Have you ever wondered whether you breathe less smog by bike or by car?

This is a hot topic and a very frequent excuse:
taking children by bike they breathe too much smog, better in the car!

I think I am very sensitive to the dirty air in the city, I live in a fairly small town, 60,000 inhabitants, but I can't help but notice the stench of smog in the air very often, in recent years much more so.

It happens when I'm in the car and I don't know which is better, keeping the window tightly sealed, or opening it.

It also happens when I am on my bicycle, of course I try to avoid busy roads by using side roads and cutting through park trails.
We are now a family that uses the car to the strictest extent necessary, long journeys out of town, always travelling by bike or TAGA, the legendary bike-stroller with our 3-year-old son, all of which we do strictly by TAGA!

I often come across arguments like whether the child breathes too much smog, feels too cold, swallows flies and so on...

Making the premise that, let's be honest 😉 my son gets much less sick than the children in his class, who arrive strictly by car, often covered more than us who are on bikes and park as close as possible, often carrying the children in their arms once they get out of the car, for goodness sake, walking - what a chore!

However, when asked if my son breathes in too much smog (by the way, this also affects respiratory problems in no small measure, which are exacerbated in winter) I used to answer, why, in the car do you think you breathe different air?!

Even my son often objects to getting into the car (when we really have to, unfortunately) saying that “the car stinks”!

I thought it was a fantasy until I read studies showing that inside the car we are subjected to up to 18 times more pollution than in the environment at a distance of only 90 metres from the road! By the way, this is a Greenpeace UK study from!!! 1992!!! I mean, why do I, who am really very attuned to environmental and health issues only discover this in 2016?! And those who are less attuned to these issues then?!

Returning to the cyclist, who is unfortunately often forced to follow the busy road, always according to studies, he still breathes in 5 times less pollutants than someone who drives on the same road! If he then uses the back roads or shortcuts, he still goes and improves his situation!

And this is to say that Smog has become the main cause of death, causing the development of the most widespread diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases: as many as 12.6 million die prematurely each year because of it. (World Health Organisation)

And so cycling is healthier not only for physical activity, but also for the air we and our children breathe. If we then add the fact that we take a car off the road and educate our children in more sustainable behaviour, - we have no more excuses!