4 ms·

Bikes/electric bikes seem like a good idea until sadly, one bad incident with a reckless driver. I'd absolutely bike/ebike in SF if not for the continuous stori

Bikes/electric bikes seem like a good idea until sadly, one bad incident with a reckless driver. I'd absolutely bike/ebike in SF if not for the continuous stories of friends and friends of friends getting hit, getting run off the road, or having close calls. Bay Area drivers are much more agrressive and hurried and distracted than a decade ago and I am concerned for my fellow cyclists and pedestrians. (My friend almost got hit last week in downtown MV in the crosswalk when a car ran a red. In downtown! And we were at the other side of the intersection)

Kluny 10y ago
Vote for bike lanes, traffic calming, traffic violation enforcement, and cities built for humans instead of cars, whenever you can.
DrScump 10y ago
I've never seen specific enforcement of crosswalk rights-of-way in the Bay Area, despite it being such a target-rich environment. The crosswalks across Castro (Mountain View's "Main St.") are generally observed, probably because they are numerous. In contrast, crosswalks across El Camino not at traffic lights are death traps (like just West of Halford, where there was a fatality a month or two ago).
- hkmurakami 10y ago
  I had no idea non traffic light cross walks even existed on el Camino! (I generally consider el camino to be a death trap overall)
amelius 10y ago
And you might get "doored" [1]. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12674533 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12674533
amagumori 10y ago
as a working bike messenger, there's so much i could say about this, but i'll keep it to one thing. PROCEED AS THOUGH YOU ARE INVISIBLE TO CARS, AND YOU'LL BE FINE. postscript: IF YOU MAKE EYE CONTACT WITH THE CAR DRIVER, THEY'LL RECOGNIZE YOUR HUMANITY, AND WILL BE LESS LIKELY TO KILL YOU.
- icc97 10y ago
  > Make eye contact with the car driver Yes, definitely, I did this at every traffic light I came to in London after someone told me this.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - clort 10y ago
    I don't know about 'recognizing my humanity' but making eye contact with other drivers is a very good way to verify that they have seen you. I cross a mini-roundabout on my commute to work, and it is surprising the number of drivers who have not seen me because I am obscured by the strut at the corner of their windscreen, or they are looking elsewhere. I don't ride in front of a vehicle until I think they have seen me.
- Neliquat 10y ago
  As a motorcyclist, listen to this guy... and I'll add one more: If you are wondering if the motorist you are observing is dumb enough to do that thing you suspect they may do in the face of logic and physics, they are. Assume the worst, always have a path out. And smile. Its worth the extra dilligence to have fun with it.
- NoGravitas 10y ago
  I prefer Neal Stephenson's advice in Zodiac: proceed as though all drivers can see you AND ARE TRYING TO KILL YOU.
  - kbart 10y ago
    That's the best advice for both bicyclists and motorcyclists. As for regular motorcycle commuter, "the next driver is a psycho who's trying to kill you" attitude along with "stay out of the blind spots"[0] saved me more than once (or more likely, does few times a week). 0. http://www.bike.bikegremlin.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/car_blid-spot-mrtav_ugao.jpg http://www.bike.bikegremlin.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/c...
icantdrive55 10y ago
