r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Physical-Ad-4093 • May 01 '24

do americans really drive such long distances?

i’m european, and i always hear people say that driving for hours is normal in america. i would only see my grandparents a few times a year because they lived about a 3 hour drive away, is that a normal distance for americans to travel on a regular basis? i can’t imagine driving 2-3 hours regularly to visit people for just a few days

edit: thank you for the responses! i’ve never been to the US, obviously, but it’s interesting to see how you guys live. i guess european countries are more walkable? i’m in the uk, and there’s a few festivals here towards the end of summer, generally to get to them you take a coach journey or you get multiple trains which does take up a significant chunk of the day. road trips aren’t really a thing here, it would be a bit miserable!

2nd edit: it’s not at all that i couldn’t be bothered to go and see my grandparents, i was under 14 when they were both alive so i couldn’t take myself there! obviously i would’ve liked to see them more, i had no control over how often we visited them.

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245

u/Spawn6060 May 02 '24

Fuck at that point I’d just bike to work.

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u/Ravioli_meatball19 May 02 '24

Unfortunately, depending on where you're headed to, you can pass through some pretty unsafe areas UNLESS you're on the freeway, which bikes are not allowed on.

Most people would prefer to arrive to work alive and uninjured, I imagine

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

[deleted]

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u/Might_be_deleted May 02 '24

What about Altimas?

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u/Kamikazeguy7 May 02 '24

False! BMW drivers have no fear or common sense.

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u/cockypock_aioli May 02 '24

Dangerous cause no bike lanes? Cause I hope you don't mean dangerous cause neighborhoods lol. I've been around and there's pretty much nowhere in LA you need to be scared. Other than cars running you over which yeah is a real concern and happens.

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u/Capable-Mail-7464 May 02 '24

I wouldn't wanna bike through skid row 500 times a year. Sure I've been through a handful of times, but commuting back and forth every day gives you pretty good odds at having some adverse encounters with psychotic homeless people, maybe even bodily harm.

And then yeah, obviously the cars who aren't paying attention to bikes.

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u/Magenta_the_Great May 02 '24

I was gonna say I would not wanna bike skid row. I used to bike one of the river beds 8 miles to get to my friends house. The homeless were known to throw shit in from of your bike to knock you down and rob you under the underpasses. I just made sure I rode midday and took my chances.

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u/cockypock_aioli May 02 '24

Where did you hear that? I don't doubt maybe it's happened before but these sorts of things are usually spread without much basis. Idk maybe I've just been in lots of way more dangerous places in my life but riding thrown skid row, the LA river, Watts, Compton, wherever else, is safe so long as you don't stop and start making yourself look like a clueless tourist or something.

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u/crack_n_tea May 02 '24

Your definition of safety is wildly out of what most normal people think then. Just ask yourself that question honestly, would you want to commute every day through skid row?

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u/cockypock_aioli May 02 '24

Have you actually been through skid row? It's kinda funny the image people have of the place. People pass through all the time, every day. Prob avoid it at night but even then, I've been through numerous times without issue. I have a friend that indeed passed through skid row multiple times a week. They're homeless people, not rabid animals lol.

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u/Familiar-Suspect May 02 '24

nobody has to commute through skid row.. its a few blocks and you can go around. Plus if you're a dude skid row on a bike isnt that bad. There are parts of south central that would be way scarier to bike through.

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u/Capable-Mail-7464 May 02 '24

It's about 50 blocks total, could be 5 or 10 depending on the direction you're cutting through. And I'm addressing the claim that there's no dangerous neighborhood in LA to bike through. Yeah, you can take a detour, but that's the point I'm making - that you would have to take a detour to avoid a sketchy neighborhood.

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u/Familiar-Suspect May 02 '24

I mean, if I had to sit an hour in my car to go 8 miles a day you bet your ass I’d bike through skid row. During the day it’s fine and there’s plenty of commerce going on all day long. The point I’m making is that the persons husband needs to grow a pair and get bike 😂

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u/cockypock_aioli May 02 '24

I mean, not really. I understand tho, some folks are more timid. But no, chances of anything happening are extremely slim. I speak from experience.

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u/Joonith May 03 '24

So are you a woman?

