>>>But that's so in my plains (i.e. north Serbia, north and east Romania, almost all of Hungary, northwest Croatia), where there's about third generation of bicycle riders, and there's a bikers' culture. Here, where bicycle is a sports item and not a means of transportation (though that's changing now), such a culture has yet to grow. So while I will not wear a helmet myself (impedes my 3d hearing, as I said), I'd recommend it to anybody, at least during their first few years on the streets. I've bought a different piece of hardware that I needed: a rear view mirror. Helps more than you can imagine.
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>>20 or 30 years ago that was still the case here. Not so now. Not everyone rides a bike beyond their youth, and now, not everyone even rides a bike in their youth. Of the youth riding a bike today, not every one knows the rules of the road or practices safe practices. We don't have bike riders cognizant of the risks and taking precautionary measures nor do drivers always cede to bike riders. Helmets may provide a false sense of safety, but no one assumes that simply because they are wearing a helmet they will survive a showdown with a vehicle.
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>I figure some of that culture may be lost over there as well - last time I visited I couldn't get my hand on a usable pair of wheels (what my father used would maybe have served as an interesting mechanics project, but not as a vehicle ;), so I couldn't observe from within.
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>My prediction is that the bicycles will make a comeback. Specially now that they don't rust so easily - even the cheap ones I got can stay outside for years and still shift nicely. I remember Arthur Clarke had a dialog somewhere where an engineer said "still, there's nothing more efficient than a rocket engine when it comes to transportation", to which the other responded "if we forget the bicycle". This being the days we'll remember as "last days of cheap gasoline"... we'll all be a tad thinner and generally in better shape.


I recently watched a documentary on vehicles and it stated that the energy efficiency of a bicycle was 98% - higher than any other type of vehicle including rockets.