My how cheap gas changes headlines!  Last year it was “SUV’s rot on sales lots while millions flock to gas efficient cars.”  Yesterday there was a New York Times article entitled Study Says Minicar Buyers Sacrifice Safety.  The implication is that if you want to be safe you should be in the largest vehicle possible.  So if everyone drove M-1Abrams tanks then it would be SUV drivers sacrificing safety.

It’s a matter of escalation, if everyone drives a larger car than the last person, then of course the smallest vehicle is going to be the most unsafe.   Anyway haven’t SUV’s been proven to be a rollover hazard and therefore more dangerous than smaller cars?

So where does that leave bicycles which are a lot smaller than the smallest car?  Here at Pedal, we recognize the dangers of being a defenseless human on 20 lbs. of steel moving at 10-20 miles per hour, but we do it anyway.  Dangerous?  More than an encasing yourself in steel.  Good for you?  Certainly.  The health benefits for ourselves, our neighborhoods, cities, and planet are undeniable.  Here in Portland bicycle use since 2000 has risen 144%, yet traffic fatalities have stayed the same.  It’s getting safer to ride a bike here every day.  The answer is not to jump in the largest vehicle possible, but rather the smallest.

Once more people get out of the tanks and into smaller cars, or better yet bicycles, then the world will be safer for everyone.