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Comment by _Understated_ | Hacker News Reader

> but a bigger danger is mobile phone use by cyclists.

Or by pedestrians!

My brother curses the number of pedestrians in Glasgow that cross the road while looking at their phones... they're by far his biggest hazard.

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Screen-zombie pedestrians annoy me as well. So do uneven pavements, trash, rocks and any other obstacles that appear on my way. If I'm on an electric scooter or a bike though it's my responsibility to ensure that I'm not riding a silent, heavy and fast vehicle into someone. Especially if they can't see me because I'm approaching from behind. And to emphasise - there is an entire range of pedestrians that might have a disability (mobility issues, seeing, hearing etc.) which makes them much more vulnerable to accidents.

Absolutely. But spending time on your mobile phone has no place in traffic and that has nothing to do with being disabled. It's just being grossly disrespectful towards others and endangering them and yourself.

Sure it does if you’re in a cross walk. As a driver of a vehicle, you should be yielding to those as per their right of way and paying attention to anyone who might or might not take their right of way.

In practice: cyclist head down looking at their mobile phone swerving all over the road, two hands holding the phone to be able to text using whatsapp or whatever other IM they are using entirely lost situational awareness. I've seen enough accidents from this by now to become an advocate for substantially increased fines for cell phone use in traffic.

Roads are way too biased toward cars and away from pedestrians, and if this is what it takes to reclaim them then I'm all for it.

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