Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim • Hacker News Board

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#21

Post by quickpost » Sat, Oct 02, 2010, 7:51 AM UTC

_delirium wrote: post #17

jbm wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You said it. Quote: Dayhoff, his boss at Crab Shack, read the story on the Times website and found himself outraged by unsympathetic comments posted by some readers. "I just can't get over some of those people reacting the way they did," he said. "This guy was a human being. He might not have meant something to somebody else, but he was like family to us. He meant something to us." -- Meanwhile: -- Jeff Lackey, who l…

Not really making a political statement either way, but I've been very surprised at how much small gestures can mean in some situations, and how relative status is. About 5 years ago, some fellow grad students and I had a fairly recent Guatemalan immigrant serving as the janitor in our part of the building. It was basically awkward all around: the janitors normally came in late-ish to vacuum and empty trash cans and…

That's awesome. Good on you and your friends for treating a hard working man like a human being. I'm sure it dramatically changed his perspective on all of you as well.

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#22

Post by izendejas » Sat, Oct 02, 2010, 8:15 AM UTC

_delirium wrote: post #17

jbm wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You said it. Quote: Dayhoff, his boss at Crab Shack, read the story on the Times website and found himself outraged by unsympathetic comments posted by some readers. "I just can't get over some of those people reacting the way they did," he said. "This guy was a human being. He might not have meant something to somebody else, but he was like family to us. He meant something to us." -- Meanwhile: -- Jeff Lackey, who l…

Not really making a political statement either way, but I've been very surprised at how much small gestures can mean in some situations, and how relative status is. About 5 years ago, some fellow grad students and I had a fairly recent Guatemalan immigrant serving as the janitor in our part of the building. It was basically awkward all around: the janitors normally came in late-ish to vacuum and empty trash cans and…

Random acts of kindess... evolution at its best.

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#23

Post by stuaxo » Sat, Oct 02, 2010, 8:15 AM UTC

jackowayed wrote: post #18

ugh wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would be carful with the application of hyperbole. Reflectors don’t work under certain conditions but they do work very often. They are by no means worthless. I could imagine that especially reflectors in the spokes can help increase visibility. … and the total lack of bicycle education in the US. Is there really no road safety education in school? We have pretty extensive road safety education in Germany including…

Anyone can bike on the roads without any license or anything, and they teach you nothing in school about safe biking. But I think what he meant is that drivers aren't aware of bike-related issues, aren't looking out for bikes, do stupid shit whenever they see bikes, etc. I love biking, and it's a great way to get around, but stupid drivers make it really dangerous.

No license in the UK, but most kids do the cycling proficiency test http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycling_Proficiency_Test

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#24

Post by _delirium » Sat, Oct 02, 2010, 8:23 AM UTC

quickpost wrote: post #21

_delirium wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really making a political statement either way, but I've been very surprised at how much small gestures can mean in some situations, and how relative status is. About 5 years ago, some fellow grad students and I had a fairly recent Guatemalan immigrant serving as the janitor in our part of the building. It was basically awkward all around: the janitors normally came in late-ish to vacuum and empty trash cans and…

That's awesome. Good on you and your friends for treating a hard working man like a human being. I'm sure it dramatically changed his perspective on all of you as well.

Hopefully! Honestly it was probably 90% his doing as far as making a connection goes; grad student + cs geek does not make for the most outgoing group of people, and it wasn't like we were actively trying to foster understanding between cultures (we were pretty happy to be getting our stuff done and not hassled). But this guy was super friendly and it was basically impossible not to make some small talk in return, and then to want to do something to acknowledge him. So I could perfectly well see it turning out much differently if the other guy was also a shy/reserved sort of person and didn't make the main initial effort.

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#25

Post by Confusion » Sat, Oct 02, 2010, 8:50 AM UTC

jrockway wrote: post #11

Police said that Mr. Smith was following bicycle safety recommendations such as wearing light-colored clothing, using reflectors and riding in the bicycle lane. This is a common misconception. Reflectors are worthless. Riding in the bike lane exposes you to great danger -- car doors flying open to the right, aggressive motorists passing too closely on the left. If you take the lane, you're out of the "door zone", and…

  As for reflectors; they only work when there is a clear
  path from an illumination source to the reflector and back
  to your eye. Sometimes that happens, but more often than
  not, it doesn't.

Firstly, reflectors are designed to deflect light into as many directions as possible. A small beam in becomes a wide beam out. And they succeed marvelously at that. Secondly, any reflector worn by any cyclist or pedestrian will reflect ample amounts of light from the enormous amount of light car lights send out. Thirdly, experience with plenty of reflector wearing cyclists and runners tells me that you see the reflectors bright and clear, long before you see the actual person. Especially cyclists without lights, of which there are many here, are saved by the reflectors in their pedals. I've yet to encounter the reflector wearing cyclist or runner that I didn't see until I passed him. People I overlook always scare the living shit out of me and it is quite comforting to experimentally verify that that only happens because these people don't take any precautions to protect themselves.

It sounds like you are repeating something you heard sometime just because it fits your argument, instead of actually having knowledge of the subject. Your assertions are completely untrue and on a bit of reflection (pun intended), you would see that, which means we are dealing with a lack of reflection on your part concerning this tidbit of 'knowledge'.

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#26

Post by jrockway » Sat, Oct 02, 2010, 9:14 AM UTC

Confusion wrote: post #25

jrockway wrote: post #11

Police said that Mr. Smith was following bicycle safety recommendations such as wearing light-colored clothing, using reflectors and riding in the bicycle lane. This is a common misconception. Reflectors are worthless. Riding in the bike lane exposes you to great danger -- car doors flying open to the right, aggressive motorists passing too closely on the left. If you take the lane, you're out of the "door zone", and…

As for reflectors; they only work when there is a clear path from an illumination source to the reflector and back to your eye. Sometimes that happens, but more often than not, it doesn't. Firstly, reflectors are designed to deflect light into as many directions as possible. A small beam in becomes a wide beam out. And they succeed marvelously at that. Secondly, any reflector worn by any cyclist or pedestrian will re…

I don't drive.

As a pedestrian, I've almost been hit by cyclists running red lights with reflectors. Since my eyes don't emit beams of light, I had no chance to see them until that last second. I assume any cars going through the intersection would have had the same problem, since the obstacle was to the side rather than directly in front of them.

Reflectors do help make the cyclist more visible to overtaking traffic, but they don't help with anything that does not emit light. The cyclist won't be able to see hazards in the road ahead or other cyclists with reflectors.

I do agree that reflectors are better than nothing in the limited case of overtaking or oncoming cars, but they're not as good as lights. And considering how cheap LEDs and AA batteries are compared with the cost of a bicycle, why are we even arguing about this?

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#27

Post by Tichy » Sat, Oct 02, 2010, 9:16 AM UTC

jrockway wrote: post #11

Police said that Mr. Smith was following bicycle safety recommendations such as wearing light-colored clothing, using reflectors and riding in the bicycle lane. This is a common misconception. Reflectors are worthless. Riding in the bike lane exposes you to great danger -- car doors flying open to the right, aggressive motorists passing too closely on the left. If you take the lane, you're out of the "door zone", and…

I wonder about the blinking things that seem to have become fashionable. I rarely drive cars, but when I did, I always found blinking lights extremely distracting. They make it hard for me to concentrate, to an extent where I wonder if it is still beneficial to the person wearing them. It's fine if a driver notices me, but I want them to still be able to concentrate.

People's perceptions may vary here, for example I also have my eyes when they put on the stroboscope in clubs.

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#28

Post by Psyonic » Sat, Oct 02, 2010, 9:36 AM UTC

jrockway wrote: post #20

ugh wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would be carful with the application of hyperbole. Reflectors don’t work under certain conditions but they do work very often. They are by no means worthless. I could imagine that especially reflectors in the spokes can help increase visibility. … and the total lack of bicycle education in the US. Is there really no road safety education in school? We have pretty extensive road safety education in Germany including…

In the US, bikes are basically considered toys. If you're a kid, you ride one on your sidewalk to enjoy a sunny Saturday afternoon. If you're an adult, you buy one that costs $3000 to impress your friends. You put it on the back of your car, drive it to a fun location, and pedal around for a few hours once a month. It's way too dangerous to even consider thinking about maybe possibly riding it to work or something, b…

A co-worker at my last job said she even had people go so far as to throw stuff out their windows at her as they passed while she was cycling... ever happened to you?

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#29

Post by jrockway » Sat, Oct 02, 2010, 9:55 AM UTC

Psyonic wrote: post #28

jrockway wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US, bikes are basically considered toys. If you're a kid, you ride one on your sidewalk to enjoy a sunny Saturday afternoon. If you're an adult, you buy one that costs $3000 to impress your friends. You put it on the back of your car, drive it to a fun location, and pedal around for a few hours once a month. It's way too dangerous to even consider thinking about maybe possibly riding it to work or something, b…

A co-worker at my last job said she even had people go so far as to throw stuff out their windows at her as they passed while she was cycling... ever happened to you?

Nope. Mostly honking and one case of being told I was a bastard. I live in the city, though, and people are used to bikes.

If someone threw something at me, the police would have the license plate number so fast it'd be scary. Littering is a $500 fine.

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#30

Post by jrockway » Sat, Oct 02, 2010, 9:58 AM UTC

stuaxo wrote: post #23

jackowayed wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone can bike on the roads without any license or anything, and they teach you nothing in school about safe biking. But I think what he meant is that drivers aren't aware of bike-related issues, aren't looking out for bikes, do stupid shit whenever they see bikes, etc. I love biking, and it's a great way to get around, but stupid drivers make it really dangerous.

No license in the UK, but most kids do the cycling proficiency test http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycling_Proficiency_Test

Sounds like a good program.

When I first started cycling as an adult, I had no idea how to cycle properly. Fortunately, fear led me to Google which lead me to resources that helped me teach myself how to cycle safely.

Most people, unfortunately, only have the fear, and they give up before the Google search. A bit of education in elementary school about safe cycling could do a lot for the obesity epidemic and that whole global warming thing!