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Interview with GoCardless CEO Hiroki Takeuchi after paralyzing accident
- stretchwithme 9y agoI think we need to start designing our cities so that people walk and cycle on a level above the street, sort of like the Highline in NYC. And cars and trucks operate below that without pedestrians. That would make cycling a lot safer. Expensive to do for existing cities, but robotic construction may make it cheap enough to do in a few decades.
- TylerE 9y agoIt would be cheaper to just give all the cyclists self-driving cars.
- shuttlefan 9y agoCheaper perahps, but better long-term? Doubtful.
- TylerE 9y agoI don't want to live in a concrete jungle. Have you seen what two level roads are like? It's MISERABLE at street level, all shadow and columns.
- shuttlefan 9y agoWell I would counter that that would serve as a great incentive for people to prefer riding their bikes over driving — so that they can enjoy the sunshine. When you think about it though, chances are these raised roads will be much narrower than the roads themselves, as bikes require much less space than cars. So it won't be like a full ceiling on the roadway.
- jaggederest 9y agoYou don't raise the people, you drop the cars. Boring Company style - a sublevel for vehicle traffic.
- seanmcdirmid 9y agoAre there any good examples of that besides that one Paris district?
- notgood 9y agomaybe with the a bit of help from mirrors (reflecting the sun) the street level would look better.
- lmm 9y agoYou'd have to build 3x as many extra roads, because cars take up a lot more space than bicycles.
- gumby 9y agoHow about we deploy a few restricted lanes on some roads and only allow cars on those roads, and only in those lanes. Then the rest of the road can be used by people, with and without cycles.
- hkmurakami 9y agoAny experiments that explore ways to achieve vehicle and cyclist/pedestrian separation would be welcome for me. I'm both a cyclist [1] and driver, live in a very popular recreational cycling area, and fear for the very real possibility of vehicle to cyclist accidents on at least a weekly basis. [1] mostly former cyclist, as I probably have some PTSD from my near fatal vehicle to cyclist accident.
- zachkatz 9y agoJust curious, have you considered therapy for your crash? I'm in a similar situation and am wondering if therapy could help.
- hkmurakami 9y agoNot really. I've taken up running and swimming instead and am happy pursuing these two disciplines as like the people I train with. Even if the cycling anxiety is gone, the danger would still be there (and SV drivers are only getting more aggressive and hurried each year). I'm generally a risk averse person and I don't really miss cycling much, given my local road conditions. That being said I have been told by friends that behavioral cognitive therapy can be a big help.
- Symbiote 9y agoA cheaper option might be to cycle around the Netherlands on a holiday. But then you really won't want to cycle in the USA.
- herrschnapps 9y agoLondon tried exactly this post-WW2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_London_Pedway_Scheme https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_London_Pedway_Scheme
- tallanvor 9y agoAs a pedestrian, bicyclists are much more of a hazard to me than cars, and I want them as far from me as possible. Yes, cars are bigger, but in cities they are often moving more slowly, and drivers are much more aware of pedestrians. Bicyclists, by and large, are either ignorant or purposefully ignore traffic laws, run red lights, race down sidewalks, and in general create hazards for both pedestrians and drivers. The only major cities I've been to where the majority of bicyclists are decent and mostly obeying traffic laws are in Copenhagen and Amsterdam. Just to be clear, though, I have no clue what happened in this accident or whether anyone was actually at fault, so this comment shouldn't be meant to suggest that Takeuchi wasn't a law-abiding cyclist!
- andy_ppp 9y agoThis is a load of heresy and conjecture if ever I heard it. Here's the stats of deaths in the UK, for example (2006-2010). +--------------------------------------------+ | Year | Pedestrian deaths, hit by: | | | pedal cycle | car, pick-up or truck | |------+-------------------------------------| | 2006 | 3 | 233 | |------+-------------------------------------| | 2007 | 6 | 267 | |------+-------------------------------------| | 2008 | 3 | 247 | |------+-------------------------------------| | 2009 | 0 | 141 | |------+-------------------------------------| | 2010 | 2 | 123 | +--------------------------------------------+ More here: http://www.cyclinguk.org/campaigning/views-and-briefings/pedestrians http://www.cyclinguk.org/campaigning/views-and-briefings/ped... And here: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/uk_accident_statistics_for_pedes https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/uk_accident_statistic...
