Vehicular Cycling (VC) - VC best practices pay off

Scenario/setup:


Four lane road with bike lanes (northbound Regents Rd north of La Jolla Village Drive, between Regents Park Row and Executive Drive (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=La+Jolla+Village+Dr+at+Towne+Centre+Dr,+San+Diego,+CA+92122&sll=32.841785,-117.26947&sspn=0.010564,0.023947&layer=&ie=UTF8&z=19&ll=32.873287,-117.21836&spn=0.001865,0.003393&t=h&om=1)).
Because fstd (faster same-direction traffic) is present, and I'm between intersections, I'm riding in in the margin (which happens to be demarcated as a bike lane).
Approaching a midblock intersection with a driveway to a large condo/apartment complex.
The fstd passing me is comprised of a sedan, then a pickup, then a van. The sedan and pickup have already passed me, and the van has just started passing me.


Then the following happens:

I notice the sedan up ahead starting to slow. I stop pedaling.
I notice the pickup and van start to slow too, but the van is still going faster than me, and is continuing to pass me.
The sedan has now turned right across the bike lane into the apartment complex driveway (it never merged into the bike lane).
The pickup starts accelerating and the van stops slowing, but at this point I'm even with the back of the van and my coasting alone is causing me to pass it. Out of habit I resist a strong tempation to start pedaling, because I've habitualized myself to avoid passing on the right.
I feather the brakes just enough to keep from passing the van.
We're all still moving forward and by this time the van, which I am following a couple of feet back and off to the side, has reached the driveway where the sedan turned, and now it too suddenly and much to my surprise turns into it too.


Did my adoption of the VC best practice to avoid passing on the right as an ingrained habit save me from being right hooked? Maybe. Maybe not. If I had really accelerated I might have passed him before he turned right without him even noticing me. But then, I had no way of knowing the pickup was not turning, and if it had been, and I had passed on the right, that could have been bad too.

The way I stopped pedaling in (1) above, as soon as I noticed the sedan 3 cars ahead slowing, was totally subconscious. By that I mean I did it before I realized what I was doing and why. From what I observe in other cyclists, I don't think many others would have done that.

Anyway, I just wanted to share a first hand experience of avoiding a crash thanks to internalizing VC best practices into my traffic cycling habits.

Lesson reinforced:
When passing on the right, be slow and very careful, and avoid doing it altogether anywhere where there is some place for motorists to turn right, including a harmless looking apartment driveway.

...
Anyway, I just wanted to share a first hand experience of avoiding a crash thanks to internalizing VC best practices into my traffic cycling habits.

Lesson reinforced: [B]
When passing on the right, be slow and very careful, and avoid doing it altogether anywhere where there is some place for motorists to turn right, including a harmless looking apartment driveway.


Who Wudda Thunk it?

we're very proud of you, helmet head.

Lesson reinforced:
When passing on the right, be slow and very careful, and avoid doing it altogether anywhere where there is some place for motorists to turn right, including a harmless looking apartment driveway.
Good advice. Well done. I would have done the same.

Jalopy

PS - for the record, I much prefer it when you focus on solid cyclings tips as above rather than your "wacky" pet theories.

Who Wudda Thunk it?

Given how often cyclists are right hooked, quite a few, apparently.

Reinforced lesson #2: it is your responsibility to avoid being right hooked.

Given how often cyclists are right hooked, quite a few, apparently.

Reinforced lesson #2: it is your responsibility to avoid being right hooked.


But just how often are they right hooked?
http://www.bicyclinginfo.org/bc/types.cfm
It doesn't seem to be in the top 3 anyway.

Congratulations on using plain old common sense, rather than any ideology or methodology to avoid an accident.

Scenario/setup:


Four lane road with bike lanes (northbound Regents Rd north of La Jolla Village Drive, between Regents Park Row and Executive Drive (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=La+Jolla+Village+Dr+at+Towne+Centre+Dr,+San+Diego,+CA+92122&sll=32.841785,-117.26947&sspn=0.010564,0.023947&layer=&ie=UTF8&z=19&ll=32.873287,-117.21836&spn=0.001865,0.003393&t=h&om=1)).
Because fstd (faster same-direction traffic) is present, and I'm between intersections, I'm riding in in the margin (which happens to be demarcated as a bike lane).
Approaching a midblock intersection with a driveway to a large condo/apartment complex.
The fstd passing me is comprised of a sedan, then a pickup, then a van. The sedan and pickup have already passed me, and the van has just started passing me.