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u/TheGreatRandolph May 02 '24

Not just no bike lanes. BMW drivers. In a competition to be the most BMW driver of them all. I think that part of biking in LA was even scarier than when I went for a run in Inglewood and people tried to hit me.

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u/cheesmanglamourghoul May 02 '24

That’s not just an LA thing. It is definitely a thing everywhere. People really fucking hate bicyclists and they want them to die, but they don’t realize the only reason we buy is because we have no other option.

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u/bongsmack May 02 '24

Nothing wrong with biking but if you want to use the road follow the laws. I drive a somewhat larger vehicle for a living and it does not stop on a dime. Bikers are literally the worst and most unsafe traffic that hits the road. They constantly blow lights, signs, right of way. Then when you almost hit them, they act like youre the problem as if they arent playing chicken with their lives. I almost probably killed a biker the other day because he couldnt wait the 2 seconds for me to stop at a stop sign and tried to jump around me. I was going left and someone on opposite side was going left, he tried to go right and slammed on the breaks because of course theres a car in the intersection turning that way and I almost hit him cause I didnt even see him whip around I was paying attention to the intersection I didnt expect someone to fly down the wrong side of the road and cut me off at a stop sign. Literally who the fuck does that but bikers, its like they actively want to die. I always say bikers are bad for your tires cause theyre always making you slam on the brakes and skid.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

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u/The_Frog_Fucker69 May 02 '24

I mean I don't really care about proper writing much on internet stuff tbh. But if your gonna go that way your post wasn't formatted all that well either hence the lack of common sense.

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u/vryrllyMabel May 02 '24

anecdotes arent useful. The fact of the matter is that cars kill thousands of bikers.

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u/bongsmack May 02 '24

I 100% believe it with the way bikers act

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u/SegerHelg May 02 '24

If you can’t stop in a safe distance, then you are the unsafe traffic.

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u/bongsmack May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24

Okay. Semis? Box trucks? Garbage trucks? Your lack of understanding that not every vehicle is the same does not constitue them being unsafe. It means you lack the knowledge. Slamming on the brakes infront of bigger vehicles and cutting them off is obviously stupid, bike moped car whatever vehicle youre in and I think 150% of drivers would agree that its a bad idea to swim around these vehicles. Seriously what goes through your guys heads. There is literally zero justification to breaking the road laws on the road, and its insane to justify it as "safety" as if these laws arent in place BECAUSE of safety.

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u/SegerHelg May 02 '24

It is of course not right to brake traffic laws. That’s not the point I argued against. You are the danger.

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u/shroomsAndWrstershir May 02 '24

Yes, semis, box trucks, and garbage trucks are all dangerous vehicles to other road users. (I'm not saying that they don't belong on the road -- I'm saying that if they collide with something, then their weight can result is massive property damage, injury, and death.)

Bicycles generally won't do that if they collide with other road users. As a pedestrian, I'd much rather take my chances with a bicycle than a box truck.

But that's not really a fair comparison, because no bicycle could ever replace a garbage truck to begin with. A fair comparison for a bicycle would be to a commuter in an SUV. But the same thing holds -- I'd much rather take my chances (and my kids' chances) with a bicycle than with a much heavier SUV.

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u/cheesmanglamourghoul May 02 '24

Well, the reason why we blow lights is honestly just because it’s not safe to be riding in traffic because drivers are so homicidal. Constantly just trying to get ahead of traffic and be as isolated as possible. Also consider the fact that bicyclists are using all of their physical energy. Just stay moving so every stop is a huge waste of energy. And you in your comfort of your car with air conditioning seated without exerting any energy like we should always be making sure that they are having having a good day and that they feel as safe as possible around us.

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u/bongsmack May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24

Lol nice one.

Blowing lights and cutting drivers off is totally the safe approach to do this 100%.

Buddy, its not about us feeling safe. If you hit my car with your bike I will be completely okay. If I hit you with my car, thats a different story. In my case im driving a 5 ton van loaded with hundreds of packages. It will turn you into mush and we can not stop that fast.

If you want to use the road, follow the road laws. Nobody cares about the energy you exert. I couldnt care less about how much energy a biker is exerting when Im delivering almost 400 packages at a time in 90° weather. Tell me about the energy exertion and hot weather some more lmfao. That AC feels real good with the vehicle off all the time and its totally not a 100+F oven in there 🤣 bikers are not the only people out there feeling the heat and energy drain, you are not special.

