I was hit on my bike while heading to college. Simply crossing a crosswalk with a stop sign and someone decided they didn't feel like stopping while I was already crossing. I now live with back pain. Drivers can't be trusted to follow traffic signs.
Yes, but I once saw a cyclist run a stop sign. These two things are obviously exactly equal, and bicycles are just as dangerous as cars. I am very smart.
Hmm.. Have we tried painting lines?... we should paint lines... let's paint lines. Problem. Solved.
That's ridiculous. LINES WONT STOP CARS! Only if they paint the ground near the edge a different colour will it be safe to cycle on roads.
In most states, riding a bicycle in a crosswalk is not legal, and you are not considered a pedestrian that cars are obligated to yield to. I was taught at a young age to dismount the bike and walk it across for this reason.
Holy shit, your country is deranged
Only 66% of drivers commit moving violations? Every instance of speeding is a moving violation, I think that number should be more like 90%.
*99%
I mean really, who doesn’t speed even a little?
Meh--old people. People who don't drive very often and are afraid of cars. There are definitely people who drive carefully and timidly because they just don't trust the car or the traffic they're in.
But not too many. Aggressive driving and speeding are the norm.
Reasonably sure anyone who doesn’t speed because they are afraid of driving is committing driving violations left right and center out of timidity rather than speeding.
Yeah those are THE most dangerous people on the road. They hesitate and make things very unpredictable. Driver predictability, I would say, is a huge part of how I don't end up a red stain on the road on the daily.
I agree. Being safe means being predictable and going with the flow, even if it means speeding a little to match the relative velocities of the cars around you. Being predictable is better than being right.
Turn signal indicator at least a full second before switching lanes or changing directions, braking at a constant deceleration when stopping, not cutting off other drivers or tailgating, and giving yourself a good amount of space behind the vehicle in front of you is all super important.
In 20 years of commuting by bike I've been hit twice. Both times were from cars exiting driveway without looking. Times cars driving recklessly and nearly merging into me have happened too many times to count. Sure bikes cause accidents but it's got to be 99 cars to 1 bike.
Auto and oil created a country where you pretty much have to be upper income to live in a few high income cities where no car life is possible but you got to pay top dollar for it.
Thank goodness this reads, at least to me, as largely satire. But then again Poe's Law is certainly a thing.
I have been hit twice by motorists/cars while road cycling, and will die on the hill that US motorists are entitled asses, too self-absorbed to care that, LEGALLY, on just about any roadway bicycles are allowed to take up one entire lane, as a full-fledged vehicle.
Drivers can piss off and cry, that the whole world isn't cars like the auto manufacturer lobby and oil magnates/giants have tried to force us all to become dependent upon and addicted to.
Well it kind of has to be satire, since it’s suggesting time travel as the shortcoming, but yeah, it is ridiculous how little care motorists pay to cycles. On the other hand, I’ve met plenty of cyclists acting just as entitled, blowing through signs and pedestrian crossing as though they have the same rights as a car, but for in situations where it’s more convenient, as though they don’t have to obey the same rules. And, of course, the situations where they are completely in the right, but so outmatched by tons of steel that being right only matters to their family in court. Operators of cars and bikes can both be distracted or make a mistake, but only one of them is likely to face life ending consequences in an interaction between the two of them.
If cars don't want bicycles on car lanes, then they should build more bike lanes. shrug-emoji.
Bike lanes and sidewalks are car infrastructure that lets cars go faster.
If a car hits a pedestrian or cyclist, the car is always legally at fault. At least here in the Netherlands. Is this not the case everywhere?
In Iowa they just acquitted a man for driving into protesters blocking traffic.
Was that the one that posted ahead of time that they were going to do so?
Different guy.
This guy used his wife and child as eye witness testimony to prove he did nothing wrong when he drove into the crowd.
How long before they start selling pedestrian shields to drivers so they don't dent their vehicles when running us over?
If you want a good sense of how bad it is in the states here are two episodes of Freakomomics that do a job of exposing the issue.
"The Perfect Crime": https://freakonomics.com/podcast/the-perfect-crime/ (From 2014)
Then a follow-up episode: "Why Is the U.S. So Good at Killing Pedestrians?": https://freakonomics.com/podcast/why-is-the-u-s-so-good-at-killing-pedestrians/ (from July 2023)
Oh lord, no. Drivers are rarely held accountable for murdering cyclists. The "accountability" usually caps out at weekends in jail, picking up some garbage on the highway, and being real real sorry.
That would be amazing, but unfortunately not the case in many places, including Australia where instead a bike rider that gets hit by a car gets told that it is too difficult to prove blame on the driver, even when there is clear video evidence and third part witness statements saying the the driver intentionally rammed the rider.
Don't ask me how I know...
Your mistake is assuming that places like the US are as rational, practical, just, and/or civilized as the Netherlands.
Not here in the US. There's so much victim blaming. The victim always being a pedestrian. Not the asshole driving on a walk path.
not in Australia
When I was riding, I actually found by night it was better to make myself as invisible as possible and assume cars could not see me, since when I went out bright and shiny they were unpredictable and more dangerous.
As a daily cyclist - and as a motorist, please don't do this. Being invisible at night on a bike is a bad idea.
I'm from a country where we have no fucking sunlight half the year, and seriously, reflectors etc are a must and we have halfway decent infrastructure for biking. So many people injure and cripple themselves or get killed, just because a driver couldn't see them. Remember, a ton of drivers are not just assholes, they're idiots. Half of them are on the phone or doing shit on their phone or focusing on anything other than driving. It's no more noble to die by an idiot than an asshole.
And this is the kind of ideas motorists (as you describe it) have to face every day🤦🤦♀️
This tracks, there's actually some evidence that drivers behave more dangerously around cyclists wearing helmets.
Scientists should study carbrains more, and try to understand why cyclists trying to protect themselves seems to attract drivers like moths to a flame.
Cannot upvote this enough…
I was actually hit by a car on my electric scooter. In my case, it actually was my fault. Actually felt bad for the person who crashed into me (she seemed more affected by the ordeal than me)
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into a blind rage is to simply smile and give them a thumbs up. I wonder if it's something about appearing content and happy while they are bound by all the contradictions and inconveniences of owning a car, especially in a city.