Ash, I'm sorry to hear that man. Stories like your brother have always made me wary of driving anything with less than four wheels on the road.
I was raised around motorcycles and thank Osiris that my dad's never had an accident, but my uncle was sideswiped 15 years ago and has permanent brain damage as a result. His 28 year old son still lives with him so he has someone to drive him around and take care of his house.
Where I used to live, a bicycle wasn't really feasible because we were in the middle of nowhere and the nearest store was about 5 miles away... and that's 5 miles of hills to boot. The best thing about moving to a bustling metropolis is that I'm within a few blocks of everything I could ever need and any reason I have to leave the neighborhood can be done via bus or subway. I miss the hell out of my car because it was probably the coolest ride I'll ever have, but I don't regret not having to pay insurance, upkeep, and those lovely inflating fuel prices that make me ill every time I go back to the homestead.
