Live data from Hacker News

Things people blamed on bicycles

twitter.com

471–480 of 852 posts

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#471

Cycling is cheap, often faster than driving (in my city), healthy, less noisy, creates vastly less pollution, less dangerous to pedastrians... And I'd guess that about 95% of drivers that I come across are respectful of the danger they present - overtaking with enough space, and not at too high a speed (my city doesn't have great bike lanes). Unfortunately, a typical journey involves passing more than 20 cars, which…

>Unfortunately, a typical journey involves passing more than 20 cars, which means experiencing at least 1 very close pass

Unfortunately I see it the other way. Asa rule I give cyclists plenty of space when overtaking, even happily sitting behind a slow cyclist on a 60Mph road for 30 seconds to a minute in order to find a safe passing spot.

However the same courtesy is not paid the other way. When in multi lane traffic jams (or even slow traffic on a single lane road) cyclists will fly down the tiny gaps between the cars, often only just wide enough for their handlebars to fit through. If vehicles at speed need to give such room for an overtake, why doesnt it work the other way around? There are plenty of videos on youtube of bikes going very fast between stationary cars, only to hit a wing mirror and crash.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#472

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just need a way to deal with bike theft. My number one concern is parking my pretty decent bike within view of where I’m sitting or not leaving it unattended for over five minutes. I’m insured, but I have a bond with my wheels! If anyone has recommendations for stealth theft detection/tracking devices I’m all ears.

Easy. Vote for politicians who promise punishing bike theft with multi-year prison sentences. The reasoning is simple: bike thieves disproportionately contribute to climate change by discouraging large-scale bike use. This must be punished.

> Vote for politicians who promise punishing bike theft with multi-year prison sentences

Please don't - this is typical 'tough on crime' trick: promise long sentences, so easy - longer sentence-less crime, right? Wrong. Sentenses are useless if no-one ever gets caught. Look at countries with the toughest sentenses in the world, and you will find they have loads of crime

You actually have to use your brain, and think and plan, on how to make sure criminals are caught. You have to take real action like training investigators, installing trackers, registering property, etc.

For example in UK concervatives have been in power for 12 years, punishment got much harsher but crime is growing because they have cut police numbers, and you chance of getting caught is ~0%. The longer people get away with crime, the better they become at crime. Now we have a large 'talent pool' of highly trained thieves.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#473

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I find it interesting that no one in The Netherlands wears a helmet when cycling and yet serious cycling injuries don’t seem to be a common thing Neurosurgeons in the Netherlands disagree with this, and are begging locals to wear helmets. https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2021/10/neurologists-launch-ca... I don't know how rates of injuries compare between countries, but that is irrelevant.

No it's not irrelevant. If helmet wearing is linked to higher per capita head injuries, mandatory helmet wearing should be discouraged.

That depends on the way it is linked. If it's linked causally in the opposite direction, your advice is quite dangerous. Meaning that if higher per capita head injuries are causing more helmet wearing in sub populations (maybe because they see more news about deadly injuries), than your advice is for people in those sub populations to not wear their helmets.

So it's relevant information, but the direct effect of "wearing a helmet cuts the risk of serious head injury by 60% and a deadly brain injury by 71%" is more important information.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#474
post #197

To be fair, bicycles probably did lead to more marriage breakups. Certainly in the UK they're considered a key part of emancipation. No longer, as a woman, is your dating pool limited entirely to the boys in your village. And if the boy you did marry turns out to be an angry drunk - well. Bicycles aren't fast, but they're faster than walking. And they're cheap . And the latter, if we're honest, is the real reason for…

I don't think the cost is the biggest driver of tension unless you listen to professional drivers. People don’t blame bus riders for not "paying the road tax" (a UK trope, that tax was abolished). It would explain why things got worst recently, but people don’t hate electric cars the same way for instance. The most common angle of attack is territorial: "get off _my_ road". Cyclists shouldn’t belong there, because of…

> The most common angle of attack is territorial: "get off _my_ road".

