Hacker News Reader

Comment by yogi123 | Hacker News Reader

I’m wondering how many commenters here actually live in NYC. Delivery bikes are a menace. A 20-something guy in my building recently started hopping around on crutches. Athletic guy. Got hit by a food delivery bike and fractured his leg. I have a near miss at least once a week. They’re like darts that pop out of nowhere even on sidewalks, at full speed, sometimes swerving at the last second. Zero respect for any traffic laws. It’s especiaily dangerous if you have a dog as I do, esp when crossing a street, bc a bike can slice into the leash in the space between you and your dog, since the bikes pop out of nowhere so fast. I’m exceedingly cautious at night now in scanning around me at crosswalks.

View on HN

I live in NYC and I bike every day. I have no problem with e-bikes and I think the fact that they are getting confiscated is extremely misguided given that they are receiving praise in many other cities as a smart alternative to cars. It's insane that the police in NYC are so concerned about these bikes killing people meanwhile there are dozens of bicyclists dying every year due to car accidents and virtually no bicycle-related pedestrian deaths. Biking is by far the most dangerous thing I ever do by an order of magnitude; I've almost been crushed by cars multiple times, I've actually been brushed by cars a couple of times, and multiple friends of mine have been hurt. I'm considering stopping biking because of this, but the truth is that it is so much faster than taking the train or walking that my morning commute from Greenpoint to LES would not really make much sense without a bike. I find it ironic that police are notorious for parking in bike lanes causing bikes to have to veer out into traffic to get around them, which is extremely dangerous. (See http://copsinbikelanes.tumblr.com/)

I understand that bikes are more concerning than cars for pedestrians due to being quiet and going the wrong way, and I hate as much as the next guy. It is bicyclists' responsibility to obey traffic laws. It seems that the police should enforce the laws against these e-bikes going the wrong way or not stopping at stop signs, not for existing in the first place.

>I understand that bikes are more concerning than cars for pedestrians due to being quiet and going the wrong way, and I hate as much as the next guy.

We seem to be very against bells in the US.

When I tell folks in the US my bike has a bell they say "psssh like a car will hear that" they always seem surprised when I point out it's more of a polite alert to people walking. Because who walks, after all?

Also without the constant deadening roar of internal combustion, bells are fairly audible.

That's interesting. I always assumed it was because of social perception here in the US that bells on bikes were for kids.

The background soundtrack of my time spent in Amsterdam and Copenhagen is that have bike bells ringing.

I mostly walk. Most cyclists either give no warning or they yell something like "On your left".

I would be thrilled if bells were in common usage.

I know this will anger bikers, but: as a pedestrian in New York, I'm way more afraid of bikes than I am of cars. Cars are dangerous if they hit you, yes, but (a) you can basically always hear (and see) them coming, and (b) they very rarely drive against the traffic or run red lights.

Bikes, on the other hand, frequently zoom down one-way streets against the flow of traffic, rarely make any audible sound (whether ringing a bell or shouting) so you can hear them coming, and treat traffic lights as suggestions.

I can't count the number of times I've almost gotten hit (as a pedestrian)by a biker when I'm crossing a street with the walk signal, because a biker decided that he could barrel down a one-way street, against the traffic, and didn't even need to bother to slow down for pedestrians walking with the walk signal.

Yes, not all bikers are like that. But there are enough of them that they pose an actual problem for NYC pedestrians.

I’m wondering how many commenters here actually live in NYC. Delivery bikes are a menace

It’s not dissimilar in London. Cycle couriers are known as psycho couriers for a reason.

Yes, this.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com