
Although biking in Greensboro can be more nerve-wracking than on the streets of bike-friendly towns like Fort Collins, Colo., due to bike lanes being a rarity, North Carolina was the first state to institute a state bicycle program. The program, instituted in 1974, became the basis for the model now used worldwide.
Guilford County is ranked third in the state for reducing bike accidents, with only 714 occurring in a ten-year period.
“I can’t tell you how many times I almost died,” laughed Nick Perl, bike shop employee and former Guilford student who now attends Colorado State University. “People in North Carolina are like, ‘Who is this hippie pretending he’s a car? Get off the road hippie.’ I can feel the aggression emanating from the front bumper, man.”
As it turns out, even Greensboro’s political elect are not safe. In 2011, Rep. Pricey Harrison was struck by a car, fracturing her foot, after a driver ran a red light.
But Greensboro residents might feel safer in comparison to those commuting in the United Kingdom. In the past year alone, 110 cyclists have been killed in traffic accidents Bike lanes are sparse, and 10 miles can easily take two hours to traverse.
Bike enthusiasts are directed to often muddy paths and back roads and can be asked to dismount in urban areas. A recent study by the British Transport Research Laboratory found that more than a quarter of bicycle deaths in England are attributed to a bike being rammed with the front bumper of a car.
For those still interested in braving the streets of Greensboro, Guilford students can find bikes for rent from the bike shop behind Shore Hall for $1 a day and semester rentals range from $50-$75 dollars a day.