Then the following happens:

I notice the sedan up ahead starting to slow. I stop pedaling.
I notice the pickup and van start to slow too, but the van is still going faster than me, and is continuing to pass me.
The sedan has now turned right across the bike lane into the apartment complex driveway (it never merged into the bike lane).
The pickup starts accelerating and the van stops slowing, but at this point I'm even with the back of the van and my coasting alone is causing me to pass it. Out of habit I resist a strong tempation to start pedaling, because I've habitualized myself to avoid passing on the right.
I feather the brakes just enough to keep from passing the van.
We're all still moving forward and by this time the van, which I am following a couple of feet back and off to the side, has reached the driveway where the sedan turned, and now it too suddenly and much to my surprise turns into it too.


Did my adoption of the VC best practice to avoid passing on the right as an ingrained habit save me from being right hooked? Maybe. Maybe not. If I had really accelerated I might have passed him before he turned right without him even noticing me. But then, I had no way of knowing the pickup was not turning, and if it had been, and I had passed on the right, that could have been bad too.

The way I stopped pedaling in (1) above, as soon as I noticed the sedan 3 cars ahead slowing, was totally subconscious. By that I mean I did it before I realized what I was doing and why. From what I observe in other cyclists, I don't think many others would have done that.

Anyway, I just wanted to share a first hand experience of avoiding a crash thanks to internalizing VC best practices into my traffic cycling habits.

Lesson reinforced:
When passing on the right, be slow and very careful, and avoid doing it altogether anywhere where there is some place for motorists to turn right, including a harmless looking apartment driveway.


Interesting. You do realize that you should have merged into traffic, at least a foot or two out of the bike lane, once you started going faster than the line. This comes up regularly in the course of my commuting. What I do is, once I start catching up with the car ahead, I slow somewhat before I get there if my intention is to stay behind, and merge into the traffic lane. This usually means I leave the bike lane by just a few feet, so I am clearly behind the car, and stay there until the line starts speeding up again.

By staying off to the right and a few feet behind the van, you were in the van's blind spot; exactly where I would not be. I'd be either accelerating to get out of that blind spot, or getting in behind and in line with the van. All this by habit. I was taught that the absolute worst place in the world to be when driving or biking on the road is in a car's blind spot.

You should have faded in behind the van, if it be your desire to stay behind the van, or accelerate to put yourself in front of the van. If the van needs to pass you again, so be it, at least you were in a position to be seen by the driver and if the van's intent was to turn, it'd fall further behind you in slowing to make the turn.

You made a bad decision here.

{edited to put in quote}

Anyway, I just wanted to share a first hand experience of avoiding a crash thanks to internalizing VC best practices into my traffic cycling habits.

You avoided the crash due to luck and observation. You were hardly following best practices here, and you certainly didn't avoid the possiblity of a right hook by being positioned relative to the van as you were. For instance, as you were off to the side and behind, the van could have stopped more quickly than it did to make the turn, forcing you into a right hook position. You didn't pass, which is arguably good (I probably would have accelerated ahead of the van, but it is situational; I just tend toward the assertive side of life on a bike), but you should have gotten yourself in line with the van to avoid the possibility of a right hook.

What's "BC"?

Is it "Bicycular Cycling", kind of like what Bek had in mind?

What's "BC"?

Is it "Bicycular Cycling", kind of like what Bek had in mind?
LOL. It's a typo.

Should be VC!

You avoided the crash due to luck and observation. You were hardly following best practices here, and you certainly didn't avoid the possiblity of a right hook by being positioned relative to the van as you were. For instance, as you were off to the side and behind, the van could have stopped more quickly than it did to make the turn, forcing you into a right hook position. You didn't pass, which is arguably good (I probably would have accelerated ahead of the van, but it is situational; I just tend toward the assertive side of life on a bike), but you should have gotten yourself in line with the van to avoid the possibility of a right hook.
Actually, the blind spot is further up. I was behind him. I didn't verify this explicitly, but I'm pretty sure I could see him in his right rear view mirror. More importantly, we weren't going fast enough for it to matter much.

