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I once drove my bike through The Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, France and Belgium. They all have bike lanes (well France sometimes have them) but what is d

by pasta 8y ago

I once drove my bike through The Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, France and Belgium. They all have bike lanes (well France sometimes have them) but what is different is that most bike lanes in The Netherlands are separated from other lanes. So you are and feel mutch safer. So I believe that bike lanes are not enough. They should be realy separated from other trafic.

PascLeRasc 8y ago
The other thing is that Europe doesn't have nearly as many huge SUVs as America. Helps a ton with visibility, driver awareness, braking speed, and less momentum in collisions.
- HarryHirsch 8y ago
  huge SUVs Oh yes, those huge things (trucks, too) with dark tinted windows are the pox on wheels. On a motorbike you sit higher and can look over regular passenger cars, and you can see all the road in front of you. But if you ride behind one of these antisocial fuck-you-I've-got-mine hulks you can't see the road, and it's life-threatening.
  - ajmurmann 8y ago
    Even being in a car these damn things are a problem. I would prefer a refund sedan as my next car, but because your visibility gets negatively impact when sitting in a low cat like that with all the SUVs around you, it will likely have to be a higher car like a Rav4 again.
  - twoWhlsGud 8y ago
    Yes, and apparently they're driving a big part of the increase in pedestrian deaths in the US https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/14/611116451/fatal-pedestrian-crashes-increasingly-involve-suvs-study-finds https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/14/611116451...
- rconti 8y ago
  To be fair, modern safety standards have made it virtually impossible to see out of cars anymore, forget SUVs. My 2016 VW Golf was very difficult to see out of, and that's a small(ish) box on wheels! I barely even bothered to look out of the mail slit rear window, I just use the backup camera. Our Tesla 3 is even worse; the rear 3/4 view is virtually impossible, and the trunklid is so high you'll only see the roof of the car behind you. Again, you're far safer relying on the camera at that point. The car also has huge blind spots due to the insane US side mirror laws that require flat glass on the driver's side. I'm anxiously awaiting the 3 going on sale in Europe so I can buy an aspheric replacement that allows me to see more than the grille of the car on my left.
- jiri 8y ago
  Well, I believe that Dutch roads are quite ok because the speed limits are usually followed and drivers are attentive. In other parts of Europe, road traffic is often much faster that speed limits (Central and Southern Europe) and drivers are not cooperative at all. Yeah, nothing that separated bike roads wouldn't solve.

by pasta 8y ago

PascLeRasc 8y ago

The other thing is that Europe doesn't have nearly as many huge SUVs as America. Helps a ton with visibility, driver awareness, braking speed, and less momentum in collisions.

HarryHirsch 8y ago
huge SUVs Oh yes, those huge things (trucks, too) with dark tinted windows are the pox on wheels. On a motorbike you sit higher and can look over regular passenger cars, and you can see all the road in front of you. But if you ride behind one of these antisocial fuck-you-I've-got-mine hulks you can't see the road, and it's life-threatening.
- ajmurmann 8y ago
  Even being in a car these damn things are a problem. I would prefer a refund sedan as my next car, but because your visibility gets negatively impact when sitting in a low cat like that with all the SUVs around you, it will likely have to be a higher car like a Rav4 again.
- twoWhlsGud 8y ago
  Yes, and apparently they're driving a big part of the increase in pedestrian deaths in the US https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/14/611116451/fatal-pedestrian-crashes-increasingly-involve-suvs-study-finds https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/14/611116451...
rconti 8y ago
To be fair, modern safety standards have made it virtually impossible to see out of cars anymore, forget SUVs. My 2016 VW Golf was very difficult to see out of, and that's a small(ish) box on wheels! I barely even bothered to look out of the mail slit rear window, I just use the backup camera. Our Tesla 3 is even worse; the rear 3/4 view is virtually impossible, and the trunklid is so high you'll only see the roof of the car behind you. Again, you're far safer relying on the camera at that point. The car also has huge blind spots due to the insane US side mirror laws that require flat glass on the driver's side. I'm anxiously awaiting the 3 going on sale in Europe so I can buy an aspheric replacement that allows me to see more than the grille of the car on my left.
jiri 8y ago
Well, I believe that Dutch roads are quite ok because the speed limits are usually followed and drivers are attentive. In other parts of Europe, road traffic is often much faster that speed limits (Central and Southern Europe) and drivers are not cooperative at all. Yeah, nothing that separated bike roads wouldn't solve.