Bicycle safety rant

[longneckone]

Jogger, 60, struck by car on Route 1 | Cape Gazette

With all the beautiful trails in the area why jog on RT 1??

[seanlax]

Originally Posted by longneckone

Jogger, 60, struck by car on Route 1 | Cape Gazette

With all the beautiful trails in the area why jog on RT 1??

To get to/from said trails. Look I wouldn't do it, but I see it all the time.

[nuts2uiam]

Originally Posted by seanlax

It creates incredibly dangerous situations in Ocean City along coastal highway. Granted, there aren't any places in Delaware that are a congested with mixed traffic the way Coastal can be in July, but bikes on sidewalks are unexpected. Drivers expect those on sidewalks to move slowly, and those in the roadway to move faster. And I don't have any confidence in cyclists to be able to avoid pedestrians. Add in massive road signs, power line poles, curb cuts... its frankly the least safe solution for cyclists.

I would take a power line pole over a 3000 pound moving car any day though, but Personally I would stay on the sidewalk.

[suzy_q2010]

Originally Posted by smarino

Don't get too hung up on statistics though. In every state that went to mandatory helmets for motorcyclists, the motorcycle fatality rate went up. In every state that increased their speed limits above 55 mph, the traffic fatalities went down. When people have a false sense of security due to some safety device or another, they drive more recklessly, and when the speed limit is increased people are more aware of the danger of driving fast and become more cautious. It's all sort of counter intuitive to how we think it should play out, but there it is.

Nope. Universal helmet laws save lives (and money).

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6123a1.html

"Helmet use is estimated to prevent 37% of fatalities among motorcycle operators and 41% of fatalities among passengers."

And nope.

Higher speed limits lead to more deaths

"Not surprisingly, Institute researchers found that travel speeds increased following the repeal of the National Maximum Speed Limit (see Status Report special issue: speed, Jan. 31, 2008). They also found that fatalities went up, first on rural interstates with the law's partial repeal and later on all interstates after the full repeal ..."

"Farmer looked at deaths per billion miles traveled by state and roadway type. Taking into account other factors that affected the fatality rate — including changes in unemployment, the number of potential young drivers (ages 16-24) and per capita alcohol consumption — he found that each 5 mph increase in the maximum speed limit resulted in a 4 percent increase in fatalities. The increase on interstates and freeways, the roads most affected by state maximums, was 8 percent."

[EnjoyEveryDay]

Driving southbound on Route 1 tonight about 8 p.m. (dark), I saw a bicycle traveling northbound in the far right lane. Dark clothing, no reflective material on bike or clothes, and one little weak headlight that flickered softly. I said a prayer for this person, hope they made it to their destination without incident.

[nuts2uiam]

Originally Posted by EnjoyEveryDay

Driving southbound on Route 1 tonight about 8 p.m. (dark), I saw a bicycle traveling northbound in the far right lane. Dark clothing, no reflective material on bike or clothes, and one little weak headlight that flickered softly. I said a prayer for this person, hope they made it to their destination without incident.

EED, my only response is that no matter how hard we try, no matter how much people care......Ya can't fix stupid.