Yeah, but why do you think it's your road when in a car, especially when the same attitude exists in places without the tax, or with drivers cars that are exempt, or hell, if you've just not bothered paying it? My bet is it's nothing to do with ~£100 of tax, and everything to do with not wanting to admit you were misled by advertisers into thinking spending tens of thousands of your hard-earned cash on something you thought would give you effortless, fast, convenient transport.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#475
post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This kind of driver is the same that would accelerate towards you as you (legally) cross a road only to stop at a red light 50m behind you – a red light was clearly visible from where they were when they saw you. For them driving is just about their own emotion. The moment they see someone "who deserves it" their emotion takes over and their brain switches off. People like that should have their driving license taken…

Drivers go out of their way to pass me on a motorscooter , I guess because I remind them of a bicycle. My scooter accelerates from 0-60 before you can say "zero to sixty" and tops out at 80mph. Sometimes they're driving so dangerously that I slow down to let them pass both because they might hurt someone, and because I don't want somebody so crazy behind me. I find it bizarre how much some drivers feel like they're i…

I was on an ebike doing 32km/h in a 30 zone and cars keep overtaking me

The entitlement of car drivers in unbelievable, they feel like they own the ourdoor space, park on sidewalk, and the only reason we havent paved every forest and ocean is their mercy

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#476

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just need a way to deal with bike theft. My number one concern is parking my pretty decent bike within view of where I’m sitting or not leaving it unattended for over five minutes. I’m insured, but I have a bond with my wheels! If anyone has recommendations for stealth theft detection/tracking devices I’m all ears.

Easy. Vote for politicians who promise punishing bike theft with multi-year prison sentences. The reasoning is simple: bike thieves disproportionately contribute to climate change by discouraging large-scale bike use. This must be punished.

Has anyone ever called you a “radical centrist”?

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#477
post #248

I often discuss on the french subreddit, and it's crazy how hard some people fight back giving up their cars. The recurring excuse is a long commute and bad availability of public transit. Most people don't have a long commute, since public transit covers most french citizens, but weirdly there is a very vocal minority who live in the middle of nowhere. I keep explaining to them that they can keep driving since they'…

> I keep explaining to them that they can keep driving since they're a minority so it's not such a big problem, but that they should also consider moving near train stations. We had train stations before we had cars. This tends to suggest that train stations are worse than cars.

Worse in what way?

worse for car manufacturers, sure

worse for lazy people, sure

worse for pollution?

worse for cities?

Following your train of thought everything new is inherently better in every aspects, which is far from true when you start digging

Cars became so widespread that we underestimate the innumerable problems they cause, it's like telling an heroin addict he was happier before he started being an addict...

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#478
post #414
post #330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bah, in my experience bicycle users behave really badly on average. Certainly no better than car drivers. For example they will be ready to crash on a pedestrian who is walking on a bike lane for good reason (most common ones are: an excavator made a trench on the sidewalk, the snow clearing machine took all the snow from the road and made a mountain on the sidewalk). However when there is no bike lane available, the…

Take a look when outside and see if you ever see strollers or children with training wheels on bike lanes. Then ask, why don't you hear about the many deaths that should occur when those 50km/h bikes are crashing into those helpless children. The average speed of a bike, as measured in Netherlands, is around 15km/h. When there is snow the speed is generally even lower. It is also fairly common where I live to see par…

Here in Baltimore I see a lot of elderly people in mobility scooters traveling in the bike lanes as well.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#479
https://twitter.com/mstyczen/status/1561856668450754562:

> Biking linked to impotence

IMHO, that one's probably true:

https://www.webmd.com/men/features/biking-and-erectile-dysfu...:

> ...too many hours on a bicycle saddle can compress the artery and vital nerves leading to the penis.

> The result? A risk of numbness, pain, and erectile dysfunction.

> Male cyclists can place a significant percentage of their weight on their perineum, an area between the scrotum and the anus where the nerves and arteries to the penis pass. This pressure -- and a narrow saddle seat -- can injure the arteries and nerves.

> "The earliest warning sign is numbness or tingling," says Irwin Goldstein, MD, director of San Diego Sexual Medicine.

> Even a young man may lose the ability to achieve an erection, says Goldstein, who pioneered an operation that restores blood flow and sexual potency in 65%-75% of cases.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#480

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> well, would be, I don't have EV This I think is the crux here. You don't have experience so you think how it would be different .. and different is .. bad? I have an EV and my experience is: - when I get home and I have a feeling that next drive might be long and need charge, I plug it in. Next day it's charged. - if there is a drive long enough to need charging (for me happens very seldom) I go and get a coffee at…

> when I get home and I have a feeling that next drive might be long and need charge, I plug it in Sure, let me hang down the cable with electricity from the 3rd floor window of the apartment building I live in, that will work great. (Can I even charge the car from regular socket? I would hope yes, albeit slowly I assume.) > You don't have experience so you think how it would be different .. and different is .. bad?…

Not op, but current gas prices in european country: 1,8€/L

43 EUR would buy me 24L at most. And with my car I could travel 184km

70L full tank costs 126€

An economic car would go 430km for 43 EUR

Post reply on HN