How to Not Get Hit by Cars • Hacker News Board

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#151

Post by analog31 » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 2:18 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…

The cyclists who are "taking the lane" are actually just preventing you from doing the unsafe thing, which is trying to squeeze past them without changing lanes. Nobody's ever making you do that, ever.

I tend to be pretty considerate when I'm on my bike. I have good situational awareness thanks to years of urban cycling, so I can adjust my own speed to the flow of traffic and rarely get a bunch of cars backed up behind me for very long.

I also avoid routes where drivers are not entirely in control of their cars, such as congested multi-lane roads. What I mean is that cars are closer together than a safe stopping distance, so that they can't really react in time if there is a slow-down, plus a lot of the drivers are quite inattentive.

You can get a sense for which roads are dangerous based on where car crashes occur. For instance rear-end crashes mean that even a car going slower than expected is vulnerable to getting hit, which requires exceptionally inept driving.

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#152

Post by exDM69 » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 2:19 PM UTC

Mostly a good article but one piece of advise is dangerously wrong: blinking lights.

Do not use a blinking light as your only front or rear light. Have a solid white light at the front and a red one in the back.

You can have a blinker in addition to those.

The reason is that it is impossible to gauge distance and speed and direction from a blinking light. I've had a few encounters with blinking light cyclists in deep night darkness and it is really difficult to see. I knew there is a bicyclist but I could not tell if it is 10 or 50 meters away. I had to slow down to a crawl to make sure we don't hit.

Having good lights in your bike is really nice. I have an adjustable one that is on a pivot ("high beam" if needed) on the handle bars with adjustable intensity that is really bright if needed for forest trails at night but can be turned down to not blind incoming traffic.

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#153

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 2:19 PM UTC

hodgesrm wrote: post #90

paulnpace wrote: post #72

Here is one that bicyclists really hate: Don't ride on narrow back-county roads where you block the regular flow of traffic. I used to live on one such road and the bicyclists regularly insisted I travel >30 MPH below the speed limit because of a long uphill section that was double yellow due to many curves and hillsides blocking the line of site for passing. Bicyclists would get visibly angry at drivers who were not…

What would you propose as an alternative? Many such roads are the only route available.

[deleted]

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#154

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

tomatotomato37 wrote: post #56

hammock wrote: post #2

So much of this advice is “ride to the left” and I wish to emphasize it. Novice riders are trained to stick to an invisible (or painted) bike lake which ends up with them being far less visible than they need to be. Your safety is more important than some car’s need to get to work 5 seconds faster, and you shouldn’t feel controlling anxiety if some idiot honks at you for riding in the main traffic lane. You have righ…

It's for these same reasons that I think lane-splitting on a motorcycle is so stupid. They are heavy enough to destabilize cars in a collision, definitely heavy enough to kill bikers, and yet have the same visibility issues as their human-powered cousins

Motorcyclists generally don't lanesplit on single-lane roads because it's dumb. Sure, I could ride my liter bike to the right side of a Civic on most roads but I would be nuts to do it even were it legal. Or I could ride it down the center double yellow line to pass the hypothetical Civic, but again it would be stupid.

Notice with motorcycles it is the motorcyclist that chooses to lane split (or not). With bicycles, sometimes it is the bicyclist that chooses and sometimes it is the car. This is fundamentally different.

Many motorcyclists stay in the left third of the lane as taught by, e. g. the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF). Much of this article is basic lane positioning and awareness material taught by the MSF or periodically printed in the American Motorcyclist Association magazine.

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#155

Post by mplanchard » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 2:20 PM UTC

devit wrote: post #62

I don't understand why crossing between sidewalks would be unsafe. Pedestrians obviously do that all the time, and assuming that you start crossing from a stopped state and not at speed, it seems to me that a bike is as visible or more visible than a pedestrian (about same height, much wider, similar speed).

I think the assumption is that you’re crossing at bike speed, which is very unsafe.

Crossing from a stopped state at walking speed is probably no less dangerous than walking, except that maybe it’s harder to stop on a bike if a car decides to turn through the intersection. Either way, if I have to cross a pedestrian crosswalk on my bike, I’ll get off the bike and walk it. More considerate to pedestrians and no risk of going at a speed that cars have trouble predicting.

