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After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

nytimes.com

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Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#141

Post by milkytron »

bobbylarrybobby wrote: post #133
tombert wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My biggest pet peeve is when cops treat the bike lane as additional parking. I've seen cops do it just to walk into 7-eleven and buy a snack. I wonder if that will be addressed at some point.

Cops all drive into the city from Long Island. They don't understand how New Yorkers actually live and get around; to them a bike lane is a curiosity for weirdos who like to get around on a child's vehicle. Getting change in this regard will require either very serious change in how cops are regulated, or a change in cops' mindsets regarding cars and bikes. Not sure which I'd bet on happening first.

Is parking in a bike lane illegal? If so, would it be possible to citizen's arrest a cop for that? Or take them to court?

Maybe it's an overreaction to a small crime, but it would set a precedent, no?

Edit: I do not recommend trying to citizen's arrest a cop.

Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#142

Post by SilasX »

Rebelgecko wrote: post #137
8ytecoder wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Oakland, California and some parts of SF, these lanes are being used as pickup drop and cruising lanes

We had the same trouble in Los Angeles. When they swapped the bike lane and parking, there was no physical barrier so everyone parked in the bike lane [1]. Even when they added bollards and painted better, lots of people still don't understand[2][3] [1]: https://imgur.com/82LdPTF.jpg [2]: https://imgur.com/lihBjtM.jpg [3]: https://twitter.com/LABikeLaneBlock

In fairness, a striped region like in [2] signals "don't park within this".

Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#143

Post by Aaronmacaron »

OutsmartDan wrote: post #62

As an avid cyclist in NYC, this is a huge step forward into cyclist protection. I can't tell you how many times i've almost been hit, or doored, by a car. Sometimes, it's a lot safer to run a red light to get in front of a car versus waiting for the light to turn- but of course that's not legal. Honestly, as huge and condensed NYC is, I am surprised this hasn't happened years ago. It's much, much more efficient to ge…

In Europe there are separate traffic lights for bicycles that turn green a few second earlier than the car traffic lights. This adds a lot of safety since the bikes have time to get past the first car in line. I think a lot of accidents where the car turns right and overlooks a bike in the blind spot can be prevented through this measure.

Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#144

Post by jkingsbery »

quartz wrote: post #105
wefarrell wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I commute on my bike in NYC daily and I am far more terrified of pedestrians and other cyclists than I am of cars. Cars for the most part pay attention and obey traffic rules. Cyclists less so and pedestrians ignore rules entirely and frequently aren't even aware of cyclists.

You're being irrational with that fear. Cyclists are basically never killed by other cyclists or pedestrians. In fact, 5 of the last 8 years had zero pedestrian deaths due to collisions with cyclists. [1] [1] https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/bicyclists/bikestats.shtm...

I have not dug into the data, but for whatever it's worth, cyclists completely ignore the Red Bicycle lights here in midtown. These are red lights that are even shaped like a bicycle, and when pedestrians are crossing in the other direction the bikes keep going.

Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#145

Post by SwellJoe »

rb808 wrote: post #138
SwellJoe wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not unlike New York City. But, how about Finland? They also ride bikes a lot more than most US cities, and Finland definitely has harsh winters. Edit: As for summers, I've regularly biked in Texas throughout the summer over many years (I've lived without a car quite a bit in Austin). The peak of the day is rough, but the usual commuting hours aren't too bad. New York has nothing on Texas summers.

I know AMS and NYC well, Finland - do people bike all winter? The snow is one thing, the icy roads and cold make it tough.

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/feb/12/ice-cycles-no...

Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#146

Post by jdnenej »

gok wrote: post #127

This will get more people on bicycles, which will almost certainly make the problem worse, unfortunately. No amount of lane protection prevents collisions in intersections, which is where nearly all the deaths happen. The problem isn't the amount of protected lanes; it's the rampant amount of comically unqualified drivers. The two tearjerkers from the article are typical: an 18 year old blowing a red light and someon…

More people riding a bike is less people driving a car so the situation has already improved.

Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#147

Post by OutsmartDan »

milkytron wrote: post #141
bobbylarrybobby wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cops all drive into the city from Long Island. They don't understand how New Yorkers actually live and get around; to them a bike lane is a curiosity for weirdos who like to get around on a child's vehicle. Getting change in this regard will require either very serious change in how cops are regulated, or a change in cops' mindsets regarding cars and bikes. Not sure which I'd bet on happening first.

Is parking in a bike lane illegal? If so, would it be possible to citizen's arrest a cop for that? Or take them to court? Maybe it's an overreaction to a small crime, but it would set a precedent, no? Edit: I do not recommend trying to citizen's arrest a cop.

bike lane parking is just a form of "double parking", so theoretically it is illegal- however the laws of the road do not apply in NYC :)

Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#148

Post by u801e »

randomfool wrote: post #86
wefarrell wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I commute on my bike in NYC daily and I am far more terrified of pedestrians and other cyclists than I am of cars. Cars for the most part pay attention and obey traffic rules. Cyclists less so and pedestrians ignore rules entirely and frequently aren't even aware of cyclists.

This makes absolutely no sense. Cars are much more deadly than cyclists and pedestrians. If cars are so safe then just ride in the middle of the street. It's perfectly legal- bicycles are classified as moving vehicles.

If you ride in the middle of the lane and follow the rules of the road for drivers of vehicles, then it becomes much easier to predict what other vehicles drivers will do (vehicle type doesn't matter).

But if you want to follow pedestrian rules at vehicle speeds, then it's not going to work so well.

Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#149

Post by jdnenej »

amalcon wrote: post #24
choeger wrote: post #17

Is there any sound comparison of protected bike lanes vs., for instance, 30kp/h zones with mixed bike/car traffic and sensible spacing? When cycling I find the cramped and the fast streets the most dangerous. And the pedestrians that cross into bikelanes. And slippery surfaces. So from my very private pov (I go around 25 to 30kph) there are much cheaper methods that I would want to give a try firat.

American drivers (especially in places like New York) generally just ignore 20MPH speed limits (~=30km/h).

Solved by making really thin streets and blind corners where cars have to slow right now to avoid hitting things on the edge.

Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#150

Post by bravoetch »

jacobreg wrote: post #98
bravoetch wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. NYC isn't some reference point for what other cities should do. Making a city bike friendly is available to all cities, and has been for decades. There's no trickle down bike policy, as other cities in the US are already showing.

It's not ridiculous to say the urbanest area should try to set an example for other urban areas

"It's not ridiculous to say the urbanest area should try to set an example for other urban areas" - yet, OP says if NYC can't set an example then we can't expect other cities to have good examples either. That's false. We can expect good examples everywhere no matter what NYC does.
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