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I ride a motorcycle and was involved in a collision a few months ago and I can attest to one thing from the article: "Your life will probably not be the same"

I ride a motorcycle and was involved in a collision a few months ago and I can attest to one thing from the article: "Your life will probably not be the same" I wasn't injured as badly as the author was but flying through the air and breaking bones hurts. Thing is, I only changed my perspective because I was forced to. I'm much more patient on the bike, and more alert too. People everywhere drive while distracted (eating, makeup, the phone, their computer!, putting clothes on) and now I have to assume they will attempt to murder me. Most drivers don't have to go through that. They literally forget that driving is inherently extremely dangerous because they have ever improving cages around them. I would say that the vast majority of drivers are grossly negligent on the road. Like other commenters mentioned, I've changed my language about vehicle collisions. I refuse to call them "accidents". Some may be, but "accident" implies that there's no fault. That nobody fucked up; but that's just not true in real life. People literally merge on top of me, while I'm __not__ lane-splitting at least 4-5 times a week. I consider almost any traffic death manslaughter, at least. If there's clear fault / distracted driving I consider it murder. It might be an extreme conclusion, but distracted driving is essentially saying "My trivial needs are more important than other motorists' lives." and it saddens me that our judicial system fails to adequately select for responsible driving.

pfisch 9y ago
When I move into an apartment I like to disable all the smoke detectors in the building and lock all the emergency exits. You know, I like to ride on the wild side, and I like to create the conditions for everyone else to be at risk of accidentally killing people. I consider anyone who starts the fire guilty of at least manslaughter though, and if they were distracted when it happened it is definitely murder. They literally forget that fire is inherently extremely dangerous with all their ever improving safety gear. So I like to keep it real and make sure that we don’t have it.
- dang 9y ago
  Would you please not post like this? I almost banned you, because https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15883519 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15883519 and other past comments also broke the guidelines, but you've posted plenty of civil, substantive comments as well. Please stick to those only. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
Steltek 9y ago
You ain't kidding. Winter bicycle riding is an eye opener: it's crystal clear how almost every driver has that small glowing rectangle in their hand or lap as you go by. I pity the motorcyclist commuters: all the same vulnerabilities as a pedal bike but without the growing safety focus (bike lanes, etc). I figure e-bikes will take over for those people soon enough.
- germinalphrase 9y ago
  I am somewhat skeptical about stop light cameras as a way to improve safety; however, I would be interested to know if we could automatically fine drivers who are caught on camera using their phones.
- wcarron 9y ago
  Yup. It drives me nuts that people are so selfish. I recently painted "Get off your phone, cunt" on my helmet. A little abrasive, but it gets the message across. Regarding e-bikes: Not a chance. You'll have to pry my v-twin out of my dead hands hahaha. I suspect many others feel the same way about their motorcycles too.
  - praneshp 9y ago
    > I recently painted "Get off your phone, cunt" on my helmet. Well all you're doing is pissing off the normal people. The cunts are too busy on their phone to read your helmet :)
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - wcarron 9y ago
      Eh, I'm sure they'll get over it. I mean, consider how often you hear people say they encountered an "asshole driver". The amount of "asshole drivers" I've encountered is well into the hundreds, but I forget about them soon after. I feel like they'll forget about me just the same way.
irrational 9y ago
What about mechanical breakdowns? Some of those are down to negligent maintenance, but sometimes stuff just breaks. Wouldn't those be considered accidents? For instance, I've seen a tire come off of a truck before and go rolling across the road. Maybe it was negligent maintenance, maybe it wasn't. But I acknowledge that there is a possibility that stuff happens that is nobody's fault.
- wcarron 9y ago
  Yes I understand that. From my comment: > __Some may be__, but "accident" implies that there's no fault. Those things do happen. For example, I recently saw a video where a big rig carrying cement crashed into a line of cars due to brake failure. But those are, I would guess, a small percentage of total collisions.
- sdfasfz 9y ago
  Mechanical breakdowns that cause an accident are extremely rare today. The technology in your breaks are amazing. If you can also still steer, you have everything you need. In the future-present however, with computers running everything, I wouldn't be surprised if this changed < break systems getting "confused" and over-ridding user input.
  - dsfyu404ed 9y ago
    This. Something like 6% of insurance claims (I forget where I read that). When you filter out all the ones without injury or property damage to anyone else's property it really isn't much at all.
