Pulitzer Prize-winning author and syndicated conservative columnist George F. Will penned a column for Newsweek a few days ago that got cycling advocates into an uproar…in the column, Will sets out to bash U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and includes a glaring factual error:
Where to start? Does LaHood really think Americans were not avid drivers before a government highway program “promoted” driving? Does he think 0.01 percent of Americans will ever regularly bike to work? Intercity high-speed rail probably always will be the wave of the future, for cities more than 300 miles apart. And as for Portland …
Read Will’s full column by clicking here.
Perhaps Will used the “0.01 percent” figure as artistic embellishment, but a variety of outlets took him to task for it.
Treehugger beats him up with statistics…
D.C.’s “The Wash Cycle” gives him some of the business…
And, perhaps most eloquently, associate editor of The Atlantic Monthly Matthew Yglesias tries diligently to set Will straight…
Shooting off at the hip without facts as backup has become a popular technique of late for many conservative writers and radio personalities — but what the above misguided statement really illustrates is that people who choose bicycling as a viable transportation mode have a LONG WAY to go to achieve understanding in the United States. There are thousands of us out there, but we’re still so easily marginalized by comments/wisecracks like Will’s.
What’s your take on these comments?
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