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Comment by eneumann | Hacker News Reader

As a cyclist, I'm super excited about one day being run over by one of these things. The giant vehicle trend is getting a lot of people killed.

And why does any vehicle need to accelerate that quickly? It's irresponsible on public roads. I would really love to see acceleration and speed limiters on vehicles.

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Not sure why you are so concerned with acceleration.... If you're on a bike, it doesnt matter if you get hit by a truck at 30, 45, or 60. You're most likely dead anyways, adnd if you survive, there is a good chance you wish you were dead.

The faster it's going when it hits you, the more you'll wish you were dead.

If you hit a pedestrian:

    at 40 mph there is a 90 percent chance they will be killed.
    at 35 mph there is a 50 percent chance they will be killed.
    at 30 mph there is a 20 percent chance they will be killed.
    at 20 mph there is a 2.5 percent chance they will be killed.

Source: https://www.roadwise.co.uk/using-the-road/speeding/the-chanc...

thanks, that is very interesting data, i wonder how they collected it. i supposed if you are on a bike wearing a helmet these percentages all go down....

agreed on everything except acceleration

Why irresponsible? it is better to get to the desired speed quickly, it means less congestion and less distraction for vehicles behind you. Every driver should thrive to drive as fast as they can as long as it is not above the speed limit or road conditions.

Fast acceleration is nice occasionally, but driving aggressively in my EV nearly halves its range vs. carefully avoiding switching rapidly between charging and discharging the battery.

Also, fast acceleration from a stop eats tires. Some EV owners report 10-20k miles per (premium) set.

Two acceleration downsides with electric vehicles. Fast acceleration will wear out tires much faster. Also, the fuel/battery economy is poor. I know the Prius Prime will give you a driving score which is greatly reduced by fast acceleration. But I agree is it helpful to accelerate quickly when the light turns green to get more throughput through an intersection.

You bike on many construction sites?

Ah yes, construction sites, the only places cars hit bicycles.

That's who's buying F150 Lightnings.

F-150s are famously only ever seen on construction sites, never in the Starbucks drivethrough on the way back from the school run.

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