Re: HPV bicycles 600+ mpg

I guess my intent was that a vehicle that could travel at car speeds would likely put you in a somewhat safer position in traffic, given the absence of a safe place to ride a bike.
Cars and trucks are certainly WMD in my mind as well. My community is a generally safe place to ride because it as been designed to be so. Once I leave my area however, what a nightmare. I work on a military base and have only a 5 mile commute. 1 safe mile in my neighborhood and 1 safe mile on base. It's the 3 in between that can test your mettle. To tell the truth, if I could wave a wand and make the cars and trucks disappear I would do it in a heartbeat.
I think a good many communities have tried to remake themselves into something sustainable like the neighborhoods of old and many have been successful to a large extent. I am not going to go Howard Kunstler here, but I think better design that takes mass transit, bicycles and pedestrian access into consideration,like much of Europe as you point out, may be what is necessary to get folks out of their cars and follow your recommendation to slow down and smell the roses.It really is the only way to go!!