netinstructions 9y ago
Makes me think of a recent incident in Seattle where an aggressive driver in a large truck sped up and passed intentionally close to a bicyclist to intimidate them (incredibly, incredibly dangerous). This happens frequently enough as any cyclist can attest, but it was special because it was caught on camera and shared with the police. The cyclist tried to report it as attempted murder (and even the former mayor of Seattle described it as such), but the police department said, "This looks like an inconsiderate/unsafe pass. An officer would typically need to witness a violation in-progress to be able to stop the driver & confirm their ID to issue a citation." Nevermind that there was clear video of the whole thing. About a month later a car hits and kills a cyclist and runs away. Who knows, maybe the driver was trying to do a non-prosecutable "inconsiderate/unsafe pass" that got a little too close. https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/10/12/25468300/this-video-shows-how-entitled-drivers-endanger-cyclists https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/10/12/25468300/this-vi... https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/bicyclist-dies-in-crash-in-sodo-police-say/ https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/bic...
- TaylorGood 9y ago
  In Orange County, on average one person a week dies from getting hit as a cyclist. Knowing that, it's the true road warriors who risk riding on the main roads. I use the beach boardwalk which is pedestrian only and it goes 30 miles roundtrip. That's plenty.
- nkrisc 9y ago
  What that driver did should be treated the same as pointing a gun at someone's head. It's a threat of death.
- poulsbohemian 9y ago
  In 2003 a work colleague and I were crossing 5th ave in Seattle headed to lunch. While legally crossing, multiple cars ran the red light, collided with each other, then struck her. It was truly a miracle that she lived; frankly her being significantly overweight was likely the only reason she was saved. I was very lucky to jump back out of the way and avoided being struck. That same year, there were two other car-pedestrian accidents at that same intersection with at least one involving the fatality of a German tourist. When I was called by the Seattle Police Department as a witness to the accident, they did everything they could to tell me that we had been jaywalking, rather than recognizing that no, multiple cars had in fact been speeding trying to make it through the already red light. Fuck the police. In reality, I'd say that my co-worker's life changed for the better. She lost a lot of weight, took up new activities, moved to the Bay Area, and had a new outlook. For me, having seen all of it in moving detail, I guaranteed it resulted in undiagnosed PTSD.
blacksmith_tb 9y ago
Agreed. Having been run over by a large truck while biking to work changed plenty of things for me. Aside from being the living example of the 'bus factor' on my team, convalescing was a huge change in the way I normally do things, not being able to bike, climb, play with my son, or even just tidy up was initially maddening, but ultimately valuable. Also knowing that the social contract is real, that first responders were there in five minutes to get me out from under the truck and to the hospital, surgeons managed to bolt most of me back together, and people from all walks of life were willing to help hold doors and so on for someone in a wheelchair. I'm back on the bike now, and I do feel much, much more conscious of how little it would take for someone driving distractedly again to take me out for good.
- wcarron 9y ago
  Glad to hear you've recovered and you're still riding. I agree. Every time I get on the bike I think to myself "someone could kill me this time". It definitely makes me more appreciative of my life and also more cognizant of my mortality.
nkrisc 9y ago
It is a bit extreme but I completely agree. If you're driving a car that has the capability to easily maim and kill (sometimes without even noticing!) then one must take responsibility for that power. It boggles the mind that someone would be willing to trade the life of a stranger to send a text message.
dionidium 9y ago
I was in a serious car accident when I was a young man -- both legs broken and, more severe, a shattered L3 vertebra -- and this rings true for me. It's a difficult feeling to relate, fully, but what basically happened afterward is that this previously abstract notion of a "car accident" irrevocably crystallized into something that actually can and does happen and so riding in a car with other people for whom this possibility remains abstract is now almost unbearable.
- wcarron 9y ago
  Sorry that befell you. Hope it hasn't unduly impacted your life. Indeed the possibility doesn't even occur to most people. It's gotten so bad that I will literally get out of a car if the driver picks up his or her phone.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
nicolashahn 9y ago
My rules for riding a motorcycle: 1. Everyone is trying to kill you. 2. Anyone who isn't actively trying to kill you cannot see you. 3. The day you forgo a piece of gear is the day you need it. So far a year of lane splitting in San Francisco and I'm collision-free.
- wcarron 9y ago
  Yeahhh I go by that, too. Except I only learned that post-collision.

