hdhcnsnd OP t1_j6ktd0z wrote
This is completely unacceptable.
We talk plenty in this sub about traditional crime/violence (homicide, assault, robbery, etc), however, you are most likely (by far) to be killed or injured by a vehicle than anything else in this city. Chances are the driver will flee and face no charges to top it off.
Traffic cameras, traffic calming, elevated crosswalks, protected bike lanes, front license plates, the police actually pursuing moving violations at all. Bollards, bollards and more bollards. This is a problem that we know how to solve, City Hall, OTIS and the state at large just choose not to.
Glystopher t1_j6kv4ei wrote
Yep I was hit on the gd fucking sidewalk and broke both legs, and my parked ebike was destroyed. Fuck this noise, when I resume biking I’m wearing a GoPro which I will also mount on my van dash for when I encounter idiots there as well
a-german-muffin t1_j6kwdmj wrote
GoPro’s the way to go. I run one on my helmet and another to the rear (either on my seat post or trailer), and drivers behave much better when they know they’re on cam.
enn_sixty_four t1_j6l4e8g wrote
How convenient is all that? Do ya just grab two go pros every time you go to your bike and mount them each time? Is it being recorded on the device or cloud data or something? (Never used a GoPro I have no idea how any of that works)
Glystopher t1_j6l4u31 wrote
I’ll figure it out. Can’t leave the camera anywhere anyhow, it’s gotta come in or get stolen. I think they have onboard storage, and computer storage is cheap if I want to keep videos, or just erase them if nothing noteworthy happened
Laserdollarz t1_j6le9o5 wrote
You can get ebike "dashcams". You can run them off a 12v power supply, or you can hardwire them with a step-down voltage converter.
After that, I recommend a motion detecting alarm system. If I arm it and jiggle the bike, it gives a loud "I know you're there" beep. 5 seconds of jiggling and it lets loose 113db of "leave me alone" klaxon.
Then, insurance. You can insure your bike for whatever you value it at.
Now that you've got all that covered, all you need worry about is everyone operating a vehicle. Ugh.
Glystopher t1_j6nen9c wrote
Got details on your setup?
Laserdollarz t1_j6nfag5 wrote
I don't have cameras but I have a stepdown powering a motorcycle headlight.
This is my alarm: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B094XPGJRC?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
I have full coverage insurance for theft/damage/vandalism through Velosurance. They'll cover it if I have it on my bike rack and get rear ended, they'll cover it if I crash it off a cliff. They'll cover it if someone sneaks over and cuts all my wires. Peace of mind for a big purchase/beloved toy.
Glystopher t1_j6o5nm3 wrote
Yep I had an Ariel rider grizzly but didn’t want to pay velosurance, isn’t it expensive??? I have an injury lawyer working on my case and my renters might help
Laserdollarz t1_j6o6bdr wrote
I think I paid a little over $200 for a year of coverage for a $2000 bike, with added medical and property insurance. $400 deductible. Bike theft is really really bad in Denver and I'm kind of planning on it getting stolen eventually, unfortunately
[deleted] t1_j6me88q wrote
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a-german-muffin t1_j6mf2x9 wrote
It’s not bad, but yeah, takes maybe an extra 45 seconds to slap on the cameras (my rear one drops into a frame that’s already on the bike/trailer, other one slides into a helmet mount) — you can set them so they start shooting video just by hitting the shutter, no need to even power them on.
Mine just write to the onboard storage (microSDs), but I have the option of streaming live if I want (although my commute’s usually not that interesting). Battery life is good enough that I can do my full commute (about 20 minutes one way and 15-20 back) without needing to recharge at work.
cpndff93 t1_j6kwq28 wrote
Its worth reiterating - these are problems we know how to solve!!!
Friendly_Fire t1_j6kvg0l wrote
With the dramatic advancement of PEVs in the last 5-10 years, e-bikes and similar devices are viable car replacements for most people and could be a massive win for dense cities like Philly. We could several problems at once if the city seriously invested in bike infrastructure. Including significantly reducing traffic for car drivers!
meateatr t1_j6m1a94 wrote
I wish center city was PEVs and bikes only, no cars.
EnemyOfEloquence t1_j6nmf5l wrote
I'm looking at getting a nice ebike (another one) as my next big purchase. I just want safe places to park it, you know? I know I have to lock it good with a motorcycle lock but I want to be able to not worry about it constantly.