You're completely right about the Bay Area. 1. We need more bike lanes. Sensible lanes. They don't need to be huge. 2. We need to allow bikes on the shoulders of highways. (Got a ticket as a kid) 3. Personally, although I hate regulations, I would like to see all public buildings, and any new, or remodeled commercial buildings be required to provide showers for all employees whom bike to work. They would get an extra 10 minutes before clocking in. 4. Ride a mountian bike in the city. Don't ride a road bike, unless you're very skilled. I've seen so many guys go down. Bike messengers never seem to get hit, or have much trouble, but they are professional bikers--sorry, but they are, and I know some drive crazy. 5. Give a state credit to all employees whom bike to work. (I don't know how you could verify it.) 6. I put my bike in my truck, and drive to San Fransisco daily. I try to park for free, and bike from there. I only use old bikes. The nice ones are stolen. It's not great, but you get used to the routine. Oh yea, since there a huge problem with cvechicles break-ins, take every thing of value out of the vechicle. Open the glove compartment. Put a kill switch in vechicle. And pray your vechicle is there when you get back. I sometimes leave the door open--just too many broken windows for a radio.
- wishinghand 10y ago
  What's the reasoning on riding a mountain bike in your point number 4?
  - akgerber 10y ago
    Any bike with wide tires is a good idea for urban riding, which fortunately includes many road bikes (or so-called 'gravel bikes') these days.
ChefDenominator 10y ago
At least on the South Bay, I think that drivers are more impatient because the cities have failed to do anything real to improve traffic. They focus on highly visible things, like a new overpass or adding a lane to an onramp, or something of this nature. Then they'll spend something like $1 billion on a new library or town hall or $100 million on a rec center or whatever. Meanwhile, the actual road infrastructure cannot support the incredible increase on net new job creation. This makes for traffic jams, everywhere, so people become impatient and increases the number of irrational decisions they make. I live in the hills, several miles down a very narrow, curvy country road. Nobody goes less than 10 mph above the speed limit, which is genuinely unsafe on this road. They do it because traffic is much lighter than the rest of their commute, and they just want to get home. Of course, they're only shaving somewhere around 28 seconds of travel time off of their total commute while increasing the probability of a deadly encounter with a hapless bicyclist who ignorantly thinks they are riding on a quiet, back-country road. I am quite certain that the cost of adding a separate bicycle/pedestrian path is quite high, as it would require bulldozing parts of moderate sized hills, and compared with the fanfare of a new police station or city hall, a new bicycle lane for some back road just doesn't compare. However, knowing the residents of this back road and the town in general, I'm quite certain such a path would generate a lot of real use and potentially save lives. But I'm quite certain this kind of project will not hapen in my lifetime.
- Kluny 10y ago
  You honestly have more power to make this happen than you think you do. Write a petition, see whether you can find any people who think it's a good idea, go to a town hall with your evidence, call a contracting company to ask how much the path would cost/how long it would take, and try to get it into the next municipal budget. You CAN do it. It's been done.

