[4644] in Depressing_Thoughts
Re: Drivers are human...
cfields@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (cfields@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Sat Aug 20 16:29:37 1994
tiuzzol writes:
> This isn't exactly the same, but...
Yeah, not really at all. I wasn't in his path, and I was staying out
of it even as he strayed in my direction. The similarity is in the
surprise, I think. He was just startled when he finally saw me,
presumably very close to him, probably "out of nowhere" to him.
> But I was really shaken up
Yeah, he was too, and I understand that. I would be too.
rnewman writes:
> To me, that means that you should be travelling with traffic, not
> against it, even if that means that you need to skate out away from
> the curb a bit.
On that part of Vassar (going from Mem. Drive to Mass. Ave.), I'd
effectively be occupying the entire lane; it's very narrow, and not
skatable close to the curb. Also, skating takes at least twice the
space that biking does.
tytso writes:
> Maybe; but that means that you now have to trust the car to see you, as
> opposed letting the responsibility for seing the car to be yours, so
> that you can get out of the way.
Definitely. I have very little in the way of trust for cars around
here. I've been screwed skating with traffic, but not against.
rlk writes:
> I won't speak for roller blading, but statistically it's extremely rare for
> a cyclist to be hit from behind.
I haven't a clue on this either. But again, skaters are wider, which I
imagine would affect the statistics.
> Most cycling accidents happen during turning maneuvers of one kind or
> another
Whose? The cyclist's turning or the motorist's turning?
> Riding against traffic means that you have a very fast closing speed with
> oncoming vehicles, and they aren't expecting that. You have much less time
> to get out of the way, and pedestrians won't be watching for you coming the
> wrong way.
If you're doing this, you should be paying enough attention for
everyone and always be prepared to stop. Doing it in the first place
is arguably rude, but doing it and not paying sufficient attention and
expecting other people to is both rude and dangerous.
But many pedestrians won't be watching for you coming the right way
either. You have to watch them all no matter what you're doing.
> If motor traffic on Vassar St. is doing 25 MPH, and you're doing
> 15, the closing speed is 40 MPH if you're going the wrong way, and 10 if
> you're going the right way. Makes it a lot easier for people to stay out of
> each others' way.
It makes it easier for motorists to avoid you if they don't notice you
until they're close, yes. But it's much easier for me to avoid
motorists when I don't have to keep looking back to see where they are
and whether they see me or not. I can easily watch them from a long
way, so I have lots of time even closing at 50MPH. (Traffic is just as
likely to be doing 35 as 25.) And I don't have to trust traffic really
at all that way.
It also costs a lot to look backwards, because random junk in the road
is more likely to take you out on skates than on a bike.