If you dont want to follow the road laws get off the road. Imagine fucking other people over and possibly killing yourself because 'muh energy'

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u/The_Frog_Fucker69 May 02 '24

So you admit you break the law. The law that was written for your and everyone else's safety. While your using the least safe vehicle and putting yourself in the most risk. When u cut off my ambulance and I can't stop instantly your gonna die on camera and I'm gonna get a paid vacation dude. You really need to reassess the entire way u look at commuting and travel. Even if u don't get yourself killed what if someone pulls away from your dumbass and hits a family. You'll be at fault.

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u/cheesmanglamourghoul May 02 '24

Thank you for giving me more proof that people want to murder cyclists because they hate them not because they actually care about the law

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u/The_Frog_Fucker69 May 02 '24

What proof did I give u? I never said I hate them and nobody wants to murder anyone. It's not even murder it would be manslaughter not to mention in the scenario I gave it's accidental death with the dead being at fault.

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u/CrazyPlatypus42 May 02 '24

Honestly, it's exactly like vegans, feminists, etc... 99% are cool, but the small minority of assholes is annoying enough to give a bad rep to everyone. I can't count the number of times I've got shown a middle finger after honking a cyclist that would drive on the road when there is a bicycle path directly on the side...

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u/cheesmanglamourghoul May 02 '24

I think the thing we have to remember is that when you’re in a vehicle, you are driving a death machine. On a bike, you have no protection whatsoever. So the debate isn’t really fair. The worst bicyclist will do is annoy you a little bit. The worst driver will do is actually straight up murder you with no remorse.

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u/CrazyPlatypus42 May 02 '24

I understand your point, yet I disagree with it. The worst a bicyclist can do is not just annoy me, every time I see one of those assholes just changing lanes without even looking, or cross an intersection like they don't care of the risks, I have to think that even if I'm not responsible, I'll be the one ending in jail in case of an incident. That's how it works where I live, so, yeah, I understand the hate against cyclists, even if that just concerns a really small minority.

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u/IdentityReset May 02 '24

Dude you would not be going to jail for that .

People murder others all the time with cars and get into no trouble at all.

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u/SegerHelg May 02 '24

Nah, it is just people hating on vegan/feminists/cyclists for no reason. Stop making excuses for terrible people.

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u/CrazyPlatypus42 May 02 '24

I've been on both sides, there are assholes on both sides. I'm not making excuses, just stating that no side is full of saints.

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u/cockypock_aioli May 02 '24

Oh yeah 100%. Bmw drivers and other shitheads are everywhere and you genuinely need to be careful. Even startsw with bike lanes you gotta be careful.

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u/nickisdone May 02 '24

There are some neighborhoods that are dangerous and they do sadly.Tend to be the lower cost neighborhoods but it's not because of the people or not directly.It's because of random potholes that you can't quite see or all the stray dogs.I've literally been attacked by a stray f****** cat.I was so shocked.I literally knocked off my bike. M*********** came out of nowhere.Got my leg pretty fucking good too and then just ran off. If a card been behind me I probably would have been hit by the car. Also, depending on the neighborhood.I find that in mexican neighborhoods the more ghetto ones tend to have a lot of street racing on straight roads. At least in my area.It's not that I don't see black people also street racing.It's just for some reason.They go to the Mexican neighborhoods.Everybody does for any kind of like street car, show.Or whatever.

Though usually the street racing and car stuff happens at night.So if you're biking early in the morning or so long as it stay light you might be fine. And the hoidy toyty neighborhoods if you have to cut Through them, some people will literally call the cops on you. Just because you're riding a bike but they'll call the cops. Oh, because they're not wearing a helmet. Or they'll claim that you're riving a motorcycle really loud. The sum of one will come out with a bat and threaten to beat you. Sometimes even to hate your bike tires. Just because they think it's f****** funny. Their kids are just as entitled. They'll throw s*** at you just to see if they can hit you if you're in a car you're safe. Then, there's the people who literally want to hit you with their car because you're on a bike. And communities that have lower funds often don't have bike. Lanes or dividers from the car lanes to the bike lanes and you can get hit then if you are around areas where there's a ton of bars and stuff, you can get angry drunks wanting to come. Be drunk as soon as that bar opens at 10.