- dvdcxn 9y agoThis year there has been a lot of bad press for cyclists in the UK as one 20 year old biker hit and killed a lady. Lots of negative emotions and bad blood exposed, the court case got nationwide attention for weeks. However nobody seemed to realise the dissonance that whilst 1 cyclist caused death is the ultimate heresy, drivers kill people daily without us batting an eye. It's all a bit frustrating, I don't understand where this bias comes from - is it latent auto industry propaganda?
- pvarangot 9y agoI really hope than once we have the technology to robotically construct elevated cities, we have already solved most of the problems of people with reduced mobility with by some other means that let them integrate with standard-mobility society in a more seamless way.
- SeoxyS 9y agoUrban planning and design is hugely important; and I love seeing the few examples of interesting concepts around the world. A few I've noticed and visited recently: - Chicago: the 2- or 3-level streets around the riverfront are pretty awesome. Separating local traffic from through-traffic and commercial traffic. Loading docks and heavy traffic can all be hidden from view underground. - Amsterdam: as one of the most biking-friendly cities in the world; there are bike lanes everywhere. Bike lanes are separated from the road by parking lanes, and intersection also separate the bike lames from the road by giving them independent crosswalks with a raised curb for protection. The canals also allow everyone to enjoy a trip anywhere in the city center via boat. - Shanghai: the CBD's main buildings is connected via elevated walkways that go above the road. I think the future would have all car traffic underground or pedestrian and bike friendly on elevated walkways.
- codemac 9y agoI-480 is worst version of this where SF put the car traffic ABOVE the pedestrians. Happy every day I take a jog on the embarcadero that it's been demolished.
- cbhl 9y agoCities don't come out of nowhere, and demolishing a city block and rebuilding it disproportionately affects people of color. Yes, we need to make cities more accessible. But rather than discarding existing cities as un-accessible wastelands, it would be great (but harder!) to figure out how to retrofit existing buildings and sidewalks to be accessible.
- adrianN 9y agoWhat? Grayscale people don't live in city blocks anymore?
- donjoe 9y agoWhy not just simply ban cars from cities in general? Most of the cities in Europe at least have a great public transport setup. Just imagine how much space used by parked cars would be available to public again!
- chicago_wade 9y agoI've never been to the US but I've heard that "everything" is so far apart from each other that people need cars.
- grzm 9y ago> Why not just simply ban cars from cities in general? I think you're over-interpreting your parent. In some cities it is feasible to go without cars. There's a lot of space between cities and a lot of smaller cities and towns where that isn't feasible, at least not currently or without a lot of additional infrastructure.
- ekianjo 9y agoSome cities yes, and you can honestly count them on not too many hands for the ones which have adequate public transportation.
- misiti3780 9y agoi have lived in dc and NYC since 2007 and not owned a car
- barrkel 9y agoEven without any cars, delivery, trade, construction and transit vehicles add up to a significant fraction of current traffic in big European cities. You can't remove this traffic without functionally harming city life. London, where I live, has both congestion charging and emissions charging (ULEZ) but still has loads of traffic. I'd estimate about 75% of it is not private vehicles outside rush hour, and probably no more than 50% private during rush hour, in central areas. My estimates come from riding through it by motorcycle daily.
- PaulRobinson 9y agoThey tried this in Manchester, UK in the 1970s and 1980s near the University. It was a complete disaster.
- zimpenfish 9y agoTo be fair, most transport related things involving Manchester are a disaster - bus deregulation, the current smartcard debacle, etc.
- sleepychu 9y agoI don't think this is the first interview [1] but it's interesting. DSM is worth a listen if you've not heard it before. [1] - http://www.wnyc.org/story/death-sex-money-rachel-hiroki/ http://www.wnyc.org/story/death-sex-money-rachel-hiroki/
- mrspin 9y ago"the GoCardless CEO’s first with the technology or business press"
- andy-wu 9y agoThis is really incredible. I'm a quadriplegic student and you don't really see people in my position in tech, and definitely not in executive roles so this means a lot in terms of proving it's possible.