Just prior to this was an incline, and I was probably still going under 15 while I was being passed. With the slowing because of the turning sedan, I was going well under 10 while following the van in his blind spot. At that slow speed I can stop almost instantly.

Also, all this happened within a very small number of seconds, like 2 or 3. There really wasn't time to do anything other than slow down or speed up.

You avoided the crash due to luck and observation. You were hardly following best practices here, and you certainly didn't avoid the possiblity of a right hook by being positioned relative to the van as you were. For instance, as you were off to the side and behind, the van could have stopped more quickly than it did to make the turn, forcing you into a right hook position. You didn't pass, which is arguably good (I probably would have accelerated ahead of the van, but it is situational; I just tend toward the assertive side of life on a bike), but you should have gotten yourself in line with the van to avoid the possibility of a right hook.

Please bear with me for a second...

There are three basic rules of firearm safety:

1. All guns are always loaded
2. Never point a firearm at anything you don't intend to destroy.
3. Never put your finger on the trigger until you intend to fire.

The beauty of these three simple rules is that even if you disobey any 2 of the 3, the third can prevent you from a bad mistake.

The same thing applies to HH here. Even if he didn't follow a VC best practice as you outlined, another best practice, common sense (resisting the urge to pass on the right when there was obvious right hook potential), saved him.

I mention this because my biggest beef with then endless VC debates and theories we get here is that they way overcomplicate things for most people. This was another of the things that prompted me to do the Adaptive Cycling thing...so that we could hopefully come up with a small number of very general rules that are easy to understand and also complement each other (like the gun rules) so that remembering just one can prevent bad things from happening. Does anyone think a thread with that goal in mind might be useful?

So basically, you stayed alert and didn't allow the car to turn into you. Good: basic common sense.

The real problem is when you are going fast enough for it to matter. That's when the vehicular cycling techniques are useful. (The techniques, not the worldview)

why is this such a notable event you needed to post about it, mr. head? seems pretty **-hum to me, actually.

call me less than impressed. you avoided a hook by slowing. WOW.

Did my adoption of the VC best practice to avoid passing on the right as an ingrained habit save me from being right hooked?

How is this not normal, everyday, ordinary Adaptive Cycling?

The only thing notable about it is that it is a real world actual example of how avoiding the temptation to pass on the right in a bike lane can save your a$$.

It illustrates the benefits of applying the hypothetical armchair analysis in real world situations.

Please bear with me for a second...

There are three basic rules of firearm safety:

1. All guns are always loaded
2. Never point a firearm at anything you don't intend to destroy.
3. Never put your finger on the trigger until you intend to fire.

The beauty of these three simple rules is that even if you disobey 2 of the 3, the third can prevent you from a bad mistake.

The same thing applies to HH here. Even if he didn't follow a VC best practice as you outlined, another best practice, common sense (resisting the urge to pass on the right when there was obvious right hook potential), saved him.

I mention this because my biggest beef with endless VC debates we have here is that it way overcomplicates things for most people. This was another of the things that prompted me to do the Adaptive Cycling thing...so that we could hopefully come up with a small number of very general rules that are easy to understand and also complement each other (like the gun rules) so that remembering just one can prevent bad things from happening. Does anyone think a thread with that goal in mind might be useful?

Good enough. Even when I am driving and passing a line of stopped cars in a different lane, I am cautious of people doing odd things. I treat every car as if it is going to turn into me (again, driving or cycling). And when I am cycling in heavy, stop and go traffic where the line is alternating between my speed and faster, I join the line when the line slows, and go back to the bike lane as the line picks up. If the line is stopped, I pass in the bike lane on the right, but cautiously and at half speed.

For right hooks, I recommend, in the spirit of your three rules:

AC rules for right hooks in bike lanes:
1) be wary of decelerating cars coming up from behind.
2) stay out of the car's blind spot. Join the line of traffic as it slows to your speed.
3) never pass on the right unless sure the car has no intention of turning.

