How to Not Get Hit by Cars • Hacker News Board

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#121

Post by yt-sdb » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 1:59 PM UTC

dotancohen wrote: post #98

Car driver here, not a bicyclist. I don't see your side of the story, and probably never will unless I kill one of you. Don't want me to hit you? Make yourself visible and courteous. Put on a bright jacket, bright helmet, or something else bright. And use a steady (not flashing) red light in the back and a steady (not flashing) white light aimed at the ground in the front. If you use flashing lights I cannot tell how…

Many cyclists die every year, typically in collisions involving motor vehicles. It goes without saying that very few drivers are killed in those collisions. The risks are widely asymmetric. So if we want to talk about the worst of a group, I'd encourage you to spend five minutes on r/idiotsincars. Compare anything in that subreddit with your example here: you have drive more slowly than you'd like in a situation where you acknowledge the other person has equal rights?

Also, wow at this:

> I don't see your side of the story, and probably never will unless I kill one of you.

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#122

Post by larrymyers » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 2:00 PM UTC

FatalLogic wrote: post #42

>#2 The Door Prize: A driver opens his door right in front of you. If you have time to react to a car door suddenly opening in front of you, is it best to go around the door? Or should you brake and stop in a straight line, even if you might crash into the door and the person stepping out of the car? The same site contains a list of cyclist fatalities[0]. In over 95% of the car door collisions, the bicyclist was kill…

You'd be surprised how much give car door hinges have. I've managed to almost rip doors off their hinges before when people door me. They are also very surprised when they call the cops as a result of this and receive a ticket for breaking the law.

If somebody opens their car door into the bike lane and after slamming on my brakes, and I can see that I'm not going to stop in time:

1. Try to skid sideways. Your body will impact the door predictably and you will stop. (Same advice when a car pulls a sudden illegal U-Turn.) Having your front wheel impact the door first could result in any number of bad outcomes.

2. Always opt for the door collision instead of swerving out into traffic to avoid the door. The cars behind you are far more deadly than the door is.

No matter the type of collision ALWAYS call 911 and get the driver's information. The police report is key to getting the driver's insurance to pay for your injuries and damage to your bike. You also should always say yes if the 911 operator asks if you need medical attention. You are running on adrenaline and may be in shock after a collision with a car. You will not start hurting until after some time passes.

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#123

Post by atoav » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 2:01 PM UTC

Fricken wrote: post #40

I've been commuting by bicycle for nearly 40 years, under a broad array of circumstances, and the article's advice checks out with my own personal rules. Although the vast majority of the crashes and wipeouts I've suffered involved no cars, just me losing control. However, over hundreds of wipeouts accumulated over a lifetime of cycling, I have never hit my head! Wiping out is a skill. A skill best cultivated when on…

I am cycling for 25 years (nearly daily commutes, in big central european cities) and the total number of times I was forced off my bike/crashed dueing that time is probably roughly once every two years. Most of them when I break so hard that I have to unmount the bicycle sideways and run the rest of the momentum off. Basically the bicycle equivalent of an emergency break in your car.

If you know how to do this safely at speed it can really protect you, because good breaks are all nice and sound, but if you are not leaning backwards you will do a frontflip immediately. And even if you lean back hard (behind the saddle) there still will be a point where your bike goes into front-wheelie/front flip. It is really good, if by that point you are not on the bike anymore, but running alongside.

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#124

Post by ygra » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 2:01 PM UTC

Fricken wrote: post #73

lqet wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> hundreds of wipeouts Wait, hundreds ? I don't own a car and use my bike daily, including commuting to work (which means 24 kilometers per day commuting alone), for around 6 years now. As a kid, I cycled to school every day for 9 years. I had maybe 2-3 crashes as a kid, and 2 crashes in the last 6 years: once a garbage man rolled a trash can into my handlebar at full speed, and another time a small branch got caught…

I've done my share of BMX, mountain biking, and winter riding (where minor wipeouts can be common). My last commuting wipeout was a couple years ago when I failed to register a speed bump while going pretty fast. I hit it, my front wheel turned sideways, and I slammed myself into the pavement pretty hard.

I've found cycling in winter (with snow or ice) much easier with studded winter tyres (and some care ... can't go 25 km/h over ice with those, either).

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#125

Post by Beltalowda » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 2:02 PM UTC

CBarkleyU wrote: post #28

adrianN wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty of old cycle paths on sidewalks in Germany. Often it's safer to be on the road instead.

Are there? Do you mean the designated cycle path which are adjecant to the sidewalk using the same material as the sidewalk, but in different colour (red)? Correct me if I'm wrong, but bycicles are forbidden to ride on the actual sidewalk (Bürgersteig, Gehweg) by adults.

