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From the abstract:

> The distribution of overtaking events shifted just over one-fifth of a standard deviation closer to the rider – a potentially important behaviour if, as theoretical frameworks suggest, near-misses and collisions lie on a continuum.

Looking at the graph in figure 1, "one-fifth of a standard" looks as unimpressive as expected. The distance from the kerb looks much more relevant.

IIUC all the analysis is based on 2355 data gathered by Walker riding a bike himself a few years ago between two cities. It's not a mix of data from different persons or a mix of city and countryside rides. The most interesting part is that Walker published 5 articles about the same data, and he got a different result in each one.



Yes, but you're missing that overtaking events is just one of the metrics in question.

You're right that perhaps it is a big difference between cyclists, my guess would be the number of cars matters more than the number of cyclists. The study has been replicated elsewhere.

> Walker published 5 articles about the same data, and he got a different result in each one.

Uh, no? The 8.5 cm result has been consistent.

At the margin, these things make a difference, especially given that collisions are rare as a fraction for rides taken.


Indeed the researcher was his own test subject.




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