Recent story but not me. A friend of mine just had his car stolen two days ago. He was going to bed around midnight and heard something outside, so he looked out the window just in time to see his vehicle rounding the corner on the street.
He phoned the RCMP who managed to catch the guy a few miles down the road. The thief had ripped the Sirius radio out of the vehicle but otherwise there didn't seem to be any damage. My friend and his mom had picked up the vehicle the next morning and was driving home when they heard a loud "pop" and the vehicle caught fire, burning to the ground. (My guess is when the guy ripped out the radio some wires got damaged and shorted out.)
So now he's scrambling to find a new set of wheels that he can't really afford to do because he needs it to get back and forth from work which is 16 miles one way. He will eventually get some insurance money for the vehicle, but who knows how much, and that probably won't be for a little while. In the meantime he's kind of up the creek without a paddle.
Getting a new car in a pinch is ass. Just pure ass. I think he can get a rental for now, but make sure he makes them move on it because otherwise he'll be ass-out on all of this. We had to deal with something similar recently, and it just was 100% booty. Used cars suck unebelievably right now too. If he knows someone with an older car who's looking to upgrade it might actually cost less to just buy it off the person than grab one from a dealer. But really, it's all just one giant ass-sandwich. Ugh.
I mean, yeah! But there's a ton of places in America (not sure about anywhere else) that you can't bike. I mean, like period. Even places you can, you're gunna get hit by a car at least once.
Doesn't it count as a road vehicle like in Germany? Wear a camera and a hammer. You can also get one of those sticks that sticks like half a meter out so they have to pass with legal clearance.
Stuff in America is drawn out. Like super, dee-duper drawn out. Motorcylist get smashed up on the road. A biker has no chance against others. But even in places I've lived where they had bike-paths everyone I know who biked got smashed up at least once and had a long-term injury from it. Only the pretty extreme riders (as in wearing the spandex suits with the helmet with the lights on top and the bike that they lean forward on) are the people I've ever seen riding down a highway. I don't think I've ever seen any bikers on the freeway. A large problem that I've seen coast to coast is a lack of sidewalks. Or if there are sidewalks, a lack of upkeep on said sidewalks.
Also, hi sis!
*Also this is just what I've picked up on, there might someone else who can say the exact opposite. Just what I've learned as I've gone through life =)