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Agent_Angelo_Pappas t1_isnoejn wrote

Reply to comment by HauntedButtCheeks in Woman, 80, on tricycle dies after Orange County hit-and-run crash, troopers say by Darzanak

I don’t see lights or reflectors on that bike and this occurred in the evening around 9pm. Are there any? Because I wouldn’t expect a flag or matte paint colors to do anything to increase visibility at night.

I’m not so sure that visibility didn’t play any role here

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HardlyDecent t1_isnqdjr wrote

In my decades of driving I've never hit a human just because they weren't wearing reflective gear. If she were in all black with yellow stripes it would still be no excuse. Driver was texting or intentionally distracted--at best. Possibly one of the oxygen-thieving assholes who try to swipe cyclists/pedestrians off the road. Visibility be damned--they hit a human and drove off.

Source: They try to hit me just about every day here, even in a very visible vehicle (or riding a bike).

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Agent_Angelo_Pappas t1_iso2oim wrote

> In my decades of driving I’ve never

I’m actually involved with automotive safety in a professional regard so I’m acutely aware just how useless anecdotes like this are. My grandmother never wore a seatbelt and died from lung disease at the age of 97. Does that make seat belts pointless? Obviously no.

Likewise the fact that you haven’t happened to hit a person on the road at night obscured by the dark doesn’t mean it’s safe to bike or walk on roads at night without lights or reflectors

I never suggested a lack of reflectors would excuse a hit and run, but don’t outright lie and declare visibility wasn’t possibly a factor when this happened at night with an apparently unlit vehicle. We don’t need people lying and hiding risks that are important for people to know about. Too few people appreciate how hard it is to see pedestrians at night, and they disregard safe practices near the road, and people like you promote that needlessly risky behavior by trying to hide what it may lead to

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hyggety_hyggety t1_isoryka wrote

I think it’s the “run” part of hit and run that people are most concerned about.

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