I don't know the specific situation in Austin (which this article is about), but in a lot of countries the cycle path infrastructure is patchy at best, and when the choice is between "busy road with cars going 50 or even 80 km/h" and "cycle on the sidewalk" then it's an easy choice IMHO.

Even in slower traffic things can be dodgy; in the UK they're quite fond of their roundabouts and that's all great for cars, but these two-lane roundabouts can be quite dodgy for cyclists with people changing lanes and such and it's very easy to end up in someone's blind spot, so I would take the sidewalk.

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#126

Post by LeifCarrotson » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 2:02 PM UTC

kqr wrote: post #15

yohannparis wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quite true. For novice riders are simply tell them to ride where they would put they right wheel when driving a car. And at least a meter away from the curb/parked cars.

I usually go for "where the driver's seat would be".

I (in the US, driving and riding on the right) go for where the passenger seat would be - far enough left to take up enough of the lane that cars can't pass me by just squeezing between the yellow line and my bike, but that I'm not inconsiderately taking up more of the road than necessary.

There are way too many jerks who put their passenger rearview mirror 12" from my head or literally into my elbow at 55 mph, or who slow down to 25 and try to pass me at a crawl while treating the yellow line as a brick wall if I ride where the outside tire goes or if I ride on the white line. The law here states that cars must give 5 feet of space when passing, but it's not widely respected... Given the choice between squeezing through at an illegally close distance, or waiting for a chance to pass in the opposite lane, too many choose to squeeze past - so don't give them that choice.

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#127

Post by ygra » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 2:03 PM UTC

kqr wrote: post #49

CBarkleyU wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No matter how hard you try, if its a problem with the driver the car will always win. Which is why we have the "Betriebsgefahr" (operational danger) in Germany. Hard to explain, but it boils down to "You're operating something that is inherently very dangerous. So you will be held responsible to some degree when something goes wrong, even when its not your fault. You accept this responsibility by driving a car" It'…

That sounds nice. We have the opposite rule in one of your northern neighbours. "Bicyclists are inherently unpredictable so it's never your fault if you drive a car, even if it was a little." (Obviously nobody involved would put it like this, but this is the general theme of the police investigations and the court response the rare times it goes to court.)

Interesting. The same unpredictability would hold for children as well, wouldn't it? And I hope at least there the conclusion isn't the same.

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#128

Post by SOLAR_FIELDS » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 2:03 PM UTC

thomasahle wrote: post #117

Retric wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just understand if you take up a traffic lane when a bike lane is right next to you, some cars will pass you then slow down to walking speed in front of you. Hostility results in hostility, and you’re not surrounded by steel.

> some cars will pass you then slow down to walking speed in front of you. I have never heard of this happening to anybody.

Do you drive much in the States? The amount of insane hostility that I see on the road in general, not even directed toward cyclists, is mind boggling. For instance, I would never respond to anything with any sort of escalation of anger, because people literally get shot and killed over it in my state on a regular basis.

Here are a few recent incidents, just in my city alone:

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/ax-wielding-road-rag...

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/south-austin-road-ra...

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/road-rage-on-the-rise...

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/apd-releases-video-of...

All of those are just in the last few months. The last one in particular is just absolutely over the top batshit insane Mad Max level behavior.

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#129

Post by makecheck » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 2:03 PM UTC

The overwhelmingly most common one I see is cyclists not stopping at STOP signs (or worse, red lights), and the real crazy ones appear to not even slow down.

It is illegal to run a stop sign, and it is certainly possible a car (crossways or turning) will arrive first and have right of way. So a car is turning, why should it expect a cyclist to come plowing through on a whim?

Again: it is ILLEGAL for cyclists to run stop signs. You have to stop, just like a car. (And in case you think it’s no big deal, I see plenty of cars that aren’t too good at stopping either. You want to hit them?)

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#130

Post by lelanthran » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 2:04 PM UTC

Tuckerism wrote: post #95

polote wrote: post #39

That's not riding a bike which is dangerous it is riding in the same zones as cars as the article points out. May people say we shouldn't trust anyone to carry guns, but we allow anyone to drive a car, that's at least as much dangerous. All the examples of the articles are good, but there are two many to learn and remember. I follow one and only one rule when I ride my bike. Assume you can get killed at every time an…

> Many people assume that as a bike rider they have rights and as a result they should be respected by cars. While I am not a bike rider, I am a proponent of defensive driving, which has the same principle: the laws of physics don't really care who has right-of-way.

> While I am not a bike rider, I am a proponent of defensive driving, which has the same principle: the laws of physics don't really care who has right-of-way.

Yeah. The graveyards have plenty of drivers/riders who had right-of-way.