[danielrico]

I've used to commute in inline skates in traffic. It wasn't usual but I had a couple of close encounters.

The was an avenue with bike preference in the leftmost lane, but as cars parked anyway it way like a 1/4 lane.

Once I was completely zoomed out and felt something was off. The car at my right just push the break.

I followed along with a t drag and straighten up to get a clearer vision. A truck was turning left from the middle of the avenue, cutting 2 lanes including mine.

These things always happens in downhill. I had not enough space to brake. I turned left almost, not without almost hitting a woman that was waiting to cross the street 2 steps down the curb, and headed full blast too a cobblestone street. I don't know how I manage to do that without falling.

Yes a less experienced me would have not seen the risk early enough nor had the skills to get that turn. But there are shit you cannot predict.

[mariusor]

Both you and your sibling commenter have read "rarely" and have chosen to interpret it as "never", which is not what the word means. :P

[jjk166]

The parent comment you built off of used "never"

[mariusor]

I'm not sure if it's me or you guys that are misreading that post but I interpreted it as "I never had to", not "nobody ever had to".

[jjk166]

In context, they are clearly saying that beginner cyclists should not have to panic stop because it is exceptionally rare, as evidenced by their 14 years without needing to do it. It is extrapolating from their singular, personal experience to general frequency for the population. It is equivalent to saying "people shouldn't worry about breaking bones because I've never broken a bone." Even if you qualify the statement by saying "maybe someone out there has broken a bone at some point" you are still making a statement about it's rarity that can not be adequately supported by your personal anecdote. Having multiple people in a single thread which has been viewed by a few thousand people at most who have counter examples should clearly indicate that "it hasn't happened to me" doesn't equate to "you shouldn't expect it to happen to you."

[mariusor]

Maybe I'm more charitable in my interpretation, but I don't really see grandparent making a generalization, they're giving a counter-example to requiring everyone to practice panic stops.

His and my reply assert that panic stops are not a panacea of avoiding traffic problems, but a side-effect of not paying more attention.

And cheers, this is my last clarification. I don't enjoy engaging with such excessive pedantry.