Comments for Bicycle Driving

Comment on About by Ask a Dilettante – Bikers, Geocentrism « Pithy

Ask a Dilettante – Bikers, Geocentrism « Pithy — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 00:26:20 +0000

[...] your issue, you are correct that bicycle riders are supposed to observe the same traffic rules as vehicles. This includes stopping at red lights and stop signs, riding in the same [...]

Comment on Guide to Improving Laws by Paul Schimek

Paul Schimek — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 03:15:02 +0000

I have never come across a state law, or even a local law, that requires bicyclists to ride facing traffic. However, every state, I believe, requires pedestrians to walk facing traffic if there is no sidewalk or shoulder. This is, I suspect, the source of some of the confusion. I have heard several reports that Boston teachers used to advise children to bicycle facing traffic, and I am sure there are other such examples.

Comment on Guide to Improving Laws by Ed

Ed — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 21:48:04 +0000

This seems to be a fairly common theme in the random letter-to-the-editor: “…I am from a state where bicyclists face traffic, and I have more than once avoided an erratic driver by…”

http://blog.cazbike.org/2010/06/letter-bicyclists-should-ride-facing.html

I assume it is totally false that there is any state where this is the case — but I wonder if it were ever true?

Comment on The Phoenix Gets it Wrong by matt

matt — Mon, 17 May 2010 04:10:15 +0000

thanks Paul. I’ve learned a tremendous amount from this website.

Comment on Bike Lanes by Incomplete Streets: How the Official Position of the Complete Streets Movement Marginalizes and Endangers Cyclists « Columbusite

Sun, 16 May 2010 22:36:31 +0000

[...] vehicular cycling. Where large systems of bike lanes have been implemented in cities such as Portland and NYC it is illegal for cyclists to not use a bike lane where present at the state level even though it [...]

Comment on The Phoenix Gets it Wrong by David Cain

David Cain — Sat, 15 May 2010 13:23:31 +0000

You make important distinctions and clarifications here and its great. Its amazing how there is almost a magnetic pull to define bicycle use based on fear and assumption rather then reason and actual law.

Comment on Centre/South Bike Markings Plan by Charlie

Charlie — Mon, 10 May 2010 12:24:20 +0000

I read in the JP Gazette that the City will be considering short painted lines running perpendicular to the edge of the bike lanes to warn bicyclists of the door zone. I hope they do try this. I am very interested to see if this causes bicyclists to ride in the left half of the bike lane. If it does turn out to be useful, this could be a treatment for all bike lanes or even just for areas where parking turnover is particularly high. In the latter case, it would be a good warning for bicyclists in those areas.

Comment on Bike Lanes for Jamaica Plain? by Lyle

Lyle — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:47:08 +0000

Lying with artists’ renderings. Gee, I’ve never seen that before.

Now I know that when presented with a drawing, I should always pull out a ruler and check the scale.

But how do we make the public care? They just see pretty pictures and think that being picky about things like scales is pure pedantry.

Comment on Bike Lanes for Jamaica Plain? by Wayne Pein

Wayne Pein — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:43:34 +0000

Good stuff Paul.

I wrote at critique of the Cambridge study at:
http://bicyclingmatters.wordpress.com/critiques/dzbls-in-cambridge-ma/

and of the San Francisco Study at:
http://bicyclingmatters.wordpress.com/critiques/san-franciscos-shared-marking/

Both of these studies are junk science.

Wayne

Comment on Centre/South Bike Markings Plan by Paul Schimek

Paul Schimek — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 20:41:20 +0000

Charlie,
Thanks for your comments. I will check out Elm Street (and maybe stop by Wheelworks!). I’m with you until we get here: “However, most bicyclists do not enjoy doing so and seem to appear to accept a slightly greater risk of dooring as opposed to an angry motorist behind them.”

1. As I wrote, cyclists can be outside the door zone and barely delay motorists in this corridor.
2. This is particularly true because it is so slow and congested.
3. When there is only one lane in each direction, cyclists should stay right when it is reasonable and safe for faster traffic to pass — but not so right as to be in the door zone.
4. Angry motorists do not injure bicyclists (except in the rare case when the cyclist responds aggressively, and then a fistfight may well break out, or worse).
5. Riding just a foot or two further right gives you a much (not slightly) greater risk of dooring — as opposed to an almost zero risk.
6. Dooring is serious. There is only one study of urban car-bike collisions that I know of, and it found: “Almost all cases [of dooring] occurred on arterial roads in central areas of the city, making the Door Prize, as it has become known, the most frequently reported type of bicycle/motor-vehicle collision in central Toronto. . . . Since the injuries sustained were often more severe than average, this type of crash would appear to be a very serious concern for urban cyclists.” (The study did not give a frequency distribution of crashes for central Toronto, but found that doorings were 12% of collisions citywide.) See http://www.toronto.ca/transportation/publications/bicycle_motor-vehicle/pdf/car-bike_collision_report.pdf
7. DZBLs reinforce and codify the misguided belief that it’s safer to be close to parked cars.