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Comment by illwrks | Hacker News Reader

Pedestrian safety is already accounted for in a cars exterior design (American cars and ‘trucks’ being the exception). Most of pedestrian safety is about pedestrian awareness.

I can only speak for myself but when I’m driving, cycling or walking I’m always on the alert for idiots, there are plenty around. In almost all contexts it is people distracted by music and phones and are not paying attention to their surroundings.

And I think cyclists who don’t already have a driving license should have to do a basic provisional theory test. It’s for their own safety to understand the rules of the road.

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The "rules of the road" argument here assumes that giving up huge amounts of public space for car infrastructure is inevitable and right, and that it's the fault of people walking or riding bikes if they get injured or killed since the system is not built for them.

Roads in the US are designed almost entirely around the speed and convenience of cars, and don't account for the externalities they impose on everyone else. As cars get larger and more dangerous, and as drivers get more careless, the cost borne by society is only going up. Asking people walking and riding bikes to be even more extra careful not to get killed is not the right solution. Changing the design of our roads and public spaces to make them safer for everyone is.

Sorry, I’m speaking from a European perspective (UK/London).

When driving I’ve had idiots on e-scooters dressed in black with no lights zooming towards me on a one way street at night, I’ve had people walk out in front of me when distracted by their phones. When cycling I’ve often seen other casual cyclists with headphones on, in their own dreamland, no helmet either, and I’ve seen the same when walking about. People are too careless and distracted thinking others are going to look out for them, everyone needs to pay more attention.

I just walked a mile in Los Angeles for lunch.

I had the following near misses where I would have died or been severely injured if I hadn't been alert: a Tesla coming out of an alley (driver was on his phone, never saw me), old diesel Mercedes running a stop sign (couldn't see the driver), a Ford F150 in a parking lot (guy was fixated on a spot that just opened up).

This does not include the woman in the Lexus who intentionally crawled up on me because I had the temerity to be in the crosswalk when she wanted to be someplace.

They should be charged with dangerous driving, but unfortunately won't be. Had you been distracted you might be in the hospital with a serious injury.

Stay safe!

A simple "what color is this traffic light?" test would go a long way towards saving cyclist lives thats for sure, but when you're that exposed to 4,000lbs vehicles moving at ~50+ MPH operated by people who took at best, 8 hours of instruction from their health class teacher, well, a lot of the issues you run into are not going to be your fault.

That's a fair point. My context is London England which can be dangerous if cycling on roads, but in most instances traffic is so congested and there are specific cycle paths and routes. From reading some of the other posts, it sounds like distraction is a major issue regardless of the mode of transport.

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