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Brickleberried t1_ixzmqhv wrote

Reply to comment by stephiereffie in The Exceptionally American Problem of Rising Roadway Deaths (includes a focus on pedestrian and cyclist deaths in DC) by woulditkillyoutolift

To be fair, bikers and pedestrians are also crazy. Sure, when they're crazy, they don't endanger other people as much as a crazy driver, but they endanger themselves. I can't count how many times I've seen a biker go through a red light or a pedestrian trying to walk through 4 lanes of ongoing traffic in the middle of a block.

Edit:

Bikers: "Too many of us are hurt or killed by bikers."

Me: "That is true, but bikers also commit dangerous acts that endanger themselves."

Bikers: "Fuck you. That doesn't matter."

I mean, if you want to protect bikers, you should accept all ways to protect bikers, not just ones that inconvenience other people.

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stephiereffie t1_ixzr3ib wrote

Nah, sorry. Not fair.

The problems that cars cause vs the problems that pedestrians or bikes cause are in such different magnitude, to bring it up is obviously not in good faith.

Cars kill people, bikes inconvence people.

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Professional-Can1385 t1_ixzuygy wrote

I can only control my actions, not any one else’s.

As a pedestrian who does not have a metal cage for protection, that means I try to be aware of cars and not do stupid stuff around them that could get me hurt.

Everyone has a responsibility to be safe, but you can’t control anyone else.

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Abitconfusde t1_ixzrype wrote

> Cars kill people

Whoa, there pal. Next you'll be saying that guns kill people. Settle down and think a little bit. Everybody knows that only people kill people. /s

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Brickleberried t1_iy00eqq wrote

Bikers risk their own lives when they don't follow the rules of the road.

Edit: I'm getting downvoted for this, but this is objectively correct. Bikers are so fucking mad that they're getting injured or killed, but also get mad when they're told to follow rules of the road that will help keep them safer. The people who do this are just whiny jackasses.

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stephiereffie t1_iy01y9g wrote

Okay, cool.

From my gooogling, looks like about 400 people died in single vehicle bicycle accidents in 2020.

On the other hand, 6516 pedestrians were mowed down by cars in 2020.

They're not comparable.

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Brickleberried t1_iy02ugv wrote

I'm not sure how that disproves my statement that both bikers and pedestrians can be crazy, which endangers their own lives.

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stephiereffie t1_iy0mgfx wrote

I'm not disproving it, I'm pointing out how inconsequential your statement is. Who gives a crap about the damage bicyclists do to themselves? We care about the damage cars can do to pedestrians.

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Brickleberried t1_iy0pxf2 wrote

> Who gives a crap about the damage bicyclists do to themselves?

So you don't actually care about the safety of bikers?

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stephiereffie t1_iy0s1k9 wrote

I think folks have the right to hurt themselves if they want.

That's obviously not the case when a car hits pedestrian.

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stephiereffie t1_iy0suzi wrote

>Edit: I'm getting downvoted for this, but this is objectively correct. Bikers are so fucking mad that they're getting injured or killed, but also get mad when they're told to follow rules of the road that will help keep them safer. The people who do this are just whiny jackasses.

Omg, no they're not. They're irritated when the conversation is "with all the traffic fatalities, how can we make the road infrastructure safer for cyclists and pedestrians? ", and some dude rolls in with "we don't need to change driving habits or our roads, the bikes need to stop running redlights!"

Like no crap dude, but let's spend more time working on the 6000 deaths.

Also, if you're getting down voted, take a look in the mirror and ask... Why?

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Brickleberried t1_iy102xl wrote

> and some dude rolls in with "we don't need to change driving habits or our roads,

I didn't say that though.

Y'all just don't like when you have to change how you operate too.

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SquishWindow t1_ixzxq90 wrote

> I've seen a biker go through a red light

This isn't crazy or dangerous unless there is cross traffic

> a pedestrian trying to walk through 4 lanes of ongoing traffic in the middle of a block.

If the pedestrian is at a crosswalk, the only thing that is "crazy" about them is expecting drivers to follow the law

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Brickleberried t1_iy007wx wrote

> This isn't crazy or dangerous unless there is cross traffic

lol, okay

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SquishWindow t1_iy00bi0 wrote

Have you ever looked both ways and jaywalked when there weren't any cars coming?

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Brickleberried t1_iy0100i wrote

So you think cars should be able to go through red lights too as long as they look both ways?

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SquishWindow t1_iy02t88 wrote

No, I don't.

Now answer my question - have you ever looked both ways and jaywalked when there weren't any cars coming?

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Brickleberried t1_iy09fht wrote

Of course. Why shouldn't I be able to do the same with a car though?

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stormcloudbros t1_iy0b902 wrote

Because a car typically weighs at least 3000 lbs and a driver has has far more limited ability to see or hear if they can safely cross than a person on foot, bike, or scooter.

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Brickleberried t1_iy0c2il wrote

It's actually pretty easy to see if anybody is approaching most of the time.

Edit: Well, since /u/stormcloudbros blocked me, I'll respond here:

> Then why do drivers keep getting in crashes?

That's a non sequitur. Thanks for playing.

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ccbmtg t1_iy06gip wrote

lmao and the good faith goes out the window.

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Brickleberried t1_iy09bkx wrote

How is the good faith out the window? The other person is saying it's not crazy for a biker to cross the street when nobody is looking because sometimes pedestrians jaywalk.

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ccbmtg t1_iy06ep8 wrote

it isn't. in fact, it's so normal that's it's outright on the books as legal in some states. it's called the Idaho stop. it must be commonplace in most areas so that they had to put it on record as legal.

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Brickleberried t1_iy09d48 wrote

Is it legal here?

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SquishWindow t1_iy0f06t wrote

Jaywalking is illegal here. Do you believe that jaywalking after you look both ways and see no cars coming is "crazy and dangerous"?

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Brickleberried t1_iy0jiti wrote

No more than cars doing it.

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SquishWindow t1_iy0muol wrote

Do you believe pedestrians jaywalking after looking both ways is "crazy and dangerous"? How come you can't give a clear yes or no answer to that very simple question?

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Brickleberried t1_iy0pr8i wrote

I'm saying it's the same for cars, bikes, and pedestrians. If you're going to say it's not crazy for pedestrians, I'm going to say it's not crazy for cars, and vice versa.

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SquishWindow t1_iy0qa52 wrote

You can't say whether it's crazy and dangerous for pedestrians to jaywalk after looking both ways? How can you be so confident in your argument when you can't even stand up to one simple yes or no question? That's pretty weak sauce.

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TRIGMILLION t1_iy0bf38 wrote

I try to be a good careful driver but when it's pitch dark out and you're riding your bike in black clothes with no reflective lights anywhere it really enrages me. I don't actually want to kill you but when the only reason I even notice you is a little glint of light coming off your wheels give me a break. I'm not speeding recklessly either but I've seen squirrels dart across the street more carefully than some of these people.

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Brickleberried t1_iy0cj6m wrote

Bikers in this subreddit: "How dare you say that bikers could do anything on their own to be safer!"

Just last week, I had a biker run a red light as I turning. Would have hit them if I hadn't hit the breaks. But most fuck cars people would blame me for that.

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