5 ms·
It sometimes is, and often should be. However! The one cyclist I have been centimeters from killing or causing grievous bodily harm ought not to have counted a
by interfixus 9y ago
It sometimes is, and often should be.
However! The one cyclist I have been centimeters from killing or causing grievous bodily harm ought not to have counted against me, even had I been a tad less dexterous with brakes and steering. Some young woman, ears plugged into some iDevice, running a red light at full speed. Not joking about the centimeters. She would have been toast under the Toyota HiAce I was driving.
The girl continued, apparently without even registering the close scrape she just had. I chased her down and delivered the shit sermon of the century. She appeared non-comprehending and utterly indifferent.
Not claiming this to be typical cyclist behavior, but alas, it's not all that uncommon either.
I am a sometime truck driver, and believe me, I know the terror of crowded city traffic, right turns, and cyclists. Some drivers are squarely to blame when the shit hit the fan, or the front wheel the cyclist, but some are most certainly not, and may suffer undeservedly for the rest of their lives.
No, I am not reckless. I have done an awful lot of professionel driving, and haven't had an accident since 1983 when someone from a sideroad disregarded a stop sign.
By the way, I am in full favour of also potentially criminalising hitting an animal. Most roadkills would be easily avoided, if people would just pay some goddamn attention to driving while driving.
- goda90 9y agoI think criminalizing hitting an animal is a terrible idea. Pedestrians, other drivers, and cyclists can be unpredictable, but more often than not they are within a certain range of expected behavior. Not so with animals. Driving late evening, with high beams on, no one else on the straight road, and right around the speed limit, I came upon a large herd of deer. I slowed down and kept a close eye on them. A small group decided to go from standing to running literally as I was passing them, and one grazed my right rear door with its butt as it did a 180 next to my car. They are not predictable and no amount of attention would prevent that. That's not mentioning the small animals that can be very hard to see.
- interfixus 9y agoI know it's tricky. Nevertheless, it's our damn duty to keep our eyes on the road - at all times. Living far out in the countryside, I see a lot of roadkill, deer included, but have yet to hit an animal, even though I leave home every morning long before daybreak. Cats and hedgehogs really are avoidable by any competent driver.
- Coincoin 9y agoCats? Are you kidding? I love cats but I swear those fuckers wait for a car to be there before they cross the street.
- interfixus 9y agoThey do. I have had some real close encounters. That's why drivers need their focus on the road ahead at all times, all the time. Not on phones or radios or views or passengers. On the road.