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In New Zealand they have a nasty habit of painting a bit of the road green, then painting a bit of the footpath green. So the "cycle lane" effectively veers on

In New Zealand they have a nasty habit of painting a bit of the road green, then painting a bit of the footpath green. So the "cycle lane" effectively veers on and off the road, or over busy driveways where no car is looking for cyclists on what to them is the footpath. It's extremely dangerous to follow the cycle lanes our government conjures up. I imagine they have some quota to meet like "X metres of cycle lane".

vanderZwan 10y ago
In general I'm flabbergasted as to why countries don't just look at what has been tried in other trailblazing countries with issues like this. In the case of cycling, the Netherlands and Denmark are so far ahead of the rest of the world that catching up should be a matter of asking us about everything that we've tried, about did (not) work and why, and then stealing the good ideas.
- chrismealy 10y ago
  The degree of "not invented here" among city officials is astounding. I think a lot of them don't really want to succeed.
- lacampbell 10y ago
  Doesn't help that in NZ wearing a "safety" helmet is mandatory, which seems to have had a big affect on the number of people who ride a bicycle.
  - jonathantm 10y ago
    Like how less people drove cars and went back to horses because when seat-belts became mandatory?
    - lacampbell 10y ago
      It's not a useful analogy, because seatbelts have a proven safety record, are apart of the vehicle itself (you don't have anything extra to carry around, or leave on the outside of the vehicle where it can be easily stolen or damaged), and aren't nearly as uncomfortable. The safety record of bicycle helmets is dubious at best, adds an extra cost for low income people, and makes bike sharing programs near unworkable.
      - cuddlybacon 10y ago
        Don't forget about finding a place to store the helmet once you're at your destination.
        lacampbell 10y ago
        Yeap. I have a distinct memory of ending a shift at a temporary factory job, only to find my bicycle helmet had been somehow crushed or smashed while it was attached to the bicycle. The cost of replacing a helmet was worth about 3 hours of my labour at the time.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]

vanderZwan 10y ago

In general I'm flabbergasted as to why countries don't just look at what has been tried in other trailblazing countries with issues like this. In the case of cycling, the Netherlands and Denmark are so far ahead of the rest of the world that catching up should be a matter of asking us about everything that we've tried, about did (not) work and why, and then stealing the good ideas.

chrismealy 10y ago
The degree of "not invented here" among city officials is astounding. I think a lot of them don't really want to succeed.
lacampbell 10y ago
Doesn't help that in NZ wearing a "safety" helmet is mandatory, which seems to have had a big affect on the number of people who ride a bicycle.
- jonathantm 10y ago
  Like how less people drove cars and went back to horses because when seat-belts became mandatory?
  - lacampbell 10y ago
    It's not a useful analogy, because seatbelts have a proven safety record, are apart of the vehicle itself (you don't have anything extra to carry around, or leave on the outside of the vehicle where it can be easily stolen or damaged), and aren't nearly as uncomfortable. The safety record of bicycle helmets is dubious at best, adds an extra cost for low income people, and makes bike sharing programs near unworkable.
    - cuddlybacon 10y ago
      Don't forget about finding a place to store the helmet once you're at your destination.
      - lacampbell 10y ago
        Yeap. I have a distinct memory of ending a shift at a temporary factory job, only to find my bicycle helmet had been somehow crushed or smashed while it was attached to the bicycle. The cost of replacing a helmet was worth about 3 hours of my labour at the time.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]