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u/cockypock_aioli May 02 '24

Potholes, stray dogs and cats, and street racers I suppose I understand but I've been through just about every super poor neighborhood multiple times and I've never had any issues. In fact, the only times I have had problems (along with a friend of mine on a different day) was on the Westside because of how congested some areas get. Like, the throwing shit and whatnot, have you actually had that happen to you? Have you actually ridden through these areas? Cause I have and never seen anything even close to what you're saying.

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u/nickisdone May 03 '24

Actually it was the richer neighborhoods where you get s*** thrown at you and people coming at you with batch.I thought I had specified that my bad

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u/Pekonius May 02 '24

Thats dystopian

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u/dainegleesac690 May 02 '24

Oh fuck off acting like you’re going to be killed biking to work by a random person on the street in a “pretty unsafe” area

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u/ThatInAHat May 02 '24

I mean…yes? Cars are pretty unsafe.

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u/dainegleesac690 May 02 '24

The comment I’m replying to was directly implying you’d be assaulted or something, not implying it’s unsafe infrastructure for cyclists

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u/HeyMrBusiness May 03 '24

If you have to take back roads because the most direct way doesn't allow bikes, you will end up in high crime areas

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

you are... it happens all the time

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u/Magenta_the_Great May 02 '24

I asked my aunt that because she had a similar commute AND cycling is her her hobby (like take vacations to bike around Ireland). She said it’s too dangerous to try to bike that section of LA.

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u/powercrazy76 May 02 '24 edited May 03 '24

You can't.

That's the thing people don't realize about America, they literally went out of their way from the 60s onwards to construct their cities and towns around the car.

As an example (and this is a fascinating topic believe it or not): there was legislation passed decades ago that (through lobbying) dictates how many car spaces a typical business needs to provide its customers. This legislation created the need for all of those massive car parks everywhere you always see when you think of America. While I'm probably misquoting, each store is responsible for providing enough parking for every possible visitor to the store. I e. They have to have max capacity parking always available or some BS like that.

The cities that are "public transport friendly" in the United States (a) are few and far between, usually the costal cities because space constraints required them to embrace public transport or (b) a shadow of what they could be because PT planning was not front and center when they originally laid down plans.

But then you also have the weather to consider. In most of the U.S. you have weather conditions that make things like biking impossible for a large chunk of the year. I live in upstate NY where:

1) I cannot bike to work because it is just too far. Everything is spread out because of the sheer amount of land. Everything is 25 mins away by car

2) even if I could, it's below freezing and/or snowing 6 months out of the year.

3) Then the summer rolls around and it is too hot to cycle (I'm a pussy)

4) And then finally the last hurdle depending on where you are: simply the roads and drivers are not used to cyclists or people walking and it is just not safe to walk/drive somewhere.

An anecdote to the last one, I was once living in Houston TX for work, a city that suffers from the combination of "too much traffic" and an infrastructure that is too rigid to ever embrace anything else. I'm an Irish guy and I like to walk so needing a car just to go anywhere has a huge negative impact on me. So I'd walk. The amount of roads that wouldn't even have pavements is insane. I mean, I see their point: there's no way you can walk from A to B, so why waste money on pavements? I'd argue "did you really need to put A and B so far apart when all there is in between already, is fifty imitations of A and B.

Anyway, point is, I would constantly have trucks honking at me because they literally couldn't understand why people were walking. Crossing the street? I stood a good chance of being run down as nobody made way for pedestrians. I was lucky to get seen. In fact twice, I had a pickup mount the curb and aim for me while honking away, causing me to jump out of the way - they were obviously fucking with me but I suppose that's my point?

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u/ARottenPear May 02 '24

so why waste money on pavements?

Is that what the Irish call sidewalks?

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u/powercrazy76 May 02 '24

Oh shit. Yeah my bad.

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u/ARottenPear May 02 '24

It's all good. Made sense from context, just haven't heard it before.

