Charmingly Didactic: An Illustrated Guide to Why Biking Can Be Scary (But Doesn’t Have to Be)

Vreni perfectly captures how it feels to ride in the new protected bike lane at Lake Merritt in Oakland. All illustrations by Vreni
Vreni perfectly captures how it feels to ride in the new protected bike lane at Lake Merritt in Oakland. All illustrations by Vreni

Illustrator Vreni just posted a short illustrated treatise at The Nib on the importance of designing streets to make biking feel safer so more people will bike. The image at the top of this post captures another reason why this is key: pure joy.

Vreni’s post begins with her dilemma as a new resident in Oakland who wants to ride a bike but is frightened by statistics, bad driving, and helmet-shaming drivers. She throws in a little bit of education about infrastructure, and even finds a way to illustrate some safety statistics. And her post celebrates some of the changes that are coming to cities–like Oakland’s newest protected bike lanes, above, and road diets and bike boulevards.

The Nib posts nonfiction comics on political and current events, and if you head over there to check out the rest of Vreni’s work, I can’t be held responsible for the time you spend looking at all the other posts.

By Vreni via The NibBy Vreni via The Nib

 

By Vreni via The Nib

Hat tip to Robert Prinz, and thanks to The Nib.

1 thought on Charmingly Didactic: An Illustrated Guide to Why Biking Can Be Scary (But Doesn’t Have to Be)

  1. Can anyone tell me what tools were used to create those panels? I’m a technical writer with limited visual arts skills who would like to be able to create visual narrative such as this one…

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