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It is very interesting how many countries around the world includingthe US, Europe and China are now embracing the use of bicycles intravelling rather than using motor vehicles in the name of reducingcarbon emissions. The use of bicycles in travelling would transformthe urban environment to appear like a village where people can onlyafford to buy bikes. It is clear to everyone that the problem ofclimate change has led to global warming but, even a child wouldwonder why his father would abandon his good car and ride a bicycleto the workplace in the name saving the world from global warming.The use of bicycle instead of vehicles, however, continues to gainpopulace among the transport researchers since it can help the entireworld fight against global warming. They should know that the use ofcars is far more convenient than biking because people riding thebicycles face very serious challenges.
First, bicycling exposes one to agents of weather such as rains,intense heat and snow. Unlike the cars, the bicycles do not provideenough safety and comfort to the travellers. If bicycling is widelyaccepted then it would appear that people are tired of beingcomfortable in their cars and now the only thing they know is toexpose themselves to rains. In order to further reduce the carbonemissions, are the transport researchers going to recommend the useof long and spacious bicycles that can carry passengers in publictransport? I like the impression that bicycling saves on thetravelling costs, but are they forgetting that the motor vehicleswere invented to make travelling easier, faster and even morecomfortable. When they say that cycling can help in limit the rise inglobal temperatures to a manageable level of 2 degrees, it therefore,means that they want us to abandon our good and superfast cars andjeopardize our safety while travelling. One may even ask why theycan’t see that they killing the people’s morale to work extrahard to buy cars. This is because after all, one will be advised togo for a bicycle instead of that latest version of Mercedez Benz.
Secondly, bicycles are slow means of transport as compared to cartravelling, and hence they contribute to lateness in arrival at theworkplace. While using a bicycle, one cannot even carry severalitems with him, and thus, one would require two or three bicycles toaccompany him to the workplace every morning and evening. It doesn’tmake sense how people will get the courage to inconveniencethemselves and yet they have cars at home. Bicycling also increasesthe risk of injuries from car accidents and exposure to the exhaustfumes released by the cars. The advantages of using of cars outweighthose of bicycling not only on matters concerning the health of thepassenger and speed of travel but, also the social status. I thinkthe campaigners of bicycling should look for other ways of fightingglobal warming rather than embarrassing themselves on the streets infront of drivers and touts, who are not even close to understand thelogic behind the use of bicycles.
Finally, riding bicycles can only occur in flat or gently slopingurban environments. With a car, one can travel on any terrainprovided that the vehicle is fueled and is in good mechanicalcondition. Thus, bicycling cannot be easy in towns with steep slopesmaking it a lesser convenient means of transport. If they decide toinvent bicycles that can travel on any terrain, they can only do thatby installing engines on bicycles. It would then be funny for theindustries to start manufacturing powered bicycles so as to ensurethe bicycles remains the only means of transport on the streets. Itis, therefore, evident that it is better to stick to the cars sincesuch innovations would also contribute to global warming. I thinkpeople should not even think of these bicycles, they should continuedriving because biking comes together with embarrassment forthemselves on the streets. In consideration of the notion that peoplehave on bicycling, most people across the US, who are car-centriccitizens would not risk tiring themselves with ‘non-powered cars’because they perceive that bicycles are used during the physicalexercise. The world does not even imagine people moving away from cartransport to two-wheeled bicycle transport because it is an oldfashioned means of transport.