[0xBDB]

> The reason you don't feel as threatened by cars as you are by bikes is (without knowing you in person) twofold

Neither of your two points covers the reason I feel more threatened by e-bikes, which is that the last time I was in Manhattan I stepped out into a one-way street without looking the other way (my bad) only to be nearly hit in the bike line by an e-bike coming the wrong way at max speed.

The person you were responding to pointed out that the operators of bikes simply don't obey traffic laws (perhaps France is different, but I doubt it). That is at least forgivable if you're trying to conserve hard-pedaled momentum but not if you're operating a 75-pound motor vehicle at 28mph.

Perhaps my chance of being killed by an e-bike is still lower than it would be for a car, but it's not totally irrational for people to prefer things that are higher risk, but more predictable, to those that are lower risk but still dangerous and aren't at all predictable.

[const_cast]

I think these conversations are inherently tainted by our culture of widespread acceptance and subsidizing of motor vehicles. Cars are held to a much lower standard of behavior in just about every regard, and they're frequently the number 1 most prioritized from of transportation when we build, well, anything.

It's easy to say that cars obey laws but really they don't, that's part of the reason why cars are orders of magnitude more likely to kill you. That's why, despite cars being the golden child of transportation infrastructure, they're still the most dangerous. Because people don't obey laws. They speed, they follow too close, they roll through stop signs, they stop on crosswalks, they turn right as pedestrians are crossing, and on and on. And, when they do disobey laws, it's much more difficult for them to abort.

[black_puppydog]

As a cyclist myself I can't say that cars are terribly predictable. Especially not when parked. I've had my fair share of near-death experiences with doors randomly opening right onto the (mandatory) bike lane.