Rule one is my first defense against right hooks. Most right hooks are speed misjudgements by the driver regarding the cyclist. A car decelerating as it comes up behind me is my que to be wary of that car's intentions. I usually accelerate to get out of the situation and make the driver aware of my presence and stay in front of the decelerating car.

why is this such a notable event you needed to post about it, mr. head? seems pretty **-hum to me, actually.

call me less than impressed. you avoided a hook by slowing. WOW.


How is this not normal, everyday, ordinary Adaptive Cycling?People, people! Work with me here. Is this tip, while maybe obvious to most seasoned cyclists, from an actual riding experience not an improvement from the typical hypothetical, loaded and cryptic poll? Should we not be encouraging this change of HH's MO?

Or are you trying reverse psychology?

Jalopy

You are right, Jalopy. We should encourage more real-world experience from HH. The theory stuff is tedious. Real world stuff might actually be helpful to someone.

HH, perhaps the one vehicle did not merge into the Bl because the driver saw you there, or perhaps because the driver knows it against the law to do so at a driveway entrance. Also I didn't know vehicles were allowed to merge into a BL to turn, didn't realize BL's were wide enough to accomidate a motorized vehicle. Wouldn't that make a BL a travel or turn lane?

HH, perhaps the one vehicle did not merge into the Bl because the driver saw you there, or perhaps because the driver knows it against the law to do so at a driveway entrance. Also I didn't know vehicles were allowed to merge into a BL to turn, didn't realize BL's were wide enough to accomidate a motorized vehicle. Wouldn't that make a BL a travel or turn lane?
In California, motor vehicles are required to merge into the bike lane to make a right turn. It's not like that everywhere. Not all motorists here know they are supposed to, either.

Even if many just consider it basic common sense, this thread still contains good information for staying safe that not all readers would have necessarily considered.

And HH lightening up a little...


It illustrates the benefits of applying the hypothetical armchair analysis in real world situations.


:lol: :lol:

well, I guess hearing of mr. head actually riding is pretty impressive.

Avoiding a hook by slowing as a car passes near an upcoming intersection is cycling 101. REGARDLESS how the road is striped.

Heck, sometimes the car is pulling up to park on the road or swing a wide U-turn, no intersection required.

Glad he could bring it to the table, i guess. i wasn't suitably impressed as a scenario that merited sitting in front of a computer and typing a few hundred word scenario, that stuff happens ALL THE TIME out on the streets, regardless of how the road is striped.

most of you think that HH just armchairs his entire life ... but based on this post, apparently he does venture outside of the cave !!!!

=)

... to the OP, great info - I would have passed, and possibly been right hooked, thats the the way I roll homey.

LOL

Avoiding a hook by slowing as a car passes near an upcoming intersection is cycling 101. REGARDLESS how the road is striped.

Well, it was an intersection with a driveway, not a full blown intersection per se.

It's hard to convey in words how tempting it was to speed up once the first car turned. There was no indicatin at all that the van would also turn.

It was a small section of motor traffic congestion with the velo transit facility urging me to use it to take full advantage of being on a bike and pass by that congestion. I'm lucky I had the strength and resolution to resist biting from the apple she was offering.

N_C - Diane is right. Motorists are required to merge (as much as they can) into a bike lane before any right turn. The majority of drivers don't seem to know this.

LOL. It's a typo.

Should be VC!
Fixed.

I pass lines of slow and stopped traffic in a bike lane a lot as well; nothing odd about using a bike lane to ones' advantage to pass stopped or congested traffic either.

using a bike lane to pass on the right is NOT a certain 'kiss of death'; using simple awareness to decipher the dangerous from the inane helps a rider ADAPT to the ever morphing cycling environment.

In California, motor vehicles are required to merge into the bike lane to make a right turn. It's not like that everywhere. Not all motorists here know they are supposed to, either.

It is certainly not uniform. In Oregon, motorists are not allowed to merge into the bike lane except for certain times at major intersections with light control. Instead, motorists are directed to turn across the bike lane.

