Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by joekrill 2677 days ago
Interestingly (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.
2 comments
JimiofEden 2677 days ago
Having lived in Philly for the last decade or so, I've noticed that it's never very dangerous to be a biker or a pedestrian here. I only know of two incidents where people I know have been struck, and usually in not too terrible ways. It especially helps that bike lanes are plentiful, most of the non-residential parts of the city are pretty damn easy to navigate, and within city limits people don't really drive too crazy.

Sure you get the one off case where people are being assholes for the sake of being assholes, but for whatever reason you can't really get away from that no matter where you are.

That being said, if you're in another car or anywhere near I76, then you better believe it's every man for himself, and may the traffic gods have mercy on you.

link
techiferous 2677 days ago
> Drivers were so much more hostile to bicyclists before these were introduced.

I'm not sure that driver attitudes are the primary cause of cycling deaths. Lack of visibility might be one, though.

link
lkbm 2677 days ago
In some places it might be. In most, it's probably distraction -- phones, eating, etc. -- or alcohol, but if those are less common and hostility is high, the latter could probably overtake.

People will pass very fasts and very close when they're angry at the cyclist for being on the road and "in their way". I've actually had someone try to run me off the road before. (I've had plenty of people try to merge into where I was, but this was someone trying to do it because he wanted me on the sidewalk "where I belonged". We stopped and argued at a light right afterwards.)

If that behavior were common, cycling would be vastly more dangerous. Maybe in Philadelphia it was.

link