It has been a long time since I personally owned a bike, though it’s not for the want of having one. It’s simply not been practical to own one and the majority of my travel is spent either using public transport or walking. Yes, I am one of those people that walks everywhere that for some reason people think are mad for doing so.
Fortunately, I have these public transport options, because living on the outskirts of a major city were I to have to rely on getting into the city on a bike I’m not sure I’d be comfortable doing it. Traffic is crazy enough just down my own road without having to navigate the many twisting roads into the city hub. Now, where I live is one thing. But to take on one of the really big American cities like Los Angeles? I wouldn’t know where to start – and be doubtful I’d get to the end even in one piece.
It’s a subject that the Los Angeles Times (not the first first time we’ve featured them on Li360) looked into last July when one of their staff strapped a 360 degree camera to his handlebars (not the best option, in hindsight) and recorded his daily commute: “Los Angeles is arguably the most dangerous big city in America in which to be a bike rider, which may be why only 1% of people in L.A. commute to work by bike. And it’s getting more dangerous by the year. L.A. Times Opinion writer Matthew Fleischer takes you on a 360 degree tour of his morning bike commute to point out the pitfalls of cycling to work in L.A. — and what it would take to make the city a safer place for cyclists.”
You can see the video below. VRFocus will be back with another example of the use of 360 degree video in the near future.