Exactly- first, I hate the expression "best practice" (I work in the management consulting field, and I cannot STAND that term). Secondly, anyone can dissect each and every ride to list all sorts of "near misses" and what ifs. I prefer to just ride. I really don't get hit very often, and it doesn't require that much skill or intelligence to survive on the road.

Well, it was an intersection with a driveway, not a full blown intersection per se.

It's hard to convey in words how tempting it was to speed up once the first car turned. There was no indicatin at all that the van would also turn.

This is a good example of what it means to plan for Murphy. There was a driveway, a car had already turned into it and there was another vehicle pretty much right next to you as you approached the same driveway. So despite any indication, one should 'expect' the van, and possibily other traffic ahead or behind him, to also make that turn and plan accordingly. Indeed, the first car turning in should have been plenty of 'indication' of the possibility, don't you think?

Brian is right, when traffic started going your speed, you should have slowed down and merged behind the van. Or, better yet, on a road with curb cuts, you probably should have been in the right tire track anyway. I don't buy dynamic lane positioning. Too many conflicts come from deciding when to move into or out of traffic.

I pick the spot where I can most safely ride in a predictable straight line. That's usually in the right tire track of the right lane.

Did my adoption of the VC best practice to avoid passing on the right as an ingrained habit save me from being right hooked?

It's a Festivus miracle!

Oh god, chipcom, you can't be serious













with that new avatar.

Oh god, chipcom, you can't be serious
with that new avatar.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=273958
Beware, do not attempt to ingest any food or beverages when viewing the above thread, you WILL make a mess of your keyboard and monitor! :eek:

I have tears. Tears. I'm laughing so hard. I'm also very disturbed.

I have tears. Tears. I'm laughing so hard. I'm also very disturbed.

Foo is much more fun than A&S! :D

Oh good, you switched to the snarling dog. That's the one that gave me tears.

Brian is right, when traffic started going your speed, you should have slowed down and merged behind the van. Or, better yet, on a road with curb cuts, you probably should have been in the right tire track anyway. I don't buy dynamic lane positioning. Too many conflicts come from deciding when to move into or out of traffic.

I pick the spot where I can most safely ride in a predictable straight line. That's usually in the right tire track of the right lane.


The biggest problem with being behind a van is that to motorists you are approaching, that may want to merge into that line of traffic from say a driveway, you are invisible behind a large vehicle like a van, and it is too easy for a motorists to drive right into you.

I try to avoid being right behind vans, buses and other large vehicle that you cannot see through or around.

Any motorists looking for a gap only sees the gap and not the cyclist. You are better off hanging back and keeping to the right a bit to see and be seen by anybody looking for a gap.

Of course the flip side is that if all the traffic is slowing for a bunch of right turners... you can slide off to the left and split the lane and bypass all the slow lumbering "elephants" in the way. But that too is a chancy "messenger" move that should only be done when traffic is crawling along.

I have a feeling where HH was, the traffic on the left was moving well and a messenger move might not be prudent either.

(as an aside, to HH) Was this driveway where the bagel shop exists... I always move way left in that area due to the stream of motorists looking for a morning "fix." Yeah, by your map, I see that is exactly the location. I don't know if this is as much VC as it is "local knowledge..." Perhaps the move is VC, but knowing the habits of motorists in that location is also a good thing. Somewhat like this thread (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=273873) where Starbucks has created a new local "hazard."

Of course any driveway can cause a right turning stream of traffic... but some places are such a "draw" that one should just go beyond defensive cycling and prepare for the inevitable.

When I get behind large vehicles like vans, I think the biggest risk would be oncoming turning left into me, so I tend to ride in the far left of the lane, not passing. That way, I'm visibile to the oncoming traffic. If traffic comes at me from the right, there's more distance between me and them.

But you are right, keeping a healthy distance is also a good idea. Sometimes, it isn't safe to race through traffic, and you just have to slow down.

sometimes, despite the risk, the traffic dance is enjoyable :D but you've got to have your wits about you....

I'm all for grabbing the next lane of traffic if, for example, the rightmost lane is clogging with starbucks-jonesing cagers all hot for latte....but you've got to be ON your game.


