When you see a cyclist doing something dangerous, you make note of that to confirm the idea that cyclists are stupid and reckless. But when you see a driver doing that, you're so used to it it doesn't even register as "all drivers are stupid and reckless".

[–] [email protected] 16 points 9 months ago

Even though they all are

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I wouldn't say all for both parties, but there is a sizable portion for both.

We all know the habits of bad drivers. (speeding, bad lane changes, no signaling, cutting people off, stopping too short/late, etc...)

With cyclists, at least in my area, there are things that just makes me wonder if they have a death wish. On an busy road, I've seen them ride on the bike-lane line with 4-6ft of space of asphalt on their right to the point where drivers would have to ride the line of the lane on their left, risking a vehicle on vehicle accident. At night, some wear all black with no reflectors or lights; sometimes riding in the middle of a lane with the bike-lane to their right. Some even use the sidewalk, ignoring the bike-lane (I know the fear of why), making pedestrians jump out of way. Sometimes, the bad ones even forget about their brakes and ride straight through an intersection without looking.

People on PEVs and other alternatives can be even worse as the increased speed can make them overconfident. I had to yell at a coworker who was on his scooter, mindlessly oscillating between the left and right shoulders of an expressway. His response was, "I only do that if there aren't any cars around." When he asked me how I knew, I told him I was driving behind him, in my car.

Cycling and alternative forms of personal transport are becoming more and more popular, so we need to have a bit of rehashing of the laws (and actual enforcement) for both them and and drivers.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Laws don't do anything. Experiments have proven that time and time again the only thing that changes drivers' behaviour is infrastructure. Have you ever seen a speed sign change, but nobody slows down because the road is so wide they feel it doesn't matter?

Narrow roads. Raise crosswalks. Grade separated bike paths. These are the things that actually keep people safe. Something something the Netherlands.

There is one exception: I do think PEVs should be limited to 25-30km/h. As someone with an ebike I know peoe vastly overestimate their own handling abilities, and it's very bad at speeds above that. But because that's a law for the manufacturer, it means that people don't have to do any thinking to comply with it.