pfisch 9y ago

When I move into an apartment I like to disable all the smoke detectors in the building and lock all the emergency exits. You know, I like to ride on the wild side, and I like to create the conditions for everyone else to be at risk of accidentally killing people. I consider anyone who starts the fire guilty of at least manslaughter though, and if they were distracted when it happened it is definitely murder. They literally forget that fire is inherently extremely dangerous with all their ever improving safety gear. So I like to keep it real and make sure that we don’t have it.

dang 9y ago
Would you please not post like this? I almost banned you, because https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15883519 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15883519 and other past comments also broke the guidelines, but you've posted plenty of civil, substantive comments as well. Please stick to those only. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Steltek 9y ago

You ain't kidding. Winter bicycle riding is an eye opener: it's crystal clear how almost every driver has that small glowing rectangle in their hand or lap as you go by. I pity the motorcyclist commuters: all the same vulnerabilities as a pedal bike but without the growing safety focus (bike lanes, etc). I figure e-bikes will take over for those people soon enough.

germinalphrase 9y ago
I am somewhat skeptical about stop light cameras as a way to improve safety; however, I would be interested to know if we could automatically fine drivers who are caught on camera using their phones.
wcarron 9y ago
Yup. It drives me nuts that people are so selfish. I recently painted "Get off your phone, cunt" on my helmet. A little abrasive, but it gets the message across. Regarding e-bikes: Not a chance. You'll have to pry my v-twin out of my dead hands hahaha. I suspect many others feel the same way about their motorcycles too.
- praneshp 9y ago
  > I recently painted "Get off your phone, cunt" on my helmet. Well all you're doing is pissing off the normal people. The cunts are too busy on their phone to read your helmet :)
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - wcarron 9y ago
    Eh, I'm sure they'll get over it. I mean, consider how often you hear people say they encountered an "asshole driver". The amount of "asshole drivers" I've encountered is well into the hundreds, but I forget about them soon after. I feel like they'll forget about me just the same way.

irrational 9y ago

What about mechanical breakdowns? Some of those are down to negligent maintenance, but sometimes stuff just breaks. Wouldn't those be considered accidents? For instance, I've seen a tire come off of a truck before and go rolling across the road. Maybe it was negligent maintenance, maybe it wasn't. But I acknowledge that there is a possibility that stuff happens that is nobody's fault.

wcarron 9y ago
Yes I understand that. From my comment: > __Some may be__, but "accident" implies that there's no fault. Those things do happen. For example, I recently saw a video where a big rig carrying cement crashed into a line of cars due to brake failure. But those are, I would guess, a small percentage of total collisions.
sdfasfz 9y ago
Mechanical breakdowns that cause an accident are extremely rare today. The technology in your breaks are amazing. If you can also still steer, you have everything you need. In the future-present however, with computers running everything, I wouldn't be surprised if this changed < break systems getting "confused" and over-ridding user input.
- dsfyu404ed 9y ago
  This. Something like 6% of insurance claims (I forget where I read that). When you filter out all the ones without injury or property damage to anyone else's property it really isn't much at all.

