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Roads with protected bike lanes make both cycling and driving safer: study

citylab.com

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Re: Roads with protected bike lanes make both cycling and driving safer: study

#61

Post by Zigurd »

gpm wrote: post #20
fhbdukfrh wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with your general sentiment, but don't think people on electric bikes are going to improve the situation, rather make it much, much worse based on the electric bike share pilot in my city. Someone who owns their ebike might be better, but those on shared bikes are a danger to everyone and never wear a helmet.

Wearing a helmet increases your chance of death on a bike according to the statistics. I personally don't, I feel less safe wearing one. I can't locate cars as accurately with audio with one on my head, the extra weight makesy head turn slower, and I think subconsciously left often. Drivers pass more aggressively and illegally (most drivers passing break the law here that requires a meter seperation when passing a cy…

I always wear a helmet biking, and skiing for that matter. Neither helmet is likely to save me from a serious injury or death. They provide a small extra margin of safety in low speed collisions.

Bike helmets are no impediment to vision or turning one's head.

What I'd like is a cam linked to the police that would auto-ticket anyone passing too close. I would gladly sign an affidavit confirming the infraction.

Re: Roads with protected bike lanes make both cycling and driving safer: study

#62

Post by cujo »

chrisco255 wrote: post #50
ben7799 wrote: post #40

As a long time long distance cyclist an awfully lot of these lanes, both protected and painted/"sharrow" are really frightening. There is an anti-car/pro-bike lane group of researchers who want to push this style of road design super hard right now at all costs. There are still major problems with their designs though, they are working from the assumption cyclists won't learn to follow the rules of the road. Tell me…

Can't you just take the crosswalk to make a left?

No. And if you think it through, you'll come up with several reasons very quickly.

Re: Roads with protected bike lanes make both cycling and driving safer: study

#63

Post by borkt »

himeexcelanta wrote: post #46
fhbdukfrh wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with your general sentiment, but don't think people on electric bikes are going to improve the situation, rather make it much, much worse based on the electric bike share pilot in my city. Someone who owns their ebike might be better, but those on shared bikes are a danger to everyone and never wear a helmet.

I’m curious which city you’re in. Not that it’s this simple, but it seems to me that any one of those electric bike-share users would otherwise be contributing to localized and global pollution and congestion through the use of a car. Additionally, the lack of infrastructure (i.e. protected/expanded bike lanes) would might explain why it seems like those cyclists “a danger to everyone”.

No, I saw a an ebike blow out of golden gate park against a red and cause a 3 car accident in SF a few weeks back, despite only spending a few days in SF each year. At least one or more of the cars were likely totalled and would contribute much more significantly to waste/emissions. I also saw a lot of people on bikes/scooters using sidewalks and crosswalks like their personal fast lines and ignoring signs and signals repeatedly as well.

Re: Roads with protected bike lanes make both cycling and driving safer: study

#64

Post by trustfundbaby »

I rode a scooter for the first time yesterday and it got me thinking that bike companies are typically a non-factor when it comes to city municipalities, but, the backing of Uber and Lyft (plus numerous scooter companies) might be the thing that helps push these cities into embracing more of these sorts of things (protected lanes for scooters), just because of the clout they can bring to bear on these cities.

Re: Roads with protected bike lanes make both cycling and driving safer: study

#65

Post by kashyapc »

[I realize you can't quite compare American and European roads in the context of bicycling, given the huge surface area in the US. Still, a small anecdote.]

I live in a small Western European city with a serious biking culture. As an everyday bicycler, lately I was happy to see some pleasant incremental changes (to the already pretty good infrastructure) for bicyclers and pedestrians: they are turning streets where cars are allowed into "mainly bicycle" lanes (and the existing narrower bike paths get freed up for pedestrian use), fully painted in maroon, with some wooden signboards on the side, reading: "This is a bicycle-first path, cars must remain behind bicyclers".

This makes it much more spacious, not to mention safer, to bike along, especially so on busy bicycle routes, on previously-narrower lanes. To make a poor analogy, it's like an upgrade from economy to business class.

Re: Roads with protected bike lanes make both cycling and driving safer: study

#66

Post by kingnothing »

chrisco255 wrote: post #50
ben7799 wrote: post #40

As a long time long distance cyclist an awfully lot of these lanes, both protected and painted/"sharrow" are really frightening. There is an anti-car/pro-bike lane group of researchers who want to push this style of road design super hard right now at all costs. There are still major problems with their designs though, they are working from the assumption cyclists won't learn to follow the rules of the road. Tell me…

Can't you just take the crosswalk to make a left?

Not legally in most US cities. Sidewalks are for walking, the street is for bicycles and cars.

Re: Roads with protected bike lanes make both cycling and driving safer: study

#67

Post by vonmoltke »

jtms wrote: post #19
fhbdukfrh wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The study supports safety for cyclists but i missed any reference to the safety for drivers that the article purports it found

Is collision with a cyclist really a safety risk for an automobile driver? A minor ding for a car is a fatality for a cyclist

Hitting a cyclist hard enough to kill them is not a "minor ding", except in unusual circumstances.

Re: Roads with protected bike lanes make both cycling and driving safer: study

#68

Post by jdreyfuss »

jxcl wrote: post #2

As a commuting cyclist I usually prefer to ride in the street than in a bike lane. Protected cycle lanes are great only so long as nobody turns to the right directly in front of you. When there are cars parked in between the cycle lane and the car lane it's much easier for the driver to miss the cyclist, and few people check the cycle lane before turning right. I was definitely guilty of this until I started cycling.…

In SF at least, Ubers and Lyfts often treat unprotected bike lanes as drop-off and pick-up zones as well, which adds another dangerous wrinkle for bikers

Re: Roads with protected bike lanes make both cycling and driving safer: study

#69

Post by vkou »

chuckgreenman wrote: post #16

In Cincinnati, it's illegal to ride a bike on a sidewalk, which makes sense, it's not very pleasant for the cyclist or pedestrians. The result is that bicyclers ride in the street. You'll regularly get harassed for riding in the street, even when you're all the way to the right, or people will just open their door right into the lane when they street park. It's really difficult to travel with bicycles safely in a med…

> In Cincinnati, it's illegal to ride a bike on a sidewalk, which makes sense, it's not very pleasant for the cyclist or pedestrians.

It doesn't make any sense to protect pedestrians from having to deal with larger, faster, heavier vehicles, that may injure them, by forcing cyclists into the street, where they have to deal with larger, faster, heavier vehicles that may kill them.

Re: Roads with protected bike lanes make both cycling and driving safer: study

#70

Post by gpm »

sjclemmy wrote: post #23
gpm wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wearing a helmet increases your chance of death on a bike according to the statistics. I personally don't, I feel less safe wearing one. I can't locate cars as accurately with audio with one on my head, the extra weight makesy head turn slower, and I think subconsciously left often. Drivers pass more aggressively and illegally (most drivers passing break the law here that requires a meter seperation when passing a cy…

Care to substantiate that?

I'll find a source tonight and link it here.
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