Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Cycling commissioners say painted bike lanes don’t make cyclists feel safer

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 78 posts

Re: Cycling commissioners say painted bike lanes don’t make cyclists feel safer

#31

Post by Angostura »

prennert wrote: post #10

Painted bicycle lanes are actually dangerous in my opinion. I cycle almost every day in London for now about 6 years. I avoid streets with painted cycle paths if I can (and take parallel side roads instead). The way I see it, painted cycle lanes makes cyclists feel secure, but does not create much awareness by motorists. They are mainly used on roads with a lot of traffic. Because they are painted they have sometimes…

I have a slightly different perspective - I cycle daily in London and drive too. I think the painted lines do encourage drivers to think about their spacing and are better than nothing. The ones put on the pavement can be an absolute nightmare since pedestrians simply amble in your way onto the bike lane - I don't blame them its too easy.

If I want to cycle fairly briskly - say 15MPH - that can't be done on cycle lanes that share a pavement. It can be done on the road.

Re: Cycling commissioners say painted bike lanes don’t make cyclists feel safer

#32

Post by Angostura »

otikik wrote: post #18

When there's no dedicated line, just use the sidewalk. I go really slow near pedestrians / densely populated areas, and I try to minimize danger (think a child getting out of a building suddenly). Before it gets inconvenient or dangerous, I dismount. I know this can mean a fine, and I am aware that this can put some pedestrians at risk of bruising (again, I am careful, respectful and slow when I go on the sidewalk).…

No. Don't. You may "try to minimise danger", but one day you will hit someone and injure them. You also make it difficult for nervous or timid pedestrians. I absolutely will walk in your way and give you a mouthful.

Re: Cycling commissioners say painted bike lanes don’t make cyclists feel safer

#33

Post by C1sc0cat »

byteofbits wrote: post #7

As someone who has recently started to use cycle lanes to move around London I disagree with the view expressed in the article. Many of the cycle lanes I use everyday in West / Central London are only painted. I personally feel much safer in a cycle lane, even if only a painted one, simply because I don't have to worry as much about getting side-swiped by a bus. Seeing the end of a painted cycle lane is a good indica…

As some one who used to cycle a lot in London - the problem is the use of the reserved space at stop lines for cyclists as it teaches cyclist to aggressively undertake cars to get to the front.

An before you down vote me - undertaking and getting hit causes 90% (aprox) of the fatal casualties in London.

Re: Cycling commissioners say painted bike lanes don’t make cyclists feel safer

#34

Post by pjc50 »

prennert wrote: post #10

Painted bicycle lanes are actually dangerous in my opinion. I cycle almost every day in London for now about 6 years. I avoid streets with painted cycle paths if I can (and take parallel side roads instead). The way I see it, painted cycle lanes makes cyclists feel secure, but does not create much awareness by motorists. They are mainly used on roads with a lot of traffic. Because they are painted they have sometimes…

> What TfL needs is having their planners cycle to work

This. Like the stories of having ancient bridge designers stand under their bridges, the people designing cycling facilities should be made to use them in order to improve their safety and usability.

I think for a lot of planners having a week where they are given a cycle orienteering challenge around a set of random points in a city would be a huge benefit. Give each of them a cycle dashcam and call it a data-gathering exercise.

Take a look at e.g. https://www.innertubemap.com/ , a third-party compiled resource of off-street cycle routes in Edinburgh. What strikes you as wrong with it? The fact that it's a set of disjoint small graphs and not a proper mesh, perhaps?

More use can also be made of name-and-shame: http://wcc.crankfoot.xyz/facility-of-the-month/

Re: Cycling commissioners say painted bike lanes don’t make cyclists feel safer

#35

Post by mrob »

choeger wrote: post #19
alrs wrote: post #9

Bike lanes exist to get bicycles "out of the way," which is why we have a decades-long alliance between the car-insurance lobby and the sell-bicycles lobby to get bikes off the road and on to facilities. This is a losing strategy for people who actually ride bikes, the correct one is to lower speed limits.

> This is a losing strategy for people who actually ride bikes, the correct one is to lower speed limits. I do not think that this is going to cut it. On a good day I easily do 30kph on a good road (that's why I prefer the painted lanes, btw., they tend to give you access to paved roads). With wind, or exhaustion, or any number of reasons, that speed can drop downwards to 20kph. Now I am definitely not the most well-…

30km/h (19mile/h) is a reasonable speed limit within cities. Less fit cyclists can use electrical assistance to keep up. The money spent on useless paint can be switched to e-bike subsidies.

Re: Cycling commissioners say painted bike lanes don’t make cyclists feel safer

#37

Post by python_gt_r3 »

Painted bike lanes correlate with bike lane interruptions. Often car drivers use those to park, to manoeuvre or even to speed up. It often coincides with bus lanes. A bus that stops forces the cyclist to change lane with a huge risk of cars coming from behind. Often you find bike lanes in the most harmless streets, while they disappear in dangerous junctions and roundabouts.

Re: Cycling commissioners say painted bike lanes don’t make cyclists feel safer

#38

Post by python_gt_r3 »

Angostura wrote: post #32
otikik wrote: post #18

When there's no dedicated line, just use the sidewalk. I go really slow near pedestrians / densely populated areas, and I try to minimize danger (think a child getting out of a building suddenly). Before it gets inconvenient or dangerous, I dismount. I know this can mean a fine, and I am aware that this can put some pedestrians at risk of bruising (again, I am careful, respectful and slow when I go on the sidewalk).…

No. Don't. You may "try to minimise danger", but one day you will hit someone and injure them. You also make it difficult for nervous or timid pedestrians. I absolutely will walk in your way and give you a mouthful.

As he clearly explains, the choice is between bruising/injuring and being run over by a car. Blame it on the car drivers and urban planners.

Re: Cycling commissioners say painted bike lanes don’t make cyclists feel safer

#40

Post by human20190310 »

Angostura wrote: post #32
otikik wrote: post #18

When there's no dedicated line, just use the sidewalk. I go really slow near pedestrians / densely populated areas, and I try to minimize danger (think a child getting out of a building suddenly). Before it gets inconvenient or dangerous, I dismount. I know this can mean a fine, and I am aware that this can put some pedestrians at risk of bruising (again, I am careful, respectful and slow when I go on the sidewalk).…

No. Don't. You may "try to minimise danger", but one day you will hit someone and injure them. You also make it difficult for nervous or timid pedestrians. I absolutely will walk in your way and give you a mouthful.

Much of the suburban US has busy roads with zero accommodation for bicycles and sidewalks with no people on them for half a mile (~1km) in each direction.
Post reply on HN