4 ms·

> I have seen people cycling between rows of parked cars It's kinda ironic that that's used as an example of bad cycling, and also exactly where most bike lane

> I have seen people cycling between rows of parked cars It's kinda ironic that that's used as an example of bad cycling, and also exactly where most bike lanes are put: in the door zone of parked cars.

Retric 6y ago
I meant stoped cars at a stop light. Which should have been clear from context as you don’t normally get rows of parked cars on public streets. Anyway, that and other instances of sharing a lane beside a car is monumentally stupid. The only way to fight stereotypes like this is with hard evidence.
- nl 6y ago
  > I meant stoped cars at a stop light. That and other instances of sharing a lane beside a car is monumentally stupid. Ironically the point of this article is how this is always permitted and the sole reason sharrows exist is to point it out. Judging by your comment it isn't widely understood.
  - Retric 6y ago
    No this is really not about that, cyclists are always allowed to take up the full lane in cities, but it’s rarely legal to split a lane, and even then it’s a terrible idea. Preliminary results from a study in the United Kingdom, conducted by the University of Nottingham for the Department for Transport, show that filtering is responsible for around 5% of motorcycle Killed or Seriously Injured (KSI) accidents. (Bicycle statistics are harder to locate.)
    - alisonkisk 6y ago
      Filtering is not sharrowing. Sharrowing is splitting a large lane into two without a lane. Filtering is riding on the line between lanes.
    - nl 6y ago
      I don't think motorcycle data on lane splitting is particularly relevant, because motorcycles are able to keep up with traffic. If a cyclist can't lane-split, then what are they supposed to do up a hill? If they take the entire lane drivers get annoyed, if they don't take the entire lane (and follow the common guideline of riding as close to the edge as safe and practical) then you claim they are doing the wrong thing too?
      - Retric 6y ago
        Filtering specifically refers to stopepd traffic where there should be minimal differences.
- dmurray 6y ago
  To say "parked cars" when you mean "stopped cars" rules out any chance you are making a good faith argument.
  - Retric 6y ago
    Preliminary results from a study in the United Kingdom, conducted by the University of Nottingham for the Department for Transport, show that filtering is responsible for around 5% of motorcycle Killed or Seriously Injured (KSI) accidents. Bicycle statistics are harder to come by. But sure it’s “perfectly safe” and even occasionally legal. Frankly the number of people defending this practice is a significant sign it’s a real problem.
    - matsemann 6y ago
      Are those motorcycles zooming between cars at high speeds? Is that comparable to a cyclist? And filtering to get in front in the intersection is safer for a cyclist, as one is then better seen. So no reason not to filter through stopped traffic, really. If it's a safety issue, the solution is probably to remove those making it dangerous (cars) from the streets.
      - Retric 6y ago
        No “filtering” specifically refers to stopped traffic. The solution is to simply avoid trying to share a lane while sitting in people’s blind spots. Someone can easily get between two rows of cars turning left without realizing it and get knocked over even when the cars are doing everything correctly. The same is true of sharing lanes even on city streets, lanes simply are not wide enough to safely share as the motorcycle or cyclist has vastly reduced visibility and may miss construction lane markings etc that unexpectedly move traffic.

Retric 6y ago

I meant stoped cars at a stop light. Which should have been clear from context as you don’t normally get rows of parked cars on public streets. Anyway, that and other instances of sharing a lane beside a car is monumentally stupid. The only way to fight stereotypes like this is with hard evidence.

nl 6y ago
> I meant stoped cars at a stop light. That and other instances of sharing a lane beside a car is monumentally stupid. Ironically the point of this article is how this is always permitted and the sole reason sharrows exist is to point it out. Judging by your comment it isn't widely understood.
- Retric 6y ago
  No this is really not about that, cyclists are always allowed to take up the full lane in cities, but it’s rarely legal to split a lane, and even then it’s a terrible idea. Preliminary results from a study in the United Kingdom, conducted by the University of Nottingham for the Department for Transport, show that filtering is responsible for around 5% of motorcycle Killed or Seriously Injured (KSI) accidents. (Bicycle statistics are harder to locate.)
  - alisonkisk 6y ago
    Filtering is not sharrowing. Sharrowing is splitting a large lane into two without a lane. Filtering is riding on the line between lanes.
  - nl 6y ago
    I don't think motorcycle data on lane splitting is particularly relevant, because motorcycles are able to keep up with traffic. If a cyclist can't lane-split, then what are they supposed to do up a hill? If they take the entire lane drivers get annoyed, if they don't take the entire lane (and follow the common guideline of riding as close to the edge as safe and practical) then you claim they are doing the wrong thing too?
    - Retric 6y ago
      Filtering specifically refers to stopepd traffic where there should be minimal differences.
dmurray 6y ago
To say "parked cars" when you mean "stopped cars" rules out any chance you are making a good faith argument.
- Retric 6y ago
  Preliminary results from a study in the United Kingdom, conducted by the University of Nottingham for the Department for Transport, show that filtering is responsible for around 5% of motorcycle Killed or Seriously Injured (KSI) accidents. Bicycle statistics are harder to come by. But sure it’s “perfectly safe” and even occasionally legal. Frankly the number of people defending this practice is a significant sign it’s a real problem.
  - matsemann 6y ago
    Are those motorcycles zooming between cars at high speeds? Is that comparable to a cyclist? And filtering to get in front in the intersection is safer for a cyclist, as one is then better seen. So no reason not to filter through stopped traffic, really. If it's a safety issue, the solution is probably to remove those making it dangerous (cars) from the streets.
    - Retric 6y ago
      No “filtering” specifically refers to stopped traffic. The solution is to simply avoid trying to share a lane while sitting in people’s blind spots. Someone can easily get between two rows of cars turning left without realizing it and get knocked over even when the cars are doing everything correctly. The same is true of sharing lanes even on city streets, lanes simply are not wide enough to safely share as the motorcycle or cyclist has vastly reduced visibility and may miss construction lane markings etc that unexpectedly move traffic.