What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country?

Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by lmm on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @02:35AM (#27890698)

> I know things in America are different, but as a lifelong pedestrian who owned a car for less than 2 years and walks all the time, I was endangered by reckless cyclists more often than by reckless drivers.

Bullshit. You notice reckless cyclists more because they're more unusual, that's all. The statistics for the rate at which pedestrians are killed or seriously injured show that it's overwhelmingly drivers who are putting you in danger.

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by adrianN on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @04:16AM (#27891171)

I cycle almost exclusively. I don't think reckless cyclists are more unusual that reckless drivers. I'd guess the fraction of reckless cyclists is about the same as the fraction of reckless drivers. However since cyclists and pedestrians are often forced to share space, pedestrians notice the cyclists more often.

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by inglor_cz on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @05:00AM (#27891441)

"However since cyclists and pedestrians are often forced to share space, pedestrians notice the cyclists more often."

That is it.

When you walk regularly, you find paths from A to B that minimize your contact with cars to a level crossing or two. (Might be different in the countryside or in cities whose walkability is poor). So your chance of getting hit by a car are fairly low and you only really need to pay attention when you cross the street. For the rest of the time, you can afford to daydream or wander in thoughts a bit.

Once people learn to ride their bikes on pavements, it means the need for constant vigilance.

Biking needs its own infrastructure, separate from both pedestrians and cars. The needs and speeds are just different.

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by themaninthedark on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @07:01AM (#27892246)

No, I notice bicyclists more because when they do reckless things because I am an attentive driver who makes sure he is not endangering others.

Bicyclists often have this view that they are above traffic laws and break them: >he will start riding on the pavement in places that are absolutely unsuitable for that, or on hiking trails that are absolutely unsuitable for that.

In my state, cars and bikes share the road and have to follow the same laws.

There is a stop sign at the bottom of a hill near my house, I have never seen a car drive through it, plenty of bike don't stop.

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by zip1234 on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @09:06AM (#27893222)

People in general are bad at driving and the potential for harm is much higher in a car than a bike due to the kinetic energy involved. Read about how complicated human visual perception is, how cognition changes at the slightest distraction, and how our 'clear' mental picture is often more interpolated than it is real. I mean, there are 6 million car crashes every year in the United States alone.

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by lmm on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @08:29PM (#27900912)

Which state is that? I don't think any state applies exactly the same rules to cyclists and motorists, and many states have a law that cyclists may treat stops as yields.

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