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#156

Post by notacoward » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 2:22 PM UTC

hammock wrote: post #2

So much of this advice is “ride to the left” and I wish to emphasize it. Novice riders are trained to stick to an invisible (or painted) bike lake which ends up with them being far less visible than they need to be. Your safety is more important than some car’s need to get to work 5 seconds faster, and you shouldn’t feel controlling anxiety if some idiot honks at you for riding in the main traffic lane. You have righ…

This is similar to why I - as a pedestrian - think many crosswalk designs are dangerous. The trend seems to be to place a crosswalk parallel to Large Road X well around the corner (10+ feet) along Smaller Road Y. Besides the fact that it adds burdens for disabled people who have to travel further to use the crosswalk, it reduces visibility and hence increases danger. A group of runners were almost run over at such a crosswalk near my town's high school last month. I don't know how anyone can seriously think these are a good idea. Mostly they just seem easier, using slightly less material and requiring slightly less work during construction. They should be banned.

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#157

Post by ygra » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 2:22 PM UTC

alistairSH wrote: post #96

1970-01-01 wrote: post #55

https://bicyclesafe.com/#wrongway I hate this term. The wrong way is simply the safest choice in blind hill situations with ignorant and distracted drivers.

The wrong way is simply the safest choice in blind hill situations with ignorant and distracted drivers. Is it? I’m incredulous. As a driver, I would hate to crest a hill on a country road and have a cyclist coming straight at me. I’d have to swerve into oncoming traffic to avoid him. That’s bad. As a cyclist, I would hate to crest a hill on a country road and have a car coming straight at me. Because if it doesn’t s…

> I’d have to swerve into oncoming traffic to avoid him.

Brakes are a nice option in nearly all dangerous situations that doesn't make things worse.

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#158

Post by Eigenstate » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 2:23 PM UTC

avianlyric wrote: post #89

jfabre wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both are. I've done both for a long time, forcing everyone to go at 30 km/h in a 50 zone is inconsiderate. Not as inconsiderate as not being careful around cyclists when you drive. This looks like a system design problem to me. The needs of the cyclists don't match the needs of the drivers. This is why we are fighting over this. There has to be a solution, but I know nothing about civil engineering.

There is a solution! Protected cycle lanes! Keep cycles, cars and pedestrians physically separated. Inside towns and cities we should be looking to give up road space for cars, to put in dedicated cycle infrastructure. Dedicated cycle infrastructure keeps cars and cycles separate, makes cycling safer, and most importantly more accessible and friendly. Every additional cycle on the road during rush hour is one less ca…

How do protected cycle lanes mitigate the crash types in the article? I see how they may prevent getting rear ended or doored, but all the intersection conflict points remain and in many cases are exacerbated by the "protection." I've seen lane designs that force cyclists to pass right turning cars on the right at intersections. Often the barriers reduce visibility and tell drivers they don't have to be aware of bikes, increasing the chances for conflict. While infrastructure does need to be improved, I don't think this is a complete solution.

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#159

Post by Cockbrand » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 2:24 PM UTC

Retric wrote: post #78

hammock wrote: post #2

So much of this advice is “ride to the left” and I wish to emphasize it. Novice riders are trained to stick to an invisible (or painted) bike lake which ends up with them being far less visible than they need to be. Your safety is more important than some car’s need to get to work 5 seconds faster, and you shouldn’t feel controlling anxiety if some idiot honks at you for riding in the main traffic lane. You have righ…

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.

Using a traffic* lane when there is a bike lane is not necessarily hostility. I'd even argue that it's rarely hostility. It might be that the bike lane is full of potholes, or dirty/icy/full of foliage or debris, so it's uncomfortable or unsafe. Or there could be a lot of parking with potentially opening car doors right next to the bike lane.

* traffic doesn't only consist of cars. Bikes, pedestrians, wheelchairs are also part of traffic.

Re: How to Not Get Hit by Cars

#160

Post by kqr » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 2:32 PM UTC

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #126

kqr wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 wh…

For me it depends a little on how safe I feel. If there's very little traffic, road conditions are good, etc, I'll move closer to the side of the road.

I still tell other people to aim for the driver's seat, though. Mostly to communicate clearly to them that it's okay to use the road.