I’ll just drive, thanks
If a person is convinced that wearing a bike helmet flattens hairdos beyond What Fashion Dictates, that bicycling suggests Financial Failure, that all travel must be undertaken in a Glass and Metal/Plastics Bubble (preferably of at least 20x the weight and 900x times the power of the driver), and moving around must be done at an unsustainable expense to individual safety, public health, fitness, the environment and energy use – then presumably the matter shall rest there (although not too comfortably one should hope).
The same bicycle that remains treasured by numerous Americans for recreation shall thus remain largely jilted for errands and transportation — even for short distances, on easy terrain, in good weather and with light loads.
There’s also the bicycle’s role in scientific breakthroughs. Albert Einstein did not say about his Theory of Relativity that it came to him while out driving. He said that it came to him while bicycling.
Worried about safety? If you think that the car is safer than a bicycle let me ask: ‘Would prefer to be run over by a car or a bicycle?’
edited 06/13/23 0705