netinstructions 9y ago

Makes me think of a recent incident in Seattle where an aggressive driver in a large truck sped up and passed intentionally close to a bicyclist to intimidate them (incredibly, incredibly dangerous). This happens frequently enough as any cyclist can attest, but it was special because it was caught on camera and shared with the police. The cyclist tried to report it as attempted murder (and even the former mayor of Seattle described it as such), but the police department said, "This looks like an inconsiderate/unsafe pass. An officer would typically need to witness a violation in-progress to be able to stop the driver & confirm their ID to issue a citation." Nevermind that there was clear video of the whole thing. About a month later a car hits and kills a cyclist and runs away. Who knows, maybe the driver was trying to do a non-prosecutable "inconsiderate/unsafe pass" that got a little too close. https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/10/12/25468300/this-video-shows-how-entitled-drivers-endanger-cyclists https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/10/12/25468300/this-vi... https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/bicyclist-dies-in-crash-in-sodo-police-say/ https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/bic...

TaylorGood 9y ago
In Orange County, on average one person a week dies from getting hit as a cyclist. Knowing that, it's the true road warriors who risk riding on the main roads. I use the beach boardwalk which is pedestrian only and it goes 30 miles roundtrip. That's plenty.
nkrisc 9y ago
What that driver did should be treated the same as pointing a gun at someone's head. It's a threat of death.
poulsbohemian 9y ago
In 2003 a work colleague and I were crossing 5th ave in Seattle headed to lunch. While legally crossing, multiple cars ran the red light, collided with each other, then struck her. It was truly a miracle that she lived; frankly her being significantly overweight was likely the only reason she was saved. I was very lucky to jump back out of the way and avoided being struck. That same year, there were two other car-pedestrian accidents at that same intersection with at least one involving the fatality of a German tourist. When I was called by the Seattle Police Department as a witness to the accident, they did everything they could to tell me that we had been jaywalking, rather than recognizing that no, multiple cars had in fact been speeding trying to make it through the already red light. Fuck the police. In reality, I'd say that my co-worker's life changed for the better. She lost a lot of weight, took up new activities, moved to the Bay Area, and had a new outlook. For me, having seen all of it in moving detail, I guaranteed it resulted in undiagnosed PTSD.

blacksmith_tb 9y ago

Agreed. Having been run over by a large truck while biking to work changed plenty of things for me. Aside from being the living example of the 'bus factor' on my team, convalescing was a huge change in the way I normally do things, not being able to bike, climb, play with my son, or even just tidy up was initially maddening, but ultimately valuable. Also knowing that the social contract is real, that first responders were there in five minutes to get me out from under the truck and to the hospital, surgeons managed to bolt most of me back together, and people from all walks of life were willing to help hold doors and so on for someone in a wheelchair. I'm back on the bike now, and I do feel much, much more conscious of how little it would take for someone driving distractedly again to take me out for good.

wcarron 9y ago
Glad to hear you've recovered and you're still riding. I agree. Every time I get on the bike I think to myself "someone could kill me this time". It definitely makes me more appreciative of my life and also more cognizant of my mortality.

nkrisc 9y ago

It is a bit extreme but I completely agree. If you're driving a car that has the capability to easily maim and kill (sometimes without even noticing!) then one must take responsibility for that power. It boggles the mind that someone would be willing to trade the life of a stranger to send a text message.

dionidium 9y ago

I was in a serious car accident when I was a young man -- both legs broken and, more severe, a shattered L3 vertebra -- and this rings true for me. It's a difficult feeling to relate, fully, but what basically happened afterward is that this previously abstract notion of a "car accident" irrevocably crystallized into something that actually can and does happen and so riding in a car with other people for whom this possibility remains abstract is now almost unbearable.

wcarron 9y ago
Sorry that befell you. Hope it hasn't unduly impacted your life. Indeed the possibility doesn't even occur to most people. It's gotten so bad that I will literally get out of a car if the driver picks up his or her phone.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

nicolashahn 9y ago

My rules for riding a motorcycle: 1. Everyone is trying to kill you. 2. Anyone who isn't actively trying to kill you cannot see you. 3. The day you forgo a piece of gear is the day you need it. So far a year of lane splitting in San Francisco and I'm collision-free.

wcarron 9y ago
Yeahhh I go by that, too. Except I only learned that post-collision.