dougmc

Don't google -- do the math yourself, it's not hard. But if you must google, at least make sure you get both statistics from the same site where they calculated both with the same assumptions made.

Not everybody drives with their foot on the brake, and not everybody rides with their hand on the brake either.

But once the brake is engaged, a car can stop faster than a bike, as it's not limited by the tendency to endo, and having the front wheel skid isn't as disastrous as it is is on a bicycle so you can safely get closer to the limit in limited traction situations (in dry pavement situations, the endo tendency is the limiting factor for a standard upright bike (tandems and LWB recumbents are different.))

A standard upright bike with a front brake on dry pavement can brake at about 0.6 g's, maybe 0.7 g's if you throw your butt as far back as possible. A typical passenger car can do around 1.0 to 1.1 g's and some sports cars can do 1.3 g's (and things like Formula 1 can do up to 5 g's thanks to their aerodynamic downforces.)

Must be nice. Fines on a bicycle are generally the same as they are in a car in Texas, so 1 mph over the speed limit in a school zone is $178 minimum, car or bike. Fail to stop for a stopped school bus? $552 minimum, car or bike.