- SOLAR_FIELDS 9y agoSomewhat tangentially, the current governor of Texas is also paraplegic. I suppose if you place his politics aside since they are quite disagreeable to the typical HN reader you could probably find some inspiration in his success as a paraplegic in the political spectrum as well.
- jimbokun 9y agoInteresting how work can bea meaningful distraction after a crisis. Something meaningful to think about other than adjusting to life in a wheelchair, in this case.
- dvdhnt 9y ago> Delivered without sugar-coating and designed to manage expectations, the prognosis from doctors wasn’t good. The aim of surgery was to straighten Takeuchi’s spine and fix his posture, not to enable him to walk again. If during the procedure the doctors saw additional work that could be done, they would do it, but he shouldn’t allow himself to think that he would wake up and be walking. Wow. We are a community of people who enjoy the ability to dream and ask, "what if?" It's very difficult to turn that off and accept that the impossible is, in fact, impossible. That kind of realization can be, and almost would certainly be to me, defeating. Not for Hiroki - this guy is just wired differently. I wish him the best.
- PaulRobinson 9y agoAbout 5 years ago I was CTO'ing for a firm upstairs in the same building as GoCardless - both firms moved out of that abandoned shell in Finsbury Square around 3-4 months after I left, I believe. At the time they were focused entirely on validating direct debit payments were something people wanted to do online (they do), and we were figuring out how to move private jets around Europe (long story). I only met Hiroki briefly, my main interactions were with others there. They seemed like a committed and focused group, determined to build something of value. I have some empathy for some of this story: I couldn't walk in April of this year and had to have surgery to remove an abscess that caused some quite nasty neuropathy. It happened quite quickly - over a couple of weeks, not a car crash speed, at least. And I was treated by Imperial down in Hammersmith, the same trust who I believe run St Mary's. Whilst my prognosis was not quite as dramatic - I was told that walking again was "a nice side effect we see in 70%-80% of people in this sort of case" - I was prepared to be in a wheelchair the rest of my life. I told my GF that if she couldn't handle that, I'd understand. The silly cow didn't take her chance... :-) That moment when you wake up in recovery, try and move your toes and realise nothing has really changed: pretty devastating. I was lucky. Physiotherapy and time have contributed to me walking pretty well with a stick, and that might go soon. My spinal injury was no more than a compression, in which the nerves will over time regrow mostly - unlike Hiroki's which sounds more like a shear. I can also empathise with the desire to get through physiotherapy quickly: whilst I still receive weekly physiotherapy sessions (I have one in a couple of hours, actually), I wanted to get off the inpatient unit ASAP: the normal stay was 3-4 months for my sort of case. I got done in 5 weeks. I've heard stories of people being there for years. Also, being pushed around is stupid. I agree with him on that. My girlfriend, bless her, she did well. But never again. And yes, it does all make you rethink everything you are and do and value in life, and in some ways accidents like this can be blessings in disguise. I suspect he will now be more focused and determined to do the big things in life that you dream about but never act on: I know I have become so since leaving hospital. No more sitting around watching Netflix every night for me... I might be lucky in that I can walk again - and 6 months from now you'll never know I went through anything like I have - but I'll always have a certain appreciation for life that only people who have been through something that traumatic can share. Good luck to him, and to the rest of the GC guys - they're all going to be fine.
- Baltoli 9y agoI did an internship at GoCardless last summer - Hiroki is an excellent leader and I'm not surprised to see him bounce back in such an inspiring way
- zeristor 9y agoThe 2012 Paralympic Games London were a huge triumph. However London doesn't seem innately supportive to people in wheelchair users, I hardly ever see them in central London, and not at the many Meetups I attend; which I believe is a loss for us all. The new Crossrail Line is being built with wheelchair access in mind, so hopefully it just won't be the tough as nuts, extrovert wheel chair users who can surmount getting into London. Smaller towns may be easier to get into, but they probably don't have the critical mass, and events. Which is the best large city for wheel chair users?