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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 t

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.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
deanclatworthy 7y ago
As a European I couldn't believe people cycled in the lanes I saw in NYC last year. I was there only a few days, but saw numerous close calls with drivers turning into the lanes. It's nuts. If you took away the parking inbetween the cycle lane and the road, you'd probably take away 50% of accidents also.
amalcon 7y ago
What factor do you believe explains the 78% drop in deaths and serious injuries per bicycle trip in NYC from 2000-2017? https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/nyc-cycling-risk.pdf https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/nyc-cycling-risk... I'm legitimately curious. I'm not a New Yorker, so it's very plausible that there are factors involved that I'm not aware of. E.g. if the additional 130 million trips in 2017 are all in Central Park, that could explain it.
- dsfyu404ed 7y ago
  There's some study that's popular to post around here (maybe someone has the link, I don't have it) but the gist of it is that in the past few years they identified the dangerous intersections and changed them up to make them less dangerous.
- wefarrell 7y ago
  I've only been biking here the last 6 years so it's hard to speculate, but I would guess that the number of people biking have forced cars to adjust. It's pretty rare for me to feel like I'm at risk of being hit by a car and anytime they don't notice me it's because I'm in their blind spot, which I now know to be aware of. Pedestrians are another story. They will cross streets and watch out for cars but not cyclists. I almost killed a small child when her mother directed her into the bike lane (without looking) in order to get around some obstacle on the side walk. Pedestrians do not pay attention and are frequently on their phones.
  - fooblitzky 7y ago
    But what caused the number of people biking to increase? Also - didn't the linked article explicitly rule out increased number of people biking as a factor in reducing fatalities?
hannasanarion 7y ago
>Cars use them for temporary parking How? If cars can get into the bike lane, then it's not protected.
- wefarrell 7y ago
  Do a google search for NYC bike lane and you'll see there are varying levels of protection, many of which do not prevent temporary parking.
  - hannasanarion 7y ago
    Yeah, and those don't apply for a discussion about "protected bike lanes". A line on the ground is not a protected bike lane.
chapium 7y ago
"Protected" usually means thatbthere is a physical barrier, not just painted lines.
- wefarrell 7y ago
  Frequently it's a physical barrier that springs back up when hit and does not prevent cars from parking. Here's an example: http://nyc.streetsblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/grand-blocked-46.jpg http://nyc.streetsblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/grand-...

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

deanclatworthy 7y ago

As a European I couldn't believe people cycled in the lanes I saw in NYC last year. I was there only a few days, but saw numerous close calls with drivers turning into the lanes. It's nuts. If you took away the parking inbetween the cycle lane and the road, you'd probably take away 50% of accidents also.

amalcon 7y ago

What factor do you believe explains the 78% drop in deaths and serious injuries per bicycle trip in NYC from 2000-2017? https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/nyc-cycling-risk.pdf https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/nyc-cycling-risk... I'm legitimately curious. I'm not a New Yorker, so it's very plausible that there are factors involved that I'm not aware of. E.g. if the additional 130 million trips in 2017 are all in Central Park, that could explain it.

dsfyu404ed 7y ago
There's some study that's popular to post around here (maybe someone has the link, I don't have it) but the gist of it is that in the past few years they identified the dangerous intersections and changed them up to make them less dangerous.
wefarrell 7y ago
I've only been biking here the last 6 years so it's hard to speculate, but I would guess that the number of people biking have forced cars to adjust. It's pretty rare for me to feel like I'm at risk of being hit by a car and anytime they don't notice me it's because I'm in their blind spot, which I now know to be aware of. Pedestrians are another story. They will cross streets and watch out for cars but not cyclists. I almost killed a small child when her mother directed her into the bike lane (without looking) in order to get around some obstacle on the side walk. Pedestrians do not pay attention and are frequently on their phones.
- fooblitzky 7y ago
  But what caused the number of people biking to increase? Also - didn't the linked article explicitly rule out increased number of people biking as a factor in reducing fatalities?

hannasanarion 7y ago

>Cars use them for temporary parking How? If cars can get into the bike lane, then it's not protected.

wefarrell 7y ago
Do a google search for NYC bike lane and you'll see there are varying levels of protection, many of which do not prevent temporary parking.
- hannasanarion 7y ago
  Yeah, and those don't apply for a discussion about "protected bike lanes". A line on the ground is not a protected bike lane.

chapium 7y ago

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

wefarrell 7y ago
Frequently it's a physical barrier that springs back up when hit and does not prevent cars from parking. Here's an example: http://nyc.streetsblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/grand-blocked-46.jpg http://nyc.streetsblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/grand-...