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This will get more people on bicycles, which will almost certainly make the problem worse, unfortunately. No amount of lane protection prevents collisions in in
by gok 7y ago
This will get more people on bicycles, which will almost certainly make the problem worse, unfortunately. No amount of lane protection prevents collisions in intersections, which is where nearly all the deaths happen. The problem isn't the amount of protected lanes; it's the rampant amount of comically unqualified drivers. The two tearjerkers from the article are typical: an 18 year old blowing a red light and someone driving without a license.
- jdnenej 7y agoMore people riding a bike is less people driving a car so the situation has already improved.
- TulliusCicero 7y agoProtected intersections are also a thing. They didn't exist in the US at all until like 2015, but they're starting to become more common. They don't make safety 100% perfect, obviously, but they do make things substantially better.
- gok 7y agoThat just means they add bicycle setbacks in an attempt to scare drivers. It doesn't solve the problem when people are routinely allowed to drive without demonstrating an understanding of how a traffic light is supposed to be interpreted.
- TulliusCicero 7y agoIt does partially solve the problem. Protected intersections make lanes of walking and biking much more obvious to drivers, and the curbs are such that drivers slow down more and have better visibility.
- u801e 7y agoExcept for the fact that the bike lane is hidden by parked cars until shortly before getting to the intersection. What do you see in this image: https://imgur.com/a/JcS4RK5 https://imgur.com/a/JcS4RK5 The other thing is that if you go by the figures and text in https://nacto.org/publication/urban-bikeway-design-guide/dont-give-up-at-the-intersection/ https://nacto.org/publication/urban-bikeway-design-guide/don... on pages 12 and 13, you'll find that a right turning driver can only see about 8.2 feet to their right when making a turn. That's the only opportunity they have to see an approaching cyclist who comes from behind them moving at 16 feet per second. A half second to react to a cyclist appearing in the driver's field of view (as shown as the picture on page 13) is not enough time for a driver to yield.
- TulliusCicero 7y agoNot all protected bike lanes are parking protected. Don't think this is common in the Netherlands. Parking protected is better than having bikes on the other side of parked cars, but yes visibility is less than ideal. Anyway, you're ignoring the other two things I pointed out about protected intersections. It makes the bike lane itself more obvious, and the curb design forces drivers to slow down more.
- u801e 7y ago> Parking protected is better than having bikes on the other side of parked cars, but yes visibility is less than ideal. Without visibility, the motorist and cyclist could be on a collision course and not even know it until it's too late. On the other hand, if the cyclist is on the road in the middle of the general purpose traffic lane, the motorist will see them in advance and either change lanes to pass or slow down and wait until it's safe to do so. At intersections there won't be any turning conflicts because the turning motorist is either directly in front or directly behind the cyclist (meaning the motorist won't cross the path of the cyclist when making their turn). The fact is that the vast majority of motorist/cyclist collisions occur at intersections, so it makes more sense to cycle in a way such that you're visible to other drivers between intersections and follow the vehicle traffic rules when proceeding through one.