A follow up to New York Times article Is it OK to Kill Cyclists and to comments I sometimes see from people implying that cyclists are basically asking to be hit by being stupid on the road. Yes theyre being a**hats and they annoy me too, but as drivers we still need to realize we are driving multi-ton machines capable of mashing limbs. This all applies to how we should view pedestrian safety too. From the article comparing the US to the Netherlands: This regulatory regime places an extra burden on drivers. That burden can be summed up as follows: before you turn, you have to check carefully in the mirror to see whether theres a cyclist there. Thats it. When you are driving in the Netherlands, you have to be more careful than you would when driving in America. Does this result in rampant injustice to drivers when accidents occur? No. It results in far fewer accidents. As the ANWB says, some drivers may think the liability treatment gives cyclists a blank check to ignore the rules. But a cyclist is not going to deliberately ride through a red light thinking: I wont have to pay the damages anyway. He is more likely to be influenced by the risk that he will land in the hospital.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 19:49:03 +0000
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