Hello rruff and All,
rruff writes in part: The one that hits you is very likely to have not seen you. (or after hitting you ..... 'say' they did not see you)
The following is evidence that humans driving a motor vehicle are not very reliable to share a lane with a humans on a bicycle.
Using DOT crash data to count the dead and injured ...... rules of the road work much better for motorists than cyclists .... few, if any motorists are killed in a crash with a human on a bicycle. Motorists usually get off with little penalty and have little skin in the game.
With regard to 'rules of the road' ..... humans on bicycles need to be of the same mindset as when Blanche Dubois states from 'Streetcar Named Desire':
"
Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." .... when considering other humans driving motor vehicles .... especially those driving up behind the humans on bicycles.
(Poor Blanche says this line to the doctor about to cart her off to the mental institution after she's been raped by Stanley. Blanche is dependent, yes...but on kindness? We don't think so.)
The following is from
https://bikinginla.com/ a good source for biking info .... and keep in mind the distracted information below is self reported ... the acutal number of distracted drivers could be much higher.
https://www.prnewswire.com/...wheel-300823110.html Excerpt:
[LOS ANGELES, April 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- A new distracted driving survey from the Automobile Club of Southern California shows 10 percent of adult drivers say they always or frequently use their smartphone while driving, even though it is against the law. The new study also finds drivers who are significantly more likely to drive 'intexticated' are between 25 to 39 years old and/or those who send and receive more than 50 text messages per day on their smartphones.
The Auto Club survey, conducted in February with more than 400 Southern California drivers, also revealed:
- Nearly half (46 percent) of those who admit to driving 'intexticated' do so for navigation.
- Other popular reasons cited for using smartphones behind the wheel included searching for audio or music, believing that someone required a quick response, and feeling more productive.
- Ten percent of those surveyed say they have been involved in a crash in the last five years in which they believe distraction played a role.
- Drivers surveyed said they were most likely to drive while 'intexticated' when they were alone in the car.
- 46 percent admit to driving 'intexticated' at least once.
The survey is part of the Auto Club's "Don't Drive Intoxicated. Don't Drive Intexticated." initiative.]
What do you think?
Cheers, Neal
+1 mph Faster