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Comment by slowhadoken | Hacker News Reader

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yeah! the approximately 8000 pedestrians killed by cars each year in the US should just be better at dodging them, like this guy is.

I can control circumstances, other people's actions, and life/death. Sorry my bad.

They really should. It's a good way not to die. Just like many of the motorcyclists that die should have worn helmets, not gone above the speed limit, and not drank alcohol. Those 3 things account for something like 60% of motorcycle deaths.

Edit: The point is, people contribute heavily to their deaths on motorcycles. And I assume on foot too. Wearing ear phones? Chance of death through the roof. Talking on the phone? Way more dangerous. Out at night walking after a drink or two? Better watch out. Don't look both ways, twice? You're in trouble.

This is factually correct (I ride a motorcycle and did a deep dive into the death statistics before getting my license) but your conclusion is tenuous at best.

Motorcyclists consciously take the elevated risk of engaging in a known-unsafe activity and absolutely should take reasonable precautions to keep themselves safe. Even so, it's still a tragedy when someone dies on a motorcycle. Pedestrians, on the other hand, want to walk around their neighborhoods and cities without being killed.

I don't quite know the right words to respond to, "just look at the death statistics and avoid being near cars as a pedestrian," but they're not kind.

This factoid about motorcycles is a complete non sequitur. It's as if someone forgot what they were talking about in the middle of making their point.

The point is, people contribute heavily to their deaths on motorcycles. And I assume on foot too. Wearing ear phones? Chance of death through the roof. Talking on the phone? Way more dangerous. Out at night walking after a drink or two? Better watch out. Don't look both ways, twice? You're in trouble.

Yeah the driver is usually doing something stupid like texting too. Which reminds me of the Werner Herzog documentary From One Second to the Next (2013) @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk1vCqfYpos

Forget the driver, you can't control for that when you're walking. So you're left with acting better as a pedestrian.

Absolutely nobody thinks it's about controlling the driver when you're walking. You're debating a point that no one made.

The guy I responded to did basically that, trying to assign blame to drivers. Why would I care what some drivers do when I'm crossing the street? I assume all drivers are bad and act accordingly. The people that don't do that, are more likely to get hit. That's what I meant.

It's not a dichotomy. Both parties are responsible for traveling safely. The argument you're trying to put forth is disingenuous, because controlling drivers as a pedestrian is obviously a ridiculous idea; that's why we have laws.

It's arguing in bad faith to pretend there is nothing to be done about unsafe drivers or vehicles, or to pretend that only pedestrians are responsible for their own safety.

I would say that yes, at any given moment in time, the pedestrian is responsible for themselves if they want to stay safe. It's too late for any laws at that moment. You either notice the car isn't slowing down and avoid stepping out, or you do step out and hope for the best. Not a good way to stay alive.

No, all parties are responsible for traveling safely. If a vehicle wants to kill a pedestrian or bicyclist who is being careful, they can. It's very easy to do.

And it's not too late to discuss laws, because I'm not a pedestrian right now. Again, it's a bad faith argument to pretend we don't have time to discuss laws when we're not walking in traffic.

If someone wants to kill a pedestrian, that's murder. Everything else is an accident due to negligence. You can keep going in circles saying the car is driver is responsible for this and that, but that's just relying on hope that they adhere to it.

If you want to increase the odds of not dying as a pedestrian, you need to be on the lookout. End of story. I'm from the SF area. There is no shortage of people that walk with their heads down in their phone with headphones, whole crossing intersections. IMO, they are waiting to die.

>If you want to increase the odds of not dying as a pedestrian, you need to be on the lookout.

Nobody in this thread is disagreeing with this statement. Again, you are creating a false binary, where you seem to think either one party or the other is responsible for traveling safely. That is false. Walking alertly and safely improves a pedestrian's chances of being safe, but it does not guarantee their safety.

non sequitur? It's vehicle. He didn't break into song and dance about making sandwiches. By the way I just ate a sandwich.

And if a woman gets raped and then beaten to death its her fault because she was wearing sexy cloths.

And if someone leaves a laptop on the passenger seat of an open convertible parked downtown, it's their fault when it gets stolen.

Too bad that plenty of these "heavy stuffs" are driven by people who sometimes decide to drive into pedestrians.

but mostly peaceful from what I'm told and I do what I'm told

If you see a knife move away from it.

also awesome name by the way. That's a man that knows what a vehicle can do.

if it's moving towards you, yeah. Good advice.

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