beng1

Since I began driving over 40 years ago I have noticed that it is normal for automobile drivers to be impatient and stupid. In fact it has nothing to do with them driving at all, in general humans are impatient and stupid no matter what they are doing. Stupid is a relative word, the IQ of most of the population is average, that is the definition of average, what the most common state or number for a phenomenon is assigned to it. For humans average is not cutting it as the planet's ecosystem is devastated, multiple wars have raged since 1945 continuously, and tens of thousands dying in automobile accidents each year in just the USA alone, let alone the rest of the planet. So dying in automobile accidents is actually normal and accepted, an acceptable loss for the convenience of the transportation it provides. Also statistically an average number of bicyclists die each year either by being run down by larger vehicles, or finding ways to accomplish the feat entirely on their own, and that is also accepted as neither driving automobiles or riding bicycles on public roads has stopped.

I know the risks involved driving an automobile, a motorcycle or bicycle on public roadways, I know it may kill me someday, and so may cancer, heart-disease, a gunshot etc. I am okay with all of that. I plan on continuing to drive, motorcycle, bicycle, grill a few cheesburgers each year and keep my father's old Winchester Model 94 handy, because the enjoyment I get out of them offsets the risk I perceive in them. And because it appears most are also keeping the same items and activities in their repertoire, it looks like most think the same way.

downtube42

I think humans are incapable of safely operating motor vehicles. They (we) are not emotionally stable enough or rational enough, and do not have a functional understanding of risk.

We can only run sustainably at around 15 mph; I tend to think we can only assess risk at or below that speed.

rsbob 

And if there are no bike paths in your area, then what?

urbanknight

This is why I don't judge cyclists when they edge ride or ride the shoulder. If you really use your brain, there are both and good times and bad times to do all of these options. In these two cases, taking primary position in the lane would probably have been tragic.

urbanknight

I dunno. To me, "accident" means it is unintentional. While these drivers are doing things that are stupid/inattentive/careless, they're not actually trying to harm someone else. For that matter, I prefer to use the term "collision" since it doesn't have this stigma of relieving liability. But to be clear, there can surely be someone at fault in an accident.

andydallas

about 20 years ago I was racing in a drag racing series with races around the country, the rig I used to get to the races was basically an over length tractor trailer, I was shocked at what people with do (I guess they threw me in as a professional driver, I was NOT), I have seen people cut in front of me with no room between the car in front of me and my vehicle, I promise you those heavy vehicles can't stop as fast as a car, but everyone seemed to think it was fine to cut in front of me,,,,I feel sorry for the professional truckers, people think they are magic and can stop in no time, they can't

VegasJen

People are under the mistaken belief that if you hit them from behind, it's automatically your fault, regardless of what you're driving and how much of a j*ck*$$ they're being.