This is exactly what I tell people who like small cars. I've got a big truck. I can't necessarily see you. If you're driving a smaller car, be predictable. Don't cut in front of me or I'll end up crushing you.
To those of you driving in anything smaller than an SUV, signal before you turn. Don't cut across multiple lanes. I frequently see small cars and sedans think they can just cut in front of a space I leave.
Right of way won't matter once you're crushed metal.
Just follow the rules. If you drive a small car, just think of yourself like you are a bicycle to me. If you ride a bicycle, read up to the top of the thread.
Sure, in the same sense that you're responsible for cyclists and pedestrians in a smaller car, but I don't see you guys saying anything to people talking about that earlier in the thread.
Actually the article this thread is based upon is all about a small, red Camry hitting a young child with a bike. Folks might just not want to belabour the point.
FWIW I agree with the other commenter -- YOU are responsible for your behavior on the road. Driving a larger vehicle means more responsibility. I don't care if the USA has collectively decided that murdering someone with your vehicle is fine: even if small cars and bicycles don't always behave safely around you, you should drive slower or give more distance to avoid murdering people since you chose to drive a huge vehicle.
> Right of way won't matter once you're crushed metal.
while arguing that small cars and everyone else should actively count in his lack of visibility and lack of care into their behavior.
We react to this driver and not to small car drivers, because those did not shown such a huge lack of care about safety of everyone else.
I argue that if your car makes you hit someone with right of way because you did not seen him, that car should be banned or you should be banned from driving.
It's not about right of way. It's about being safe. I realize this because I drive defensively. If you can't drive according to the rules, don't drive.
I can follow the rules every day of my life and still get murdered by selfish people like you, and you'll walk away without a scratch. And then you'll somehow find a way to make it my fault.
Following the rules isn't enough. Being an active participate in your own safety is just common sense.
For example, once the traffic in front of me came to a sudden stop. I braked hard, and stopped in time. I looked in my rear view mirror, and realized the guy behind me wasn't going to stop in time, so I pulled off onto the shoulder as fast as possible. That guy rear ended the car in front.
The damage was minimal, nobody was hurt, as my pulling aside gave him an extra few feet to slow down.
I've avoided other accidents even though I was totally in the right and the other guy was totally in the wrong. I just don't understand the attitude of no problem, it's the other guy's fault if he hits me.
Where does this entitled attitude come from? You just expect everyone to scurry out of your way so you don't blindly crush us?
If your vehicle is so large that you can't see other road users properly, that's your fault. You chose to buy it and drive it. You are selfishly externalizing the costs of your preference onto all other road users. If you hit and kill someone because they were doing ordinary road things and you couldn't see them because of your gigantic A-pillar blindspot or your grotesquely oversized front grille, then that is your fault and you are a murderer.
Like, it just amazes me that you can type these words: "I've got a big truck, I can't necessarily see you", and think the problem is with everyone else. Fuck you and fuck your big truck.
Too much distracted driving, and too little enforcement of existing rules for me to care. Every day, I see other road users take calls, record videos, all behind the wheel: why should I give a shit? My options are either to remain frustrated with the world, or simply adopt societal norms and drive my Chevy Tahoe stress free :)
This in a nutshell is the difference between American driver's ed and traffic laws, and places like Germany.
Despite the stark difference in optics, traffic in the US feels more like Lord of the Flies than, say, Pakistan. You're literally describing the law of the jungle.
Yep, this is exactly why I recommend everybody I know to buy the biggest, largest car you can buy. The outcome of vehicular collisions is based almost entirely on who has more mass and energy, and you might as well set yourself to win. Sure, big cars cost more to operate-- but $150 fill-ups are nothing compared to a lifetime of chronic pain and injury.
Unfortunately, letting the assholes win breeds a world full of assholes. I don't want to die and I'm not going to assert my right of way and risk my life, but, the laws need to be enforced else we get lawlessness and a world of whoever is most aggressive wins.
The nice thing about traffic is that safe driving can be enforced with proper infrastructure where unsafe driving feels unsafe. And that has the benefit of both forcing drivers to drive safely and keeping cyclists and pedestrians alive (since they no longer interact with drivers or only do it in ways that are better for everyone).
Not Just Bikes is a great YouTube channel explaining a lot of those concepts, usually by example in the Netherlands. Whereas in North America you have basically motorways going through residential and commercial landuse areas, which feel like, well, motorways and invite driving fast.
To those of you driving in anything smaller than an SUV, signal before you turn. Don't cut across multiple lanes. I frequently see small cars and sedans think they can just cut in front of a space I leave.
Right of way won't matter once you're crushed metal.