A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads • Hacker News Board

Re: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads

#111

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Sep 04, 2018, 4:44 PM UTC

crunchlibrarian wrote: post #100

btrettel wrote: post #81

Transportation cyclist here. This is a great article, but it only indirectly touches upon one of the most effective tools a cyclist could have: an air horn. I have an Air Zound air horn and I feel much less safe riding without it. I'll often give a few toots before approaching an intersection to increase the chance that I am seen. And it has probably saved me from some major crashes when I lay down the horn on someon…

If you use an air horn in any context on me there is going to be trouble, I hope you're prepared for that. If you assault someone you should expect a proportional response.

[deleted]

Re: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads

#112

Post by mveety » Tue, Sep 04, 2018, 4:46 PM UTC

btrettel wrote: post #81

Transportation cyclist here. This is a great article, but it only indirectly touches upon one of the most effective tools a cyclist could have: an air horn. I have an Air Zound air horn and I feel much less safe riding without it. I'll often give a few toots before approaching an intersection to increase the chance that I am seen. And it has probably saved me from some major crashes when I lay down the horn on someon…

I'm not a cyclist, but I'm a huge fan of having these on bikes. They've become more popular in my area and because of that you notice the bicycles earlier so you have a much smaller chance of accidentally hitting them because you don't see them. After I started seeing these, I've become quite baffled why more cyclists don't use them.

Also I wish that road vehicles had radios so drivers and riders could communicate intention like we do when flying. All you have for communication in a car is turn signals, high beams, and a horn, and many drivers take severe umbrage if you use them because they willfully or accidentally misunderstand what you're trying to say.

Re: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads

#113

Post by BurningFrog » Tue, Sep 04, 2018, 4:47 PM UTC

btrettel wrote: post #81

Transportation cyclist here. This is a great article, but it only indirectly touches upon one of the most effective tools a cyclist could have: an air horn. I have an Air Zound air horn and I feel much less safe riding without it. I'll often give a few toots before approaching an intersection to increase the chance that I am seen. And it has probably saved me from some major crashes when I lay down the horn on someon…

The air horn is such a 100+ year old technology.

I hope an electronic proximity based system with a bigger vocabulary than "HONK!" appears in the next decade.

Re: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads

#114

Post by BurningFrog » Tue, Sep 04, 2018, 4:48 PM UTC

irrational wrote: post #99

btrettel wrote: post #81

Transportation cyclist here. This is a great article, but it only indirectly touches upon one of the most effective tools a cyclist could have: an air horn. I have an Air Zound air horn and I feel much less safe riding without it. I'll often give a few toots before approaching an intersection to increase the chance that I am seen. And it has probably saved me from some major crashes when I lay down the horn on someon…

"see horn use as hostility" Of course they do. When people in cars honk at other people in cars, the majority of time it is a sign of hostility. They've been conditioned to perceive the use of a horn as a sign of hostility.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horn_OK_Please

Re: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads

#115

Post by dsego » Tue, Sep 04, 2018, 4:50 PM UTC

jtakkala wrote: post #87

dsego wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Croatia it's only during winter time for cars.

The EU has required DRL's on all new cars since 2011. As an EU member state this applies to Croatia too.

That may be so, but on older cars you don't have to turn on your low beams when it is daylight savings time.

Re: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads

#116

Post by burkemw3 » Tue, Sep 04, 2018, 4:53 PM UTC

btrettel wrote: post #81

Transportation cyclist here. This is a great article, but it only indirectly touches upon one of the most effective tools a cyclist could have: an air horn. I have an Air Zound air horn and I feel much less safe riding without it. I'll often give a few toots before approaching an intersection to increase the chance that I am seen. And it has probably saved me from some major crashes when I lay down the horn on someon…

I am a US transportation cyclist. I mostly dislike vehicle (including bicycle) horns.

If it's a close enough call with another vehicle, my voice has been enough of a 'horn' to alert drives. If there's a less close conflict, then there's probably positioning/visibility change that should have happened upstream.

For me, horns are a too frequent, rude disruption in the world.

Re: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads

#117

Post by nickthemagicman » Tue, Sep 04, 2018, 4:58 PM UTC

btrettel wrote: post #106

nickthemagicman wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they're angry at you then they see you!

Great point. I think I'll highlight that when recommending air horns in the future.

I ride a motorcycle and it's the same thing. Them seeing you is top priority.

Re: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads

#118

Post by phaedrus » Tue, Sep 04, 2018, 4:59 PM UTC

exDM69 wrote: post #30

Not too long ago, I was very close to having a "constant bearing, decreasing range" (CBDR) accident that the article is talking about. I failed to slow down adequately to a T-junction and almost drove straight in front of a truck, despite having looked in that direction twice before entering the intersection. I'm pretty sure my vision was (partially) occluded by the corner pillar and/or a snow pile on the side of the…

I drive a Honda Element. The A-pillars are huge and cover a ridiculous percent of the field of view. "Constant bearing, decreasing range" ought to be printed on the side mirrors, or perhaps it should have been named the "Honda CBDR". (Note: I love the car, this is just one of it's few less-than-perfect attributes.)

On certain left-curving roads it's possible to drive 10 - 15 seconds being unable to see anything directly in front of you.

I compensate by bobbing and weaving to look around the A-pillar at every intersection or when passing. Maybe it even makes me a safer driver because there's no illusion - I know there's a lot I can't see so drive accordingly.

Re: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads

#119

Post by isostatic » Tue, Sep 04, 2018, 5:07 PM UTC

mcguire wrote: post #76

isostatic wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

None of those cyclists are riding in a particularly sensible position, it's patently unclear where they are going, are they in lane 1 or lane 2, or moving from one to another?

In the NHTSA pdf? They're roughly in the middle of the lane.

In the article, specifically the picture they appear in https://www.portsmouthctc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/...

The argument "it's the cyclist fault she got killed for not wearing bright colours" is practically the same as "it's the woman's fault she got raped for wearing a short skirt"

Maybe cyclists should be forced to wear high vis clothes so car drivers can drive around without awareness. Maybe schoolkids in the UK should wear bullet proof vests so gun owners don't accidentally shoot them. Maybe women should be forced to wear burkas so men don't get tempted. These arguments are very similar logic.

However if cyclists are to take some responsibility for their safety on the road, not riding at the edge of a lane is the first thing to do, not wearing a burka or a flak jacket.

Re: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads

#120

Post by isostatic » Tue, Sep 04, 2018, 5:12 PM UTC

watertom wrote: post #70

nsnick wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Saying cyclists should wear bright clothing is blaming the victims of vehicle violence. https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/stop-victim-blaming-cy...

Where I live people cycle and walk on old country roads all the time. I am a cyclist and have no issue sharing the road, but I find myself starting to hate the cyclists and pedestrians because none of them seem to have any idea that when they are out at night and wearing black/dark clothes, not having any reflective material on their clothes or bike, or have any type of light makes them almost invisible, well invisib…

> Where I live people cycle and walk on old country roads all the time. I am a cyclist and have no issue sharing the road, but I find myself starting to hate the cyclists and pedestrians because none of them seem to have any idea that when they are out at night and wearing black/dark clothes, not having any reflective material on their clothes or bike, or have any type of light makes them almost invisible, well invisible until I'm on top of them.

How do you cope with cows? (dark coloured ones) Or fallen branches?

In a metal cocoon of a car, you're cut off from almost all your senses. Even just your visual sense your awareness is far worse in a car than when walking or cycling. Add to that the likelihood you're traveling a lot faster and it's a recipe for disaster.