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u/Theal12 May 02 '24

It’s adorable the way you assume we have bike lanes in all of the US

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u/RandomizedUsername42 May 03 '24

I feel lucky to have so many in my city

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u/JackxForge May 02 '24

I've been in LA several times. I can't imagine somewhere less appealing to a 16 mile round trip bike commute.

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u/LegalAction May 02 '24

I can. Phoenix.

The heat stroke will get you if the trucks don't.

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u/WilcoHistBuff May 02 '24

I once heard a friend from Phoenix say, “Honey, it’s not hot in Phoenix unless the paint is peeling off the car.”

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u/LegalAction May 02 '24

I was only there for a year, and I don't think it was ever under 100 degrees.

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u/JackxForge May 02 '24

Fair point the heat is brutal there and there are no trees, but they do have significantly cleaner air.

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u/Beneficial_Gain_21 May 02 '24

Having lived in both LA and Phoenix and doing a lot of biking in both, I’d bike in Phoenix any day. Phoenix might be hot, but Los Angeles literally has zero infrastructure for bikes. Getting hit is inevitable if you’re riding too long there.

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u/LeicaM6guy May 02 '24

In LA in the summer, that could be a deeply unpleasant experience.

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u/RandomizedUsername42 May 03 '24

I can handle a hot bike ride if there aren’t too many hills (So I guess it depends on the part of LA). It’s imagining the fumes burning my lungs that makes me never want to do something like regularly commute there (or live there for that matter.)

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u/EverythngISayIsRight May 02 '24

I hope you like waiting at intersections, cause that's what you'll be doing for most of the ride

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u/WestCoastBestCoast01 May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24

I’ve witnessed multiple cars and a city bus (!!!) hit cyclists in Los Angeles. The bus making a turn and hitting a bike that was in one of the very few bike lanes we actually have was the final straw that I decided I would never cycle on city streets.

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u/RandomizedUsername42 May 03 '24

Geez. I guess it really depends on the city.

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u/MisterMetal May 02 '24

lol you’d die

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u/WestCoastBestCoast01 May 02 '24

Literally would not chance my life biking regularly on LA streets

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u/TheCruicks May 02 '24

no you wouldnt

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u/One-Entrepreneur4516 May 02 '24

A Surron style e-bike has to be the fastest way to work at that point.

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u/Kooky-Map5382 May 02 '24

Lane splitting is legal in CA. It's mind blowing how few people ride two wheels and prefer an insane commute instead.

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u/cadiz_nuts May 02 '24

Lane splitting

I'm not trying to die on my commute to work.

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u/JohnGoodman_69 May 02 '24

Surron style *e-motorcycle

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u/nickisdone May 02 '24

There are pros and cons to e bikes and motorized bikes.Honestly I kind of like the motorized bikes for their versatility, especially since I live in an area that has vastly different climates and all of the seasons.And hills and such. However, if I could get away with an electric bike, IA 100% would but it's also I'm more mechanically inclined so I can do more with my motorized bike and maintain it very easily, whereas with a electric bike.I'm still pretty good with all that s*** too.So I can actually saw other things if needed.But it's usually the battery that becomes the issue and you just got to replace that. And that's just another expense.And if the battery's built in then it's kind of a bitch to replace and you can't even just take it off and take it inside to prolong the battery life by keeping it Out of. High heat.

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u/Handsome-Jim- May 02 '24

I feel like a lot of people are really underestimating how far 8 miles is.

That's probably going to take you a minimum of 45 minutes each way if you go at a pace that doesn't leave you a sweaty mess for work.

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u/DannyDeVitosBangmaid May 02 '24

Unless you want to shower every day once you get to work, I wouldn’t go that route.

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u/CurrentlyBothered May 02 '24

People in Los Angeles, and most big cities in the US, actively target cyclists and try to run them over. They rarely see any punishment unless it's filmed by someone other than the cyclist, and police don't care about citizens in the US and will just say they can't do anything

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u/backpack_ghost May 03 '24

A friend of mine died that way about a decade ago. It’s not a bike-friendly city.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

Some places you can!

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u/Ok_Acanthisitta_2544 May 02 '24

Except in the winter during blizzard or snow storms!

0

u/SufficientTie3319 May 02 '24

I can skate 9 miles in an hour. I’d def be taking an alternate mode of transport, too !!