[_aavaa_]

> if the weather is too bad to bike safely in, it's probably too bad to drive safely in.

I am sceptical of this assertion. For starters, if you have poor traction in a car you can always slow down, and the risk you face is sliding. In a bike, you need to have a minimum speed to actually bike, otherwise you can't stay upright. And your failure case is no longer sliding, but it's toppling over.

To say nothing of what happens if you throw wind into the mix.

[CalRobert]

"the risk you face is sliding"

Yes, including sliding over my child who is riding her bike to school, and killing her.

"your failure case is no longer sliding, but it's toppling over."

In which case the primary injury will be to your dignity.

[ClumsyPilot]

> In which case the primary injury will be to your dignity.

I just came flying off my bike two months ago after hitting some nasty patch of ice.

Broken hand, a good dent in my helmet, many bruises. If it wasn't for the helmet, I might have been taken away in an ambulance.

I've been cycling regularly for 12 years, so this isn't some noob error.

[CalRobert]

I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you heal well. I was referencing the point about going so slow you can't stay upright.

[avianlyric]

You can calculate the approximate speed a vehicle will start aquaplaning at based the vehicles tire pressure (V = 10.35*sqrt(psi) ) [1]. A car tire is usually inflated to around 30-35 psi, which give an aquaplaning speed of about 61mph.

A road bike tire is inflated to 80-120psi which give an aquaplaning speed of about 92mph.

A hybrid tire is inflated to 40-70psi, which gives an aquaplaning speed of about 65mph.

Bikes aren't know for traveling above 60mph, so wet roads don't pose much of a problem for bikes. Their tire pressure is so high compared to their normal speeds, that an unassisted human would really struggle to make a bike aquaplane. Additionally bikes can easily be ridden stably at walking speed. Unless you're riding on ice, going slower simply doesn't pose a problem.

As a result slipping on bike, because you can't cycle slow enough, just isn't a concern. In the only situations where it might be a problem, simply walking would be challenging, and driving would be idiotic.

[1] https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19640000612

[myrmidon]

While interesting, this is almost completely irrelevant to bikes: The problem is not primarily water but wet ice or fresh snow.

Wet ice is especially dangerous because it can be pretty much invisible and you can transition directly from normal road surface to essentialy ZERO steering ability (and immediate crash if you initiate a turn or anything). There is pretty much no avoiding occasional crashes from this, the only way is to leave the bike at home when conditions are wet and close to freezing.

[avianlyric]

Ok, fine. But the argument above it that somehow these issues affect bikes, but not cars. Last I checked black-ice is just as much of a problem for cars.

[_aavaa_]

That is not my argument at all.

My point is that these issues have a bigger impact on the safety of the bike rider than on the car driver.

[avianlyric]

And what about everyone else? Going sliding on a bike isn’t great, but it’s unlikely your bikes gonna put it self through the front of a shop and kill someone.

Your car on the other hand, you lose control of that, and bystanders are in real trouble. Not to mention there’s plenty of incidents everyday of people loosing control of their car because they’re not driving to the condition (presumably because the big metal box makes them feel much safer than they should) and killing themselves and others.

Much less likely that a bike rider is going to ignore the prevailing conditions and injure themselves or others, and if they do, the impact is substantially lower. Adding more mass and speed to an out of control situation never improves the outcomes.

[pastage]

I cycle in areas with ice and snow have done so all my life, all I do is lower my speed and my saddle. That means when there is ice I can always use my feets. This is more stable than walking, in wintertime I will stop and help pedestrians over vast swaths of ice.

I have managed to skid out once and that was with studded tires.

[scott_w]

I’ve fallen off my bike in ice. I’ve also skidded in a car on ice.

While the fall on the bike hurt me more, I can easily see how much more dangerous the situation in my car was. Blind luck saved me (and the car in front) that day.