[jdavis703]

I regularly call out bikes who don’t give the right of way to pedestrians in the crosswalk.

That said, unless someone is already frail being hit by a bike is nothing like being hit by a car. I’ve had two red-light running bicyclists crash in to me (once while biking, once while skateboarding). I’ve also been in three separate cars that got rear-ended (none of those times was I driving). The level of pain is an order of magnitude different.

[chinesempire]

> being hit by a bike is nothing like being hit by a car

You're completely right!

Cars are engineered to reduce the damages of a direct impact.

Bikes are not.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedestrian_safety_through_vehi...

Studies agree that the damages are mostly caused by speed

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24435732

E-bikes can go at very high speeds (30km/h is more than enough to be deadly) and can do it effortlessly, which means the even bikers that aren't expert can go at such high speeds, increasing the risk of hurting someone else or themselves.

Add to that the fact that a car can break or avoid obstacles in a much more efficient way than a bike could ever do (think about heavy breaking with a bike at 25 km/h under heavy rain on the pavet and then think about it on a car).

I'm not a supporter of cars, I've been car free for a few years now, but I don't think bikes are less dangerous for pedestrians.

There are simply less of them around.

> The level of pain is an order of magnitude different

The maximum level of pain I suffered was because of my bad teeth

I was in a very bad car accident (a tire detached from my car while driving on the highway and I lost control), the pain was a joke compared to that.

Pain is not a strong indicator of dangerous physical damage.

For example internal bleeding is usually painless.

[Grue3]

And yet how many people die from being hit by bikes? It's barely even an issue. Even in European cities where you can step on the wrong side of a sidewalk and instantly get smashed into. It's an imaginary problem.

>Add to that the fact that a car can break or avoid obstacles in a much more efficient way than a bike could ever do

That's obviously false. Just consider the stuff that BMX bikes can do in terms of maneuvering. Or even normal bikes. Try driving on a car through a busy pedestrian street. On a bike it's a piece of cake, and you won't have to stop even once.

[chinesempire]

> And yet how many people die from being hit by bikes? It's barely even an issue

First of all, it's all in the news, I'm not making things up

https://nypost.com/2019/08/31/nyc-bicyclists-are-killing-ped...

Or you can look at this, specifically the chapters "Cyclist Deaths and Impairment", "Cyclist Helmets Statistics" and "Staying Safe while Cycling"

https://bayareabicyclelaw.com/safety-laws/bike-stats/

and we don't have enough data (AKA it's not been collected until few years ago) to say that "it's barely even an issue"

Secondly, bikers most of all kill themselves.

"One in five people injured on Australian roads and paths is a cyclist, according to a new Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report"

https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/injury/pedal-cyclist-injury-...

Is it because of the road conditions, the presence of cars or other vehicles?

Or is it because cyclists underestimate the risks?

According to the same study, motorcyclists only account for 2.7% of the hospitalizations.

They share the road with cars as well, they go faster than bikes on the same roads.

What could be different?

Could it be that the safety measures engineered in motorbikes and the safety measures motorbikers take to protect themselves are actually useful to reduce physical damages?

Even Netherlands has a big problem with bikers dying more than ever because of underestimating risks.

https://www.iamexpat.nl/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/death-toll-...

> That's obviously false. Just consider the stuff that BMX bikes can do in terms of maneuvering

An expert biker on a BMX you mean!

If I give a BMX to my mother, 71 years old, she couldn't even ride it.

It's like saying "now look what this rally pilot can do on terrain with their fine tuned 4wd monster car"