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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

#41

Post by chapium »

wefarrell wrote: post #5
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 NYC I think they're counterproductive to safety. Cars use them for temporary parking and pedestrians use them as a sidewalk. When I visit Europe and Japan they seem to be far more effective. I think it comes down to etiquette and that goes both ways - non cyclists need to respect bike lanes and cyclists need to obey traffic laws. Admittedly I don't obey traffic laws when cycling, but I would if they were enforced.

"Protected" usually means thatbthere is a physical barrier, not just painted lines.

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

#43

Post by linuxftw »

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…

> This stuff is plainly obvious when you've rode 10s or 100s of times more miles than the researchers.

I'd argue, the points you make are 100% obvious if you've ever been through any intersection on a bicycle and needed to go straight or left from one of these lanes. You don't need 'research' when something is obviously stupid, but that seems to be something we've forgotten as a society.

Around me, they put these 'bike' lanes on 45+ mph roads. The average driver is reckless and much too distracted to effectively spot the occasional cyclist.

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

#44

Post by dmix »

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…

If I was forced to use a bike lane all the time, without an easy way to bypass people/things, I wouldn't use the bike lane. With maybe the exception of non-busy times like at night, or the road option is very high speed or somehow hostile to bikes.

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

#45

Post by chapium »

fhbdukfrh wrote: post #4
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.…

I agree. The biggest cause of issues between cars and bikes has got to be speed differential, so if I'm on the appropriate bike i always ride in traffic. The bike lanes always get the worst sections of road (the curb) with cracks, drains and debris, Plus cars right hooking you, a car door biting you or a jaywalker on their cellphone are not infrequent risks. That said there is a big biking population who should not b…

Speed is usually not an issue on city roads. Turns and blind spots are bad. Some people try to pass just so they can get to the next red light quicker. Usually if its congested enough that its not safe for a car to pass a cyclist the cyclist is usually able to go faster than traffic. Cars lose a lot of time decelerating and accelerating for frequent stops. Its even an annoyance to the biker because on car is hit about wanting to pass and then the biker keeps waiting at intersections for cars to get up to speed.

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

#46

Post by himeexcelanta »

fhbdukfrh wrote: post #8
WhompingWindows wrote: post #3

I ride extensively around the Providence, RI area. Cars are simply a scourge to biking here, at a time when we need less global and local pollution and we need to improve health via air quality and exercise. We have VERY few protected lanes, mostly there are "sharrows" aka faded pictures of bikes on the road that do absolutely zilch. I am routinely honked at and ignorant/rude people yell things out of their car windo…

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”.

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

#47

Post by RankingMember »

I yearn to see a city in the US make its city center area car-free for a year (not a weekend thing as has been done already) just to see how it goes over the course of a year or so. Cars won't disappear, so there'll need to be some kind of parking on the outskirts, but I just want to see if it's feasible (admittedly I want it to be, but am willing to be proven wrong).

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

#48

Post by gpm »

maaaats wrote: post #28
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…

> Wearing a helmet increases your chance of death on a bike according to the statistics I've heard that too. If it's true, could the causality be the other way? As in, people wear a helmet when the chance of accidents is bigger. When I road bike on open roads it's both fast and higher chance of accidents, so I wear a helmet. Same with downhill cycling. But when using a city bike, I bike slow in the inner city, and do…

Causality could definitely be the other way as far as the stats I saw. I personally suspect the is some causality in both directions.

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

#49

Post by tomjakubowski »

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #6
fhbdukfrh wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. The biggest cause of issues between cars and bikes has got to be speed differential, so if I'm on the appropriate bike i always ride in traffic. The bike lanes always get the worst sections of road (the curb) with cracks, drains and debris, Plus cars right hooking you, a car door biting you or a jaywalker on their cellphone are not infrequent risks. That said there is a big biking population who should not b…

> biggest cause of issues between cars and bikes has got to be speed differential, so if I'm on the appropriate bike i always ride in traffic >That said there is a big biking population who should not be riding in traffic so without separated bike lanes can't get to parts of my city I was going to say - I've yet to see a biker keep up with commuter traffic, which would make the speed differential a problem.

At rush hour it can be easy to beat commuters in cars on your bike.

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

#50

Post by chrisco255 »

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?
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