| > A bike doesn’t weigh over a ton though being hit by a bike that broke my leg I would say that bikes having no crumple zones (the opposite is true actually) are not without risks for pedestrians > their ability to maneuver effectively at speed is far better than a car I guess that's because biking is a conscious choice, not something you have to do, there aren't hundred millions bikes constantly around on the streets, so usually average bikers are better than the average driver but having 4 wheels and a differential makes maneuvering effectively at speed much easier than on 2 (very thin) wheels also the thing is you don't have to stop a car to avoid accidents, ABS and a steering wheel can go a long way. I think people focus too much on breaking space, reaction times and all of that, but if you see an obstacle and can turn away from it without rolling to the floor or worse, you're 95% done. two car crashing or hitting a wall with a car is far better than hitting a person. most of the hit-n-runs happen because the driver pushes the brakes too hard, the wheels block, the car loses directionality and hits straight the pedestrian. of course lowering speed limits is the easiest choice, you crunch the numbers, at 30km/h there's 50% chances less of a a fatal crash than at 40 km/h, so it seems like the obvious choice, but that also mean that the best choice is no cars at all In Italy, my country, the average speed for cars in Milan is 9.1 km/h, in Rome is 8.5 in Naples 7.3, hardly high speed. most of the hit-n-runs are people crossing the streets at night, with low visibility hit by cars that greatly exceed the speed limits, DUIs incidents, old people at the wheel that ran a red light and things like that. most of the deaths are people literally ran over by the car, not just hit there are cases of people killed by cars going in reverse, so at very low speed the point is the drivers mindset should be that speed control happens at the gas pedal, not at the breaking pedal breaking shouldn't be #1 emergency measure, avoiding the obstacle should, and then brake how many road users have attempted to pass the moose test? with their car, bike, motorbike, whatever? how many of them have developed the right mentality for "maneuvering effectively at speed" instead of just doing it without realizing that everything has always gone well until now because luck exists? |