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How Safe Is Cycling?
theodp writes "With new bike sharing programs all the rage, spending tens of millions of dollars to make city streets more bike friendly with hundreds of miles of bike lanes has become a priority for bike-loving mayors like NYC's Michael Bloomberg and Chicago's Rahm Emanuel. 'You cannot be for a startup, high-tech economy and not be pro-bike,' claimed Emanuel, who credited bike-sharing and bike lanes for attracting Google and Motorola Mobility to downtown Chicago. Now, with huge bike-sharing contracts awarded and programs underway, the NY Times asks the big question, How Safe Is Cycling? Because bike accidents rarely make front page news and are likely to be dramatically underreported, it's hard to say, concludes the NYT's Gina Kolata. UCSF trauma surgeon Dr. Rochelle Dicker, who studied hospital and police records for 2,504 bicyclists treated at San Francisco General Hospital, told Kolata,'Lots of my colleagues do not want to ride after seeing these [city biking] injuries.' On the other hand, Andy Pruitt, the founder of the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine and an avid lifelong cyclist, said the dangers were overstated, noting he's only broken his collarbone twice and hip once in four decades of long-distance cycling. So, is cycling safe, especially in the city? And is it OK to follow Mayor Emanuel's lead and lose the helmet?"
I know it isn't charitable, but I don't give a damn about cyclists. Both as a pedestrian and a driver, I've had it with the reckless fools. Cyclists are a menace. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of cyclists I've seen in the last year who haven't run red lights and stop signs or otherwise ignored basic safety and traffic laws.
On the other hand, the pollution from the car you drove for 20 years amounts to how much exactly?
Practically nothing.
Probably less than the additional pollution you've caused by cycling along with a queue of a dozen cars running inefficiently in low gears stuck behind as they wait to try to pass you.
The answer is Car driver hit a bike? Car driver is 100% liable for all the bicyclists medical bills, lost wages, AND loses the right to drive or own a car for the rest of their life.
Car drivers need to be scared shitless of hitting a bike before they will start paying attention. Because they are not scared of killing pedestrians or other motorists.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
What the fucking bloody mother of god are you doing on the road? You are a fucking liability if you drive around claiming everyone else should take the sun into account and only be on the road, when we determine you can see us???
It's your fucking responsibility to make sure you have full visibility, I bet you are the kind of douchebag who drives around with windows fogged in cold mornings.
Hope you only kill yourself when you have your (next) big accident...
Wow, don't they teach Driver's Ed in schools any more? Here's a legal definition of prudent speed:
And like many legal definitions, it's a broad blanket definition to make sure they have something on the books just in case. If I'm doing 20mph in a 25 and you suddenly drive your bike out of a side street and I hit you, technically I violated the prudent speed definition you gave. That's never going to hold up in court though, especially if there were any witnesses.
So your problem isn't in avoiding cyclists, it's that it's hard to see them? How could you see a pedestrian in the road if you can't see a cyclist, since they are about the same size?
Cayenne gave a specific example about stupid cyclists being on the road in poor visibility conditions. That's what this is about. And yes, pedestrians doing the same are equally stupid and equally likely to get hit.
As you said, cyclists already face *far* more punishment and face disproportionate risk for traffic accidents.
And yet they refuse to obey the laws of the road and do stupid shit all the time, and want to blame car drivers if they get hit.
I'm sorry, did I use words that were too big for you?
Condescend much?
What did you think I meant when I said "Oh, I understand my mortality when I'm on my bike, and since I know i'm not going to change the laws of physics
I thought you meant exactly what you said. You know you can get killed, and yet you'd still rather point fingers and yell about your rights than do the prudent thing. What did you think I meant when I said your attitude about it was stupid?
otherwise drivers will continue to do things like drive when the sun is in their eyes
Yes, drivers will on occasion drive with the sun in their eyes because they have no other reasonable choice.
and they can't see safely ahead of them
Even if the sun is in your eyes, you can see safely enough ahead of you to see things that should be on the road.
and then if they hit a cyclist
If you're on the road in traffic with your bike when it's hard to see you, that's on YOU.
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