Bikes vs Cars

I saw Bikes vs. Cars last night at the Canadian Premiere at Hot Docs Toronto. We were very fortunate to have the film director Fredrik Gertten at the presentation as well. I am very biased as I love cycling. I think what the film shows us is the huge impact that our lifestyle and car obsession is having on the planet. We get local information from a selection of diverse cities such as São Paulo Brazil, Bogotá Colombia, Los Angeles USA, Toronto Canada, Copenhagen Denmark. In each city, grass roots communities have come together to promote cycling and urban sustainability. We get a particular focus on São Paulo where we see the outcome of a successful campaign to install bike paths on Avenida Paulista. The film is shot in such a way that you actually feel you are on the bike in the middle of traffic. Exhilarating and scary sometimes.

Really there are several core constructs in this film that are nonsense. peer reviewed work show the issue is not "corporate" or "big business" issues, but needs and attitudes of the massive majority of Americans who own cars. Data show bike riding is not a substitute for over 95% of them. Ironically the biggest resistance to other personal high efficiency transport such as human powered scooters, motorized scooters and even motorized bikes, is organized bike advocacy groups. Also left out of this film altogether is the fact that peer reviewed work shows places with mandatory bicycle helmet laws, mandatory bike bells and lights, and mandatory bike registration have way lower death rates on bikes per ca[pita mile ridden by bike. Yet the bike advocacy groups, including ones in this film -- fight against such laws tooth and nail.

Other than leaving out china a very good documentary about present day and our future.

I do not hide my personal bias towards the subject. I travel by bike everywhere - to the university, to work, to the shop, I ride it for sport.

Like Super Size Me, Food Inc. and What the Bleep Do We Know, Bikes vs Cars is a movie that will make you reflect on your worldview. Exiting the conventional is required here. The themes of technology, ecology, progress and policy pops up in front of the viewer giving him a lot of new information and putting him before the choice of how to live his life.

Divided into several parallel developing parts the film takes us into the world of people who ride bicycles, lead an environmentally friendly way of life and fight for their right to freedom on the roads. What future we have to choose and do we have the opportunity to do it fighting automakers and construction companies.

How long are we going to live in this paradigm?

My blog: http://vihrenmitevmovies.blogspot.bg/