# It's your life, but what about the poor person who hits and kills you??? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 27, 2011, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-your-life-but-what-about-the-poor-person-who-hits-and-kills-you/583459 "2011-05-27T18:19:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-your-life-but-what-about-the-poor-person-who-hits-and-kills-you/583459/41 "2011-06-03T00:29:12Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > In England too? Sure, why not? Mix it up a little. šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-your-life-but-what-about-the-poor-person-who-hits-and-kills-you/583459/42 "2011-06-03T01:41:32Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > I tried to let this go, but I just canā€™t, dammit. > > Someone explain to me why walking against traffic is any safer than riding a bike against traffic. Let me give you a real world example. I was leaving a gas station. I was going to turn right. As I approached the sidewalk I looked both ways for people the sidewalk was empty. I crossed the sidewalk and pulled up to where my front bumper was even with the car that was parked just to the right of the driveway (and my car). I stopped and waited for the traffic coming from my left to clear. Now I knew that any pedestrians would walk behind me on the sidewalk and all the traffic I had to worry about was approaching from my left so I was looking out my left window. Traffic cleared I took my foot off the brake as I turned my head to forward to complete the turn. Guess what I saw a bike rider go down right in front of my grille. He was riding against traffic in a place where he should not have been. Many people would have never saw him before their ran over him. He was lucky in this case he was uninjured. A bike is a vehicle and should be operated like any other vehicle. (with the flow of traffic). Pedestrians should only be in the road if there is no sidewalk then walk against traffic. There is also speed to consider a bike can go about 5x as fast as a walker without too much trouble. People scanning for pedestrians arenā€™t looking far enough out for bikes. IMHO riding against traffic is the stupidest thing a rider can do. Riding on the sidewalk is the second stupidest. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-your-life-but-what-about-the-poor-person-who-hits-and-kills-you/583459/43 "2011-06-03T01:44:56Z")
I can see your point. I just have this feeling that I donā€™t want anything coming _at_ me on my side of the road when Iā€™m driving. I see everyoneā€™s point though. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-your-life-but-what-about-the-poor-person-who-hits-and-kills-you/583459/44 "2011-06-03T01:52:28Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Actually, Iā€™ve read about some suicides being extra thoughtful of those who will find them. They leave all their papers with explanations well organized in a prominent place. They cover themselves with plastic to cut down on splatter. One guy even left out coffee and donuts for the cops to find. šŸ˜• I wonder what the expectation is on that last one ā€¦ Officer 1: ā€œMan, what a mess. Guess he rigged up that shotgun to make sure there wouldnā€™t be any medical miracles, eh?ā€ Officer 2: ā€œIā€™d say so. Christ, thereā€™s blood and brain splatters all the way ā€“ hey, look, donuts!ā€ Officer 1: ā€œDibs on the jelly-filled!ā€ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-your-life-but-what-about-the-poor-person-who-hits-and-kills-you/583459.md?page=2)