Glystopher t1_j6o5v9i wrote
Just take inside. Mine was 108lbs and I could get it up the stoop steps one step at a time.
EnemyOfEloquence t1_j6o70bm wrote
I meant for going out in the city. I live in Manayunk. I'd want to park it somewhere and hang out in center city
Glystopher t1_j6o85km wrote
Oh I just use a moped sized chain lock, 15 pounds altogether , heavy sucker. Helped put traction on the front motor because I would wrap it towards the front of the tube. Miss that bike Ariel rider grizzly . RIP along with my now titanium filled lower legs
EnemyOfEloquence t1_j6ofbjb wrote
Damn that's the exact bike I was looking at. What happened??
Glystopher t1_j6owxwj wrote
October 15th, 4pm. I pulled up outside the Wawa at 38th and spruce, locked the bike to the big upside down U (now completely gone except bent shards) on the spruce side of that corner wawa. Headed toward the door. All hell breaks loose, I hear a scream, screeching tires and commotion and I look and here is this car barreling diagonally through the intersection heading towards the corner. It knocked over a light pole as I watched (I thought it would stop it..) so then I panicked and ran back down the sidewalk past my bike and got tripped up by it and twisted and I felt my legs go like toothpicks. My bike was in pieces (according to my roommate who got there later after I went to the hospital) it had been knocked out of my view of where I was on the ground shouting “what the fuck” dazed as hell I had some head lacerations too but not knocked out. Couldn’t locate my phone either as it was knocked out of my hand. Someone walked off with it and I had to replace that too while in the hospital.
flamehead2k1 t1_j6l3df8 wrote
>We talk plenty in this sub about traditional crime/violence (homicide, assault, robbery, etc), however, you are most likely (by far) to be killed or injured by a vehicle than anything else in this city.
How did you calculate that?
I looked at 2021
Vehicular deaths are 121
https://www.axios.com/local/philadelphia/2022/10/07/philadelphia-traffic-deaths-2021
Homicide was 562
DonQOnIce t1_j6l7ehs wrote
They did say “killed or injured” though. What is the car injury rate for 2021?
flamehead2k1 t1_j6l889g wrote
Injury data is much less reliable than deaths due to a lack of reporting on injuries.
Deaths are a much more reliable statistic because reporting is much higher.
I'm willing to look at data on injuries if you have some but given Homicides are 4x traffic deaths, the injury stats would need to heavily lean to traffic injuries for OP's claim to hold water
soundcoffee t1_j6lf0g3 wrote
I worked for a while at a firm where I had access to PennDOT crash data. Though I don't remember specifics I can say with certainty that for every crash with a death, there are easily tens more with injuries and hundreds more with "suspected injuries" (ie. concussion, whiplash, stuff that an EMT would need to check out to be sure of rather than a bone sticking out). And surprisingly, car/bike and car/pedestrian crashes cause injury way more often than death.
[deleted] t1_j6l6x2q wrote
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flamehead2k1 t1_j6l8smx wrote
>For the record, I'm pissed about all those deaths.
Same. I was a bike commuter before the pandemic and have been threatened by drivers for taking up a full lane and have been "doored"
I'm very much for safer driving, riding, walking but the data I've seen doesn't support the OP'S assertion
PM_me_ab_ur_landlord t1_j6l7b8p wrote
I think one could say in the neighborhoods that most redditors live in (not far northwest, north, northeast, west, or southwest), more vehicular homicides occur than violent homicides
flamehead2k1 t1_j6l8biq wrote
I mean people can say whatever they want but that's not what OP Said
PM_me_ab_ur_landlord t1_j6l98em wrote
Okay yeah I can read too. Just saying this is a problem that’s likely more relevant to most people on this subreddit and that’s it’s still a very relevant statistic. I’m not the one who posted the incorrect comparison.
flamehead2k1 t1_j6l9fow wrote
But you're still saying something with absolutely no evidence to back it up.
Hence "people can say anything "
PM_me_ab_ur_landlord t1_j6latfa wrote
Okay look at page 6 in the vision Zero doc with the map of incidents. Admittedly, the fatalities are a bit randomly distributed throughout the city, but looking at serious injuries and fatalities combined, I’d posit that there are more traffic incidents resulting in fatalities or serious injuries than shootings in the whiter areas of Philly.