Kluny 10y ago

Vote for bike lanes, traffic calming, traffic violation enforcement, and cities built for humans instead of cars, whenever you can.

DrScump 10y ago

I've never seen specific enforcement of crosswalk rights-of-way in the Bay Area, despite it being such a target-rich environment. The crosswalks across Castro (Mountain View's "Main St.") are generally observed, probably because they are numerous. In contrast, crosswalks across El Camino not at traffic lights are death traps (like just West of Halford, where there was a fatality a month or two ago).

hkmurakami 10y ago
I had no idea non traffic light cross walks even existed on el Camino! (I generally consider el camino to be a death trap overall)

amelius 10y ago

And you might get "doored" [1]. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12674533 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12674533

amagumori 10y ago

as a working bike messenger, there's so much i could say about this, but i'll keep it to one thing. PROCEED AS THOUGH YOU ARE INVISIBLE TO CARS, AND YOU'LL BE FINE. postscript: IF YOU MAKE EYE CONTACT WITH THE CAR DRIVER, THEY'LL RECOGNIZE YOUR HUMANITY, AND WILL BE LESS LIKELY TO KILL YOU.

icc97 10y ago
> Make eye contact with the car driver Yes, definitely, I did this at every traffic light I came to in London after someone told me this.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- clort 10y ago
  I don't know about 'recognizing my humanity' but making eye contact with other drivers is a very good way to verify that they have seen you. I cross a mini-roundabout on my commute to work, and it is surprising the number of drivers who have not seen me because I am obscured by the strut at the corner of their windscreen, or they are looking elsewhere. I don't ride in front of a vehicle until I think they have seen me.
Neliquat 10y ago
As a motorcyclist, listen to this guy... and I'll add one more: If you are wondering if the motorist you are observing is dumb enough to do that thing you suspect they may do in the face of logic and physics, they are. Assume the worst, always have a path out. And smile. Its worth the extra dilligence to have fun with it.
NoGravitas 10y ago
I prefer Neal Stephenson's advice in Zodiac: proceed as though all drivers can see you AND ARE TRYING TO KILL YOU.
- kbart 10y ago
  That's the best advice for both bicyclists and motorcyclists. As for regular motorcycle commuter, "the next driver is a psycho who's trying to kill you" attitude along with "stay out of the blind spots"[0] saved me more than once (or more likely, does few times a week). 0. http://www.bike.bikegremlin.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/car_blid-spot-mrtav_ugao.jpg http://www.bike.bikegremlin.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/c...

icantdrive55 10y ago

You're completely right about the Bay Area. 1. We need more bike lanes. Sensible lanes. They don't need to be huge. 2. We need to allow bikes on the shoulders of highways. (Got a ticket as a kid) 3. Personally, although I hate regulations, I would like to see all public buildings, and any new, or remodeled commercial buildings be required to provide showers for all employees whom bike to work. They would get an extra 10 minutes before clocking in. 4. Ride a mountian bike in the city. Don't ride a road bike, unless you're very skilled. I've seen so many guys go down. Bike messengers never seem to get hit, or have much trouble, but they are professional bikers--sorry, but they are, and I know some drive crazy. 5. Give a state credit to all employees whom bike to work. (I don't know how you could verify it.) 6. I put my bike in my truck, and drive to San Fransisco daily. I try to park for free, and bike from there. I only use old bikes. The nice ones are stolen. It's not great, but you get used to the routine. Oh yea, since there a huge problem with cvechicles break-ins, take every thing of value out of the vechicle. Open the glove compartment. Put a kill switch in vechicle. And pray your vechicle is there when you get back. I sometimes leave the door open--just too many broken windows for a radio.

wishinghand 10y ago
What's the reasoning on riding a mountain bike in your point number 4?
- akgerber 10y ago
  Any bike with wide tires is a good idea for urban riding, which fortunately includes many road bikes (or so-called 'gravel bikes') these days.

ChefDenominator 10y ago

At least on the South Bay, I think that drivers are more impatient because the cities have failed to do anything real to improve traffic. They focus on highly visible things, like a new overpass or adding a lane to an onramp, or something of this nature. Then they'll spend something like $1 billion on a new library or town hall or $100 million on a rec center or whatever. Meanwhile, the actual road infrastructure cannot support the incredible increase on net new job creation. This makes for traffic jams, everywhere, so people become impatient and increases the number of irrational decisions they make. I live in the hills, several miles down a very narrow, curvy country road. Nobody goes less than 10 mph above the speed limit, which is genuinely unsafe on this road. They do it because traffic is much lighter than the rest of their commute, and they just want to get home. Of course, they're only shaving somewhere around 28 seconds of travel time off of their total commute while increasing the probability of a deadly encounter with a hapless bicyclist who ignorantly thinks they are riding on a quiet, back-country road. I am quite certain that the cost of adding a separate bicycle/pedestrian path is quite high, as it would require bulldozing parts of moderate sized hills, and compared with the fanfare of a new police station or city hall, a new bicycle lane for some back road just doesn't compare. However, knowing the residents of this back road and the town in general, I'm quite certain such a path would generate a lot of real use and potentially save lives. But I'm quite certain this kind of project will not hapen in my lifetime.

Kluny 10y ago
You honestly have more power to make this happen than you think you do. Write a petition, see whether you can find any people who think it's a good idea, go to a town hall with your evidence, call a contracting company to ask how much the path would cost/how long it would take, and try to get it into the next municipal budget. You CAN do it. It's been done.