[OSM-talk] Tagging for street danger levels

[Liz]

On Tue, 22 Jun 2010, Paul Houle wrote:
> Toby Murray wrote:
> > Someone in my area is starting up a new website that is focused on
> > cycling in the city. They have decided to use OSM as their map which
> > is awesome.
> 
>     Streets are not dangerous to bicyclists;  ~intersections~ are
> dangerous to bicyclists.
> 
>     When bicyclists modify their behavior in search of "safe streets"
> they set themselves up, lemming like,  to be killed at intersections.
> Most of the dangerous and (mostly) illegal cycling behaviors that are
> widespread,  such as riding on sidewalks,  riding on the wrong side of
> the road,  riding on sidewalks on the wrong side of the road, and
> weaving around parked cars are derived from this fantasy cyclists have
> that some motorist is going to come up from behind in a faster,  larger
> vehicle and cream them.
> 
>     In reality,  the self-preservation of motorists forces them to be
> looking ahead of themselves for vehicles that behave like other
> automobiles.  Cyclists are most likely to be picked up by that scanning
> behavior if they follow traffic rules.  If they disobey traffic rules,
> they're at much greater risk.
> 
>     Cyclists may be safer if they follow a "dangerous" busy street that
> is well signalized and has few dangerous intersections than riding on a
> "safe" back alley that crosses numerous busy streets at poorly defined
> intersections.  There very well may be an "objective" measurement of the
> safety of ways,  routes,  and intersections,  but the majority of
> cyclists have demonstrated in everyday behavior and by their actions in
> the political sphere that the mental model of "safety" that they have is
> dangerously incorrect.
> 

Firstly I don't agree with your assessment.
Secondly, how will this assist with tagging streets unsuitable for cycling?