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Comment by anovikov | Hacker News Reader

Absolutely untrue. I am not a cyclist but i have about once in 3 months or so, a near accident where i just barely avoid crushing or rolling over some crazy cyclist that falls on his damn bike right under my car or drives from round the corner at full speed without damn looking anywhere. However careful i am trying to be it's just a matter of luck that i didn't kill anyone (and i once scratched my car and the other guy's a bit avoiding that in the last split second, once). And i totally can't see how it is my fault. At the very best, they are a hinderance because cautious people have to completely avoid a lane where one cyclist is driving on the edge of, thus slowing down the entire car traffic.

Bicycles are dangerous and those cyclists don't know what they are doing, they are a danger to themselves and others - because i am sure quite a few innocent people went to jail accidentally killing them.

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> Bicycles are dangerous...

It's an interesting statement, given that every example you gave is about a driver of a car about to kill a cyclist. It seems that it's the cars, or rather, the drivers, that are dangerous.

In the UK the majority of drivers who kill cyclists do not go to prison https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-28345522

It's a common bit of dark humour in the cycling community that if you want to get away with murder, make sure the victim is riding a bike at the time.

"just barely avoid crushing or rolling over some crazy cyclist that falls on his damn bike right under my car"

You are supposed to respect a safe separation distance so that you don't "barely avoid crushing them" if something happen, not tailgate them. Since it happens every 3 months, consider if your driving might be at fault. If not for the cyclist, at least for the sake of not scratching your car, eh.

I'm both a cyclist and a driver. I regularly see middle-aged cyclists riding without the sense of a 6 year old. I don't get it.

I also avoid driving in residential streets if I can avoid it because of kids on bikes, and I know they're crazy. I did crazy stuff on a bike as a kid, and barely survived.

Reminds me of the saying:

“If you meet an asshole in the morning, you met an asshole.

If you meet assholes all day long, you’re the asshole”

"At the very best, they [old people | horse riders | children | motorcyclists | other drivers] are a hinderance because cautious people have to completely avoid a lane where one $X is driving on the edge of, thus slowing down the entire car traffic.

$X are dangerous and they don't know what they are doing, they are a danger to themselves and others."

So where do we go with this line of thought? As you can see, it's not helpful in any material way. We need to make the roads safer for everyone, including other drivers. And not vilify a small (but increasing) and vulnerable portion of road users because of anecdotes.

BTW, I'm a motorist, cyclist, horse rider, old person, ex-child. So I might be biased.

Are you driving in the bike lane?

Otherwise I cannot fathom how people are almost dead by your car every other month. Or aren't you following the law by holding a safe distance and a reasonable speed, perhaps?

Hey you don't own the streets so if someone slower is in front of you, you might just slow down for a while and don't give a damn about slowing traffic. Better safe than sorry.

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