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by SomeHacker44 58 days ago
As a pedestrian, I fear cyclists the most. Please do block the bike lane while I am getting in and out so cyclists won't hit me. I have been almost killed by cyclists many more times than cars. My office building hires someone with a sign to stand in the crosswalk in front of the building where cyclists almost never respect the crosswalk.

Cyclists here regularly ignore red lights and also go the wrong way on streets and even in bike lanes.
1 comments
teachrdan 58 days ago
You are either very paranoid or very bad at math. The odds of a pedestrian getting killed by a cyclist are minuscule. The best data I could find making an apples-to-apples comparison showed that pedestrians are *160 times* more likely to be killed by a car than a bicyclist.

https://transport.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2021-11/collisio...

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Saline9515 58 days ago
Odds are conditional though.

As a father, I think that the odds are quite high that a 3 years old child will get hit by a cyclist, especially if they ride on the sidewalk. I have had several stressful close calls with my son, and my pregnant wife was hit by a cyclist who didn't respect the red light (as it is the custom among the high lords of the road).

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teachrdan 58 days ago
> I think that the odds are quite high that a 3 years old child will get hit by a cyclist

You should see the odds of a child being hit by a car! Here in the US, about 6 children a day are hit and killed by a motor vehicle. And yet the number of children hit and killed by bicycles is unavailable -- perhaps because it is close to 0?

I understand that "as a father" you may become paranoid about things that are objectively unlikely. But if you are more worried about getting killed by a bicycle than by a car -- something 160 times more likely to kill you! -- then perhaps you need to recalibrate.

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Saline9515 58 days ago
Thankfully, cars don't ride on the sidewalk. Every cyclist, where I live (Latvia), rides their bike on the sidewalk. Including e-bikes that are really electric mopeds (you don't need to pedal). Will the Indian food delivery rider, late and tired after a long shift, notice my son, who jumped to scare a pigeon? Let's find out!

So, your statistics are worthless if you don't take the context into account. And even if "there is no risk" (virtually), I'm allowed to say that cyclists going at 25km/h have no business on the sidewalk where I walk at 5km/h.

Cyclists think just like car drivers, and find it totally fine, since they themselves "feel unsafe from cars who go too fast". Of course the feelings of the pedestrian plebeians don't count for the new noble equestrian and morally righteous class.

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