Fuck Cars
A place to discuss problems of car centric infrastructure or how it hurts us all. Let's explore the bad world of Cars!
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I only barely survived an unavoidable and unpredictable crash on a road bicycle with 2 cars. I've had 6 crashes with 7 cars in 170k miles on the bike since 2009. Only 2 of those crashes were bad. However I only barely survived crashing at 30mph where the weight of the bike was insignificant. I wouldn't have survived that same crash on anything more significant or at any higher speed. I had the critical damage of C1 and a fracture at the base of my skull. I was told if I hadn't been knocked out completely, I would have died if I had moved before the swelling could keep everything together.
I wouldn't recommend motorcycles until humans decide to replace driver's side airbag covers with daggers. People drive like fools and since their incompetence is nonlethal to them, the culture of incompetence is unavoidable.
You likely think you can avoid anything by just being careful. This is not the case. I was ultra cautious and went out of my way to avoid hazardous areas. Most of my hits were from illegal U-turns. If you can predict a random vehicle parallel parked on the side of the road will try and make an illegal U-turn suddenly without warning, directly in front of a large SUV that is passing them, you can avoid the crash that almost killed me. That is the level of stupid that finally got me even on a road bicycle.
The human body is not capable of handling the forces of collision. It doesn't matter what kind of armored jacket you wear, it will never compare to a car's tolerance. I've seen a lot of people die on bicycles including 3 people I knew. My cousin died on a motorcycle last month.
Glad you made it out relatively unscathed. My old man got killed when a negligent driver crashed into him while he was riding his bike at night. Motorcycles are death traps and I'm always uncomfortable when I'm on the road and one gets near my car.
I like that they're more fuel efficient than cars, and they're a thrill for the rider, but the inevitable incompetence of other drivers, or just plain bad luck like blowing a tire, has such a high mortality rate for bikers.
One of my dad's old biker buddies got hit by a teenage driver who'd just gotten their license. I'm not gonna harp on the kid too badly cause when you're a new driver, you're gonna make mistakes. Just sucks that one little mistake can cost someone so dearly. Dad's friend survived, but he's never been the same due to brain damage sustained in the crash. He wasn't wearing a DoT approved helmet at the time, though, so it's partially on him. His fake helmet snapped in half like a twig.
Biker culture (at least in the US) also has the unfortunate undercurrent of macho shit like "I don't wanna wear a helmet cause that's for sissies. I'll just die like a man." Helmets are mandatory in my state, but it's seldom enforced.
This is parts extra odd to me because the heavy leather jackets and clothing that are also part of that same culture are actually meant to be a form of light armor should you find yourself in a crash
Man everything you wrote here sucks and I'm sorry you've had to experience all that. Riding isn't a "if" you crash, its a "when" you crash thing.
Even still, I find it preferable to being in a box isolated from the environment. Then it's just more detached television. Being a part of the environment helps me feel alive.
Grandpa told me: if you ride it isn't if you have a crash, but when and how bad