Still not too impressed with the importance of this scenario. common, happens all the time. traffic passes a bicyclist, slows to make turn. doesn't matter what type of road striping or lane position. Of course, if you're far left in a wide lane, the cars just turn right to the bicyclists' right. but the cars stacking up behind the cyclist will also pass to the right of the cyclist in the left of a wide lane. hmm..... and in narrow lanes, cars pull the half lane split/hook on a regular basis as well.

Keeping everyday cyclists in a more visible road position is an advantage to a well provided bike lane network integrated with a community's roads.

Regardless of road striping and road position the threat of hooks is always there. a cyclist should learn how to anticipate these cager moves, and avoid them. of course, one of the best tools a municipality has to move ALL bicyclists away from the curb into a more visible road position is by striping well provided bike lanes along arterials with major intersection accomodations built in.

. . . Keeping everyday cyclists in a more visible road position is an advantage to a well provided bike lane network integrated with a community's roads. . . .
I've seen examples of bike lanes that put cyclists in a more visible position--sharrows in the right tire tracks. But usually, striped lanes segregate cyclists off to the least visible place they can be (other than the sidewalk)--the right five feet of the pavement.

um, sharrows are not bike lanes :roflmao: and bike lanes help discourage curbhugging. and striped to the left of a parking strip, actully move riders out into a quite visible road position.

I'm sure you've ridden behind curbhuggers on unaccomodaed roads, daily??

I don't know if this is as much VC as it is "local knowledge..." Perhaps the move is VC, but knowing the habits of motorists in that location is also a good thing.
Exactly. Using your head and learning from experience is not a unique "VC best practice" even if the proselytizer(s) claim(s) exclusive ownership. I learned long ago back in Philadelphia to avoid riding a bicycle through gas station lots due to the high likelihood of encountering an ill tempered fear biting German Shepard dog. And avoiding close proximity to loitering local gentry standing on the corner near liquor stores. And a zillion other things not found in Vehicular Cycling Proselytizer approved "Good Books." There is nothing "VC brand best practices" about sensible bicyclists adapting to local/universal conditions.

um, sharrows are not bike lanes and bike lanes help discourage curbhugging. and striped to the left of a parking strip, actully move riders out into a quite visible road position.

I'm sure you've ridden behind curbhuggers on unaccomodaed roads, daily??
Those curb huggers (or parked car huggers) are free to move to a more visible position without a lane stripe. That's their choice. They need to take pesonal responsibility for their decision to ride in an unsafe position. Why would they ride in an unsafe position when there is no stripe. Hmmmm. I remember a certain author writing about the irrational fears of incompetent cyclists, but I won't mention his name.

why? that's what the average cyclist does, brother. aren't you clued into your riding brethren?

Have you seen curbhuggers on unaccomodated roads, daily? they hug the curb, weaving behind parked cars, and out again. it's very common. However, bike lanes to the left of a parking strip, with a buffer, place riders out in a more visible, much more visible, consistent road position. sorry to rain on your parade.

I'm also not willing to continue to debate the obvious visibility advantages bike lanes provide average cyclists, daily. you are clearly anti-faciltiies; that is apparant.

I'm anti-stupid-facilities and pro-cyclists taking personal responsibility for their own safety.

Some bike facilties make sense, others don't. Except on high-speed roads with few curb cuts, segregated striped lanes generally don't make sense. On other types of roads, cyclists should show the personal responsibility to learn how to ride safely. Whether they take an official course, practice on low-traffic roads to learn, read books (taken out from the library if they can't afford to buy them), or watch vidoes (again taken out from the library if they can't afford to buy them), cyclists have many options to learn how to deal with traffic.

It's not that hard to ride in traffic. And that's why the choice of some to remain ignorant is not an excuse. The VC case is about personal responsibility. The AC (or whatever) case is about child-like dependence on the nanny-state.

Keeping everyday cyclists in a more visible road position is an advantage to a well provided bike lane network integrated with a community's roads.



Sorry, but I just don't see how stripes on the road work to make cyclists more visible. Stripes do work to guide motorists... but offer visