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What is functionally different about that illustration other than the cyclist having to make odd movements when going straight - which would be incredibly confu

• lmm 9y ago
  A car turning right (or left) only crosses the green cycle lane after it's rotated. Rather than having to watch for bicycles on the right coming up from behind, the car only has to watch for bicycles in front coming from the right, which is much easier.
• Doxin 9y ago
  the "odd movement" isn't something a car driver has to deal with at all. As a driver you turn right, and after completing the turn you're faced with a cycle path where a simple look to the right will be plenty to check for cyclists. It's basically splitting a complex intersection into two simpler intersections.
  • bbarn 9y ago
    https://imgur.com/a/H0tEZ https://imgur.com/a/H0tEZ This is what I mean. If in a car you want to turn left, the cyclist appears to be heading right, by then veers to stay straight. Otherwise, you need dedicated turning left lanes, with turning arrows - something most cities can't fit on existing streets. These sorts of "reimagined" street intersections always end up being impractical with only a little bit of scrutiny applied. What's practical (from the point of view of someone who's biked to work every day in an urban environment for 15 years) is the bike lane turning into "shared" before the intersection, and the solid white bike lane line turning dotted with indications marking that before the intersection. Every attempt at enforced separation just ends up being less safe for all parties involved. The key is sensible lane sharing and maintaining a common feel and look of intersections throughout a city. No cyclist, or driver needs to question what to do at various experimental intersections, and yet we continue to do things like that in urban centers using people as test subjects.
    • ricardobeat 9y ago
      You're imagining it happening at an unreal pace. This is really close to what most large intersections in the Netherlands look like. The shoulders for the cycle lane are actually behind the curb, and for a cyclist still feel like 'going straight'. If I'm not mistaken, this is even known as a "dutch junction". This video explains it well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bG6ZrbCO2g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bG6ZrbCO2g
      • bbarn 9y ago
        No vehicle in that video was shown turning left.
    • Doxin 9y ago
      That's why they invented hand signals. Granted not everyone is using those when they should, but it's no different from someone making an unexpected turn on a normal crossing.
• nkrisc 9y ago
  By the time a turning car and a bike intersect paths, the bike is moving across the front of the car, as opposed to approaching from behind as the car is turning. It would be far easier to spot a cyclist moving side-to-side across your vision out the front of the vehicle than trying to spot one in your blind spot. This of course assumes drivers follow the marking and don't just cut across the marked bike lines, in which case it would negate any advantage of this layout.