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Comment by radlad | Hacker News Reader

Freeway driving tends to be the safest driving, in any vehicle. This is because speed deltas are typically low, and there are no cross-streets or stopping.

https://safetrec.berkeley.edu/2023-safetrec-traffic-safety-f... (Ctrl+F "Crash Location of Motorcycle Fatal Crashes")

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I think the confusion may be that you commented on freeway safety, whereas the comment you replied to discussed highway safety. Freeways are limited access highways; not all highways are freeways.

That's a regional difference in terms. I would generally call a limited access highway, a "highway".

https://brilliantmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/big-fast-road.j...

'Freeway' is a regional term, but the Federal Highway Administration describes them as limited-access with directions of travel separated by a barrier.

https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/processes/statewide/relate...

The Federal definition of highway is basically any public road.

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/chapter-I/subchapter-D...

Yes and I believe when OP said highway they meant it colloquially, as in a freeway, hence using that term in my reply. A highway wouldn't really make sense since it encompasses just about every road, as you say.

Limited vs controlled access.

Nobody is cycling on either unless there's dedicated infra anywhere even the slightest bit urban. In rural areas cycling on a limited access road is generally "fine"

Complex thing to analyze, no?

Most Americans use freeways, and most do not use motorcycles. It's always hard to compare a rare thing to a common thing, it always has surprising problems. It's like when people on Reddit worry about radon in their basement, but the incidence rate of whatever cancer it was associated with is so low anyway.

What about agency? "Don't worry about kids choking on Legos, kids don't die from choking on Legos" - but that's because parents well informed and really vigilant about it, compared to say batteries. Motor riders avoid freeways.

I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at. There are plenty of statistics available showing that freeway driving is the safest driving vehicles do. There's not as much available for motorcycles specifically, which is why I dug up a relevant link and shared it. It seems to hold true for MCs too (and I have no reason to suspect it wouldn't.)

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