"Warp" <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote in message 
news:4ab23df0@news.povray.org...
>... The "solution" to the former is to drive the children everywhere.
> This decreases significantly the amount of exercise they get, which is a
> huge growing problem in the US. Even when they grow older, they will have
> learned the bad habit to drive everywhere, and it's unlikely they will get
> rid of that bad habit, thus worsening the problem of not getting exercise
> throughout their adulthood.
>
>  Also driving them everywhere is way more expensive, and this money wasted
> on gas and car maintenance is always away from something more useful and
> educative (such as healthy hobbies).
>

That's partly what I was getting at in my bicycle post.  Not only do 
children learn the "bad habit" of driving everywhere, but alternate forms of 
transportation seem to be discouraged by the government as a whole.  Many, 
if not most, cities and towns that have bicycle paths got the money from 
private funds.  There is a HUGE percentage of the population that seem to 
think bicycle paths are a waste of public money, but money spent on roads is 
never wasted.  It's a sad fact.

Having said all of that, the vast majority of people I encounter on the road 
while riding are very courteous, especially while I'm riding by myself.  But 
get a handful of cyclists in a group, traffic has to slow down more often, 
cars may get backed up a bit, and people become extremely irritated and 
impatient, apparently because now they will arrive at their destination 45 
seconds later, which I guess is just inexcusable.

I don't know if this is true in other developed countries, but in the US, 
your cars really seem to be an extension of your home.  In fact, for some, 
it's more of a home than their actual home/apartment.  I think that's part 
of the reason we tend to drive the large SUV's, and more and more of the 
"comforts of home" seem to be showing up in our automobiles.  And if those 
comforts aren't there from the factory, then there's always plenty of room 
to pack them in yourself.

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