US Cities Are Becoming More Dangerous for Cyclists and Pedestrians
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US Cities Are Becoming More Dangerous for Cyclists and Pedestrians
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Re: US Cities Are Becoming More Dangerous for Cyclists and Pedestrians
#2No (edit: quantitative, you'd think that stipulation would be obvious because we're on HN) mention of increase in popularity of cycling for one's commute (seems to be up year over year in my unscientific observation)? I even skimmed the linked articles and they also seem to only be counting deaths, not deaths per anything. That doesn't tell us anything useful. This entire article is hand-wavy.
I'm sure if everyone who currently rides a bicycle to work went out and started commuting via skateboard tomorrow we'd have a heck of a lot more skateboard fatalities.
Also worth mentioning that this is an op-ed so it is not subject to normal journalistic standards (however low they may sometimes be).
Re: US Cities Are Becoming More Dangerous for Cyclists and Pedestrians
#3No (edit: quantitative, you'd think that stipulation would be obvious because we're on HN) mention of increase in popularity of cycling for one's commute (seems to be up year over year in my unscientific observation)? I even skimmed the linked articles and they also seem to only be counting deaths, not deaths per anything. That doesn't tell us anything useful. This entire article is hand-wavy. I'm sure if everyone wh…
Pedestrian deaths have increased by a lot more than cyclist deaths, I don't think the number of pedestrians has significantly changed.
Re: US Cities Are Becoming More Dangerous for Cyclists and Pedestrians
#4No (edit: quantitative, you'd think that stipulation would be obvious because we're on HN) mention of increase in popularity of cycling for one's commute (seems to be up year over year in my unscientific observation)? I even skimmed the linked articles and they also seem to only be counting deaths, not deaths per anything. That doesn't tell us anything useful. This entire article is hand-wavy. I'm sure if everyone wh…
3rd paragraph:
> More people are being killed because cities are encouraging residents to walk and bike, but their roads are still dominated by fast-moving vehicular traffic. As my research has shown, this shifting mix can be deadly.
Re: US Cities Are Becoming More Dangerous for Cyclists and Pedestrians
#5No (edit: quantitative, you'd think that stipulation would be obvious because we're on HN) mention of increase in popularity of cycling for one's commute (seems to be up year over year in my unscientific observation)? I even skimmed the linked articles and they also seem to only be counting deaths, not deaths per anything. That doesn't tell us anything useful. This entire article is hand-wavy. I'm sure if everyone wh…
I think the increase in the number of pedestrian deaths is also caused by the increase in the number of SUVs/CUVs and an increase in the size of cars generally speaking. Bigger cars -> more pedestrian deaths looks like a decent enough "correlation is causation" for me.
Re: US Cities Are Becoming More Dangerous for Cyclists and Pedestrians
#6[deleted]
Re: US Cities Are Becoming More Dangerous for Cyclists and Pedestrians
#7The article makes no mention of distracted and inattentive pedestrians. Cities today are safer than ever for pedestrians, with dedicated bike lines and improved street crossings. It far more likely that the sudden increase in deaths is due to the rise of handheld distractions.
But that doesn't fit with the narrative.
Re: US Cities Are Becoming More Dangerous for Cyclists and Pedestrians
#8Interestingly (and obviously anecdotal) I've found the opposite has been happening in Philadelphia. And the main driving (no pun intended) factor, I think, was the introduction of our bike share program (Indego). Drivers were so much more hostile to bicyclists before these were introduced.
We now have more dedicated bike lanes, which helps immensely. We've introduced signs and indicators ("sharrows") that indicate to drivers that bicyclists have the right to use the lanes just as much as drivers. It's a noticeable difference from 10 years ago. I can't say for certain these other things would have happened without the introduction of the bike share program, but it seems to be what really changed things here.
Re: US Cities Are Becoming More Dangerous for Cyclists and Pedestrians
#9The safest infrastructure are ones that split pedestrian / bicyclist / motor traffic as much as possible, for obvious reasons. But that infrastructure has fallen out of favor as of late. "Complete streets" are the new fashion trend, and are significantly more dangerous, by combining these forms of traffic altogether and just sort of hoping it all works out.
But, "complete" streets are super cheap, and give the illusion of improved infrastructure, so the trend will likely continue for the near future -- further increasing accidents as it does.
Re: US Cities Are Becoming More Dangerous for Cyclists and Pedestrians
#10No (edit: quantitative, you'd think that stipulation would be obvious because we're on HN) mention of increase in popularity of cycling for one's commute (seems to be up year over year in my unscientific observation)? I even skimmed the linked articles and they also seem to only be counting deaths, not deaths per anything. That doesn't tell us anything useful. This entire article is hand-wavy. I'm sure if everyone wh…
> No mention of increase in popularity of cycling for one's commute
It's right in the introduction:
> As cities strive to improve the quality of life for their residents, many are working to promote walking and biking
[...]
> More people are being killed because cities are encouraging residents to walk and bike