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Comment by tlaundal | Hacker News Reader

And the same applies to every other vehicle, but I suppose you would still get in a car on a rainy day?

You adjust speed and cycling style to the conditions, and for winter cycling there are plenty of good options for studded tires. The Nordics have succeeded in making winter cycling a more common activity, and you might want to check out the "winter cycling capital of the world": Oulu, Finland.

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Last year a friend broke 2 ribs and forearm by slipping over some wet leaves on a bycicle - I don't see how that's comparable to a car.

Also I don't have windshield wipers on my face (or windshield for that matter) - but maybe I'm just wired like that.

> I don't see how that's comparable to a car.

Yesterday, local news, a car crash with all three involved drivers dead.

By slipping on wet leaves ? I guess it could happen but how likely is it ? Mind sharing the link ?

"in slippery conditions": https://eng.lsm.lv/article/economy/transport/snow-and-ice-ma...

(It's only a one-sentence mention in the article. There were only a few more details in the local news: two semis, one passenger car. All three drivers dead, two people in hospital. No details on what exactly happened, who caused it.)

And you think riding an ebike in those conditions on the road would not be suicide ?

2 wheels make you extremely sensitive to small traction loss - hitting a patch of wet leaves/gravel/mud/ice with a car tire is a nuisance at best - and a potential fatality on a ebike/motorcycle.

It would be a bad idea. And that specific road, even in good summer weather, I've had a truck pass me on my bike so close I could have touched it with a hand if not elbow.

But my point is, while you're better protected in the car, with speed and kinetic energy the stakes go up. If they were three cyclists instead of three drivers in heavy vehicles on that road yesterday, they would likely all still be alive.

My commute is 4mi each way in quite-rainy Portland, rain on my glasses isn't too much of a problem, though fine mist I need to wipe off occasionally. I haven't ever had any serious problems with road conditions (in ~20yr of bike commutes), though I do have to slow down / watch the turns until later in the winter when most of the leaves are out of the road.

That's unfortunate. I seen that a family of four where crushed to death and burned alive in their Nissan X-Trail yesterday when it veered off the road on ice and hit a truck full of propane tanks.

Last year I sprained my wrist slipping on ice while walking to my car, but I never fell off my bike even though I live in a temperate rainforest.

What should I learn from this one off incident?

I'm 60, and I bike everywhere.

I have a non-zero chance of getting into an accident, but on the other hand, I haven't been so fit in 30 years.

My guess is that my expected lifespan is increased by this decision. (I would add that I live in a very bike-friendly city.)

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There's a further ethical calculation I would do, which is that using a car is wildly irresponsible giving that we are systematically eating through our resources and destroying our climate and with it our biosphere. (Electric cars are better, but still tremendously consumptive of resources.)

So even if I were less safe and the fitness issue were less important, I would still choose not to use a car, like I have chosen for my entire life.

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