Comment by alt227 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by alt227 | Hacker News Reader

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>Unfortunately, a typical journey involves passing more than 20 cars, which means experiencing at least 1 very close pass

Unfortunately I see it the other way. Asa rule I give cyclists plenty of space when overtaking, even happily sitting behind a slow cyclist on a 60Mph road for 30 seconds to a minute in order to find a safe passing spot.

However the same courtesy is not paid the other way. When in multi lane traffic jams (or even slow traffic on a single lane road) cyclists will fly down the tiny gaps between the cars, often only just wide enough for their handlebars to fit through. If vehicles at speed need to give such room for an overtake, why doesnt it work the other way around? There are plenty of videos on youtube of bikes going very fast between stationary cars, only to hit a wing mirror and crash.

First, let me just state up front: I agree with you that some people on bikes should show more care when passing cars closely. Dangerously close is dangerously close no matter who initiates it.

Second, while room should be given by both parties, the consequences for failure are far different between the two scenarios. In the scenario where the car driver is passing dangerously close, you have a multi-thousand pound vehicle potentially hitting an unprotected body. Even if the initial impact doesn't cause great harm to the person, there's a lot of potential for knocking the bike and person over and then causing them to get run over by the initial vehicle's wheels or into the path of a second vehicle nearby. Who loses most in this situation? The person riding the bike.

In the scenario where the person on the bike passes too closely and hits the stationary car, there's just a lot less energy and moving mass involved. The potential for serious injury is greatly reduced. And perhaps most importantly, the party suffering the greatest potential for serious injury is the one that caused the situation.

I don't mean to dismiss the potential for damage to the car (mirrors knocked off, scratches, etc) as that's a real thing which should be avoided. But there's also a VERY big difference between property damage and bodily damage.

If I have my hand on a table, and you slam a hammer down next to it, that poses a danger to me.

If a hammer lies on the table, and I slam my hand next to it, that poses no danger to anyone.

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