Plus Caption Competition, Quips & Quotes, Life in NZ and 10 Quick Questions

In the 1950s, New Zealand had 234,000 cars, one for every 8.3 people (“Bikelash”, February 17). Today, we have about three million cars or other light motor vehicles, nearly 13 times as many, or one for every 1.6 people. In just two or three generations, the motor car, once a saved-for purchase that our parents polished at weekends, has become something the average worker can buy for a couple of weeks’ wages.

Despite government efforts, our road network is far from being 13 times bigger than it was in 1950, so it’s no wonder roads are cluttered. And it’s no wonder motor vehicles have consumed our hearts, minds and bodies. The words “go” and “drive” are now so synonymous that we measure distance not in kilometres but by the proxy of driving time. And we use “vehicle” to mean a “motor vehicle” because no other kind (such as a bicycle) merits consideration.

Many of us have no concept of getting about other than in a box on wheels weighing a tonne or more, about six times as much as the single person often occupying it – and then we worry about climate change. Perhaps the ultimate irony is that people in this flat town drive 1-2km to the gym.

Nothing the Listener or I write will change the deep automotive conditioning of many of us. We must just wait for it to die out, while welcoming the diabetes and vascular disease that hasten the day. John Rhodes (Greytown) Twenty years ago, I biked with pleasure to work every day. I now live 45km from my rural science job, and apart from the issues of distance and daylight hours for a demanding job, many heavy vehicles use my route. Ever been passed by a stock or logging truck going 90km/h? It’s terrifying.

I have been to Copenhagen several times. Many bike commuters there live in housing blocks at population densities far greater than those of most of us. The economy and job profile of the population are much different.

Sure, many high-income Kiwis, or those without big families, can afford to live within 10km of work, but what about ordinary working people in urban sprawls like Auckland? Not everyone lives in Mt Eden or Parnell.

The “Copenhagen solution” may as well be Mars for most of us. Let’s see future Listener articles account for social factors. Mark Oliver (Sunnybrook, Rotorua) LETTER OF THE WEEK

I live in Matamata, which has an urban population of about 7800. It’s flat, there are wide streets and yet you could count on the fingers of both hands the number of people who commute by bicycle.

Why? There is not a jot of cycling infrastructure in the entire urban area. No cycle lanes, no tracks, nothing. Because these don’t exist, there are few cycling commuters.

It would be a bonus to smaller rural communities if some of the funds being provided for cycling in the cities could be channelled our way. Colin Kemplen (Matamata)

The “bikelash” that occurred in West Lynn has come in the third year of Auckland’s substantial programme of cycle investment. The Listener article was outstanding in explaining the logic behind the programme, the international trends supporting cycling investment and how a project can go off the rails when cycle upgrades are planned in isolation, without due regard for local urban form and character. Barb Cuthbert Chair, Bike Auckland

I fear many car drivers look on bicycles as a nuisance on their roads. However, it should be remembered that bikes were on the road for years before the car was even invented.

Cars do not own the road. Drivers own their cars and that’s it. Denis Hewett (Kerikeri)

Night Rider (with apologies to Ogden Nash):

My heart leaps up when I

behold/A cyclist on his bike.// Contrary wise my blood runs cold/When I see him out at night.//Dressed all in black or grey or brown,/With nary a light to fore or aft,//I glimpse him just in time/To make a narrow pass.//Cycling is good for the health, I know/And for the planet too,//And I suppose he thinks that because he can see me I can see him (oh poor deluded fool).//Why can’t he be smart (and show a light or wear a hi-vis vest) before I drive right up his arse. Heather Levack (Hillsborough, Auckland)