Video highlights dangerous US trend putting city residents in harms way: 'This stuff can be life or death'

Biking is a great way to get around that, unlike driving a car, emits no planet-overheating air pollution. Because of that, you'd think that cities would want to encourage biking — but unfortunately, as one TikTok video recently displayed, that is often not the case.

Car Free Keith (@carfreekeith) recently filmed himself biking along a dedicated bike lane in Chicago, where he resides, and coming across a section that was closed for construction with no detour, forcing him to merge with the cars speeding past him to get around it.

@carfreekeith No clear, safe, and direct detours for bike lanes is another example of cars getting priority over vulnerable road users (anyone not in a car). Cars can be very dangerous, and how many times have you heard this: "oh, the drivers in <insert city> are the worst!" Most people are bad at driving! City planners should design roads accordingly so people moving outside of a car get maximum protection, and people operating a two ton metal box (with questionable qualifications for doing so) are not given absolute free reign. It just makes sense. People's lives can be saved by these measures. #bikeriding #bikechicago #biker #bikelane #urbanplanning #publictransit #walkablecities #bikecycling #chicago #weekwithoutdriving #creatorsearchinsights ♬ original sound - Car Free Keith

Keith used the opportunity to muse on the differences between how bikers and car drivers are prioritized by cities. While bikers, who are much more at risk and are not producing any pollution, are frequently forced into even riskier situations, car drivers, who are actively making the air quality around them worse and are much more likely to kill or injure someone, are much more catered to.

"Let's be honest," Keith says. "A lot of those two-ton metal boxes rolling around are being driven by people who maybe shouldn't be trusted with that kind of power. Not trying to be mean, just saying that in a lot of situations, for a lot of people, this stuff can be life or death."

Indeed, the number of cyclist fatalities has been increasing steadily since 2010, according to The League of American Bicyclists. While we should be doing more to encourage biking and help facilitate nonpolluting modes of transport, the trend unfortunately seems to be moving in the opposite direction.

"It really just goes to show that non-car-related infrastructure is barely given a second thought while drivers are prioritized at every level," Keith says.