Source for traffic injuries/fatalities:
Source for shootings:
spurius_tadius t1_j6mgnwy wrote
Vehicle deaths are mostly innocent people going about their day as pedestrians, cyclists, or motorists.
Homicide victims are, mostly, people "in the game" doing stuff they should not be doing.
As long as you're not regularly getting into arguments at 2AM with impulsive armed 20 year olds on the street, you are far more likely to be killed by a negligent driver.
flamehead2k1 t1_j6mhnte wrote
Homicide in the city has recently pivoted to social media beefs vs the drug game
Edison_Ruggles t1_j6mptna wrote
...and, sorry to hijack the convo but FRONT FUCKING LICENSE PLATES! (may have had no bearing on this, but it does in the big picture).
Badkevin t1_j6llqoy wrote
Blood is on the city’s hand.
[deleted] t1_j6log3t wrote
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hwf0712 t1_j6ly6ss wrote
PLUS traffic violence is random, meanwhile the majority of violent crime in American cities happen in small areas between people who usually know each other.
Also, allowing for cities to become car free reduces crime because it reduces the amount of money you need to survive, expands the range of job getting for poor people, and reduces things like noise and pollution which negatively impact brain development and make children more irritable which leads to more school fights/suspensions (which are predictors of crime).
Also! Less chance of broken households, because less driving means lower chance of death, and less chance of divorce (see financial aspect), which both heighten the chance of an unstable single parent household. Plus less chance of injury means less people with chronic pain, which means less chance of drug addiction which both reduces demand from drug dealers, and means lower chance of parents becoming absent or otherwise emotionally unstable (meaning less chance of a kid getting fucked up)
napsdufroid t1_j6mp4wh wrote
We all know big cities will never be car free, so instead of imagining the impossible, we need to find realistic solutions
NoWarButMyWar t1_j6lg65a wrote
10th st south of Market tonight the entire bike lane was filled with cars all the way down to Chestnut. I was driving and had to let a cyclist who realized there was nowhere to go take the lane. Not a problem for me, but many Philadelphias think they own the fucking road once they’re in a car. All this could’ve been avoided if PPA actually ticketed parking the bike lanes and with bollards.
AbsentEmpire t1_j6n2gd4 wrote
The lack of bolards is on city council not the PPA, but otherwise agree parking in the bike lanes should result in an automatic tow.
banjoleletinman t1_j6kv0up wrote
Yes to all of this!
[deleted] t1_j6m7tk7 wrote
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Miamime t1_j6lcn01 wrote
Well it says the driver in the first accident has not been charged (yet). From the description, it could have been an accident; it sounds like the driver turned in advance of the biker and the biker t-boned the car.
With that being said, I can’t imagine hitting someone and fleeing the scene. So fucked up. I do ride the Indego bikes when the weather is nicer and this city really is scary to ride in. Thankfully I’m in a less trafficked area or I wouldn’t do it.
ConfiaEnElProceso t1_j6ledy9 wrote
Please explain to me how a car making a left with no turn arrow is not in the wrong when it collides with a vehicle/bike/pedestrian crossing the street in the other direction.
Where are you seeing any report that she t-boned the car??? Multiple articles mention the car hitting her https://www.inquirer.com/news/bicyclist-died-struck-car-south-philadelphia-20230114.html
Miamime t1_j6oj3sf wrote
>The female cyclist, identified by police as Taing Sophy, was riding west on Tasker Avenue near Columbus Boulevard when a car driver who was heading east on the street and turning left onto Columbus struck her, according to police.
ConfiaEnElProceso t1_j6okrsy wrote
"car driver... struck her "
Is this hard?
They were both on Tasker, crossing Columbus from opposite directions, when the car turned left onto Columbus and "struck her."
NoWarButMyWar t1_j6lgtwj wrote
Their not charged because the city and state don’t give a fuck when a car hits and kills a cyclist.
lordredsnake t1_j6mt5f8 wrote
What's your point? Crashes aren't called accidents anymore because they're largely avoidable. Accident implies inevitability. The infrastructure needs to be designed so that the conflict between different types of road users doesn't happen in the first place.
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