@distelfliege Also, as a disabled person with sometimes significant mobility impairments, I would be *way* safer with fewer cars. "What about disabled people and the elderly, who can't just walk everywhere?" is a red herring.

If I could use my bicycle safely to get everywhere I need to go, without worrying about a) being squished b) not being able to breathe or c) taking a dodgy unlit sideroute with nobody on it in the dark on my own? I would be less disabled.

@distelfliege And no, even with adapted equipment, not everyone can cycle, but lots of people could use a trike as easily as a wheelchair. And most wheelchairs can go most places a cargo bike could go, if (and only if) they don't have to share with cars.

Physically protected cycle routes on main roads are really the only way to go. And that means having less space for cars.

@distelfliege And even... the reason my mobility is better(-ish) at the moment is that I got exhausted by not being able to take my bicycle everywhere that I needed to walk (e.g. the Tube), and realised cycling was making my asthma worse, and started a (slow, painful) project to improve my walking mobility.

Long-term, it may well cause more joint damage, because of the nature of the condition I have.

Why should I have to do this?

@distelfliege I literally have to choose between joint damage or lung damage, because car culture says other people driving is more important than my health.

@artsyhonker I'm also lightly disabled, I have severe osteoarthritis in both knees. cycling keeps me literally alive.

I am in a similar situation: I have to choose between breathing in all those pollutants or becoming immobile.

@artsyhonker yep. and the polluted air and the noise - how many city dwellers get sick from that? It has to be thousands of people who suffer, I don't get why we are doing this, why we are sacrificing so much for a not even very convenient way to move around.

in the end it's also so much about status and toxic masculinity, or a toxic show off of privilege. at least in germany, where cars are not simply things. many people here treat their cars as sacred objects, ranking higher than living beings.

@distelfliege I didn't have asthma before I moved to London. My husband has developed it in the last few years too and his is much worse than mine despite him being physically fitter.

When I leave London I don't need to use my inhaler. But I can't get anywhere easily because there's no public transport...

@distelfliege Anyway. Yes. Car culture is terrible. Driving as a default option is horrible for disabled people, and yet we get used as an argument to keep it. Fewer cars, in less space, is something to keep working toward.

@artsyhonker absolutely! that's a super important point.

@distelfliege the picture is called "if we designed our homes the way we design our cities"

@Antanicus thank you for that, I didn't know that picture!

@Antanicus I have seen homes like that in berlin. it's absolutely absurd. here's a link to the picture: http://carloft.de/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/nachtansicht_papillon_web.jpg

@distelfliege that's a very expensive way of saying "I'm so insecure of the size of my penis I need to have my huge car with me at all times" LOL