Hacker News Reader

Comment by hcho | Hacker News Reader

I wonder how much of bicycle accidents are caused by frustration of drivers rather than not being able to notice the rider. This product might be trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist.

View on HN

How does frustration of drivers cause accidents? They run over a cyclist to let off steam?

I've had it more than once that a driver tries to deliberately drive me of the road. In one case where I stopped and wanted to wait until the driver is gone, he stopped, got out of the car, and wanted to start a fight. The reason in that case was that he was angry, as I overtook the waiting cars at a red light.

That's one of the reasons why I typically have a heavy u-lock and a pepper spray with me when cycling.

There are a huge number of cycle helmet videos over Youtube, in most of them you can see that the driver is out to get the cyclist, probably because of clogging up a fast flowing road.

It's not right but it's happening all the time.

They're frustrated by a (relatively to them) slow cyclist that they can't overtake right now, so as soon as an opportunity comes in, they take their chance in a dangerous way.

Just yesterday I was behind a slow-moving cyclist on a winding road with no passing spots. Three cars behind me flew out into one of the many blind corners to pass with no way to be sure it was safe.

That sums up nicely why I hate cars and driving. I just don't trust normal people with heavy killing machines under their asses.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com