I don't know Chicago, but I do know what's happened in San Francisco over the last 20 years. It's taken a long time, but the city is finally starting to take protected bike lanes seriously, sadly much of that is in response to lives lost.
When I first got here, it was just a fight for standard bike lanes. For either to happen, more people need to get on their bikes and ride. Contributing to your local bike coalition is also great way to help push these issues forward.
If everyone follows your advice and chooses to not ride because of the danger, then nothing will change, and the lives lost to poor road infrastructure and poor driver education will have been for nothing.
> If everyone follows your advice and chooses to not ride because of the danger, then nothing will change
Are you seriously suggesting some ppl risk their lives for 'change'? Sorry I really don't want to trade my life for bike lanes, there are ppl counting on me to stay alive.
No, I don't want people to risk their lives for anything. I want things to change. 40,000 people die a year in the US while driving or riding in cars, following your logic, that is also extremely risky, and so we shouldn't do it.
I am not sure thats a correct analogy. Driving a car to work is not an optional activity for most ppl. Ppl riding their bikes in the city are doing it for fun/thrill/whatever, its an optional activity for 90% of the ppl doing it.
I have a theory that most of these ppl would stop doing it once the thrill/'cool factor' goes away with protected bike lanes.
I especially like this quote: "A virtuous cycle is clear: With more infrastructure come more riders. Perhaps counterintuitively, with more infrastructure and more riders, safety improves. And the more bicycles there are traversing a city, the more it reaps numerous returns on investment, including the health benefits of cleaner air and greater physical activity." from https://www.drawdown.org/solutions/buildings-and-cities/bike...
I don't think most people who are biking while commuting are doing it purely for the thrill, but that is a plus, no doubt.
It depends on the city, but I see plenty of people biking in Cambridge who, based on apparent age and time-of-day, are almost certainly commuting to or from work. Also a few on kick scooters (not as good for longer trips, but easier to bring on public transit or a sidewalk if necessary). Going to work is not optional for most people, but (depending on where you live and where you work) there can be a variety of choices for how you get there.
Biking (or scooter-ing) is faster than walking, gets you some exercise, is much cheaper than owning and fuelling a car, can be faster than a car in particularly bad rush-hour traffic if bike lanes exist... there's plenty of reasons beyond being a daredevil, if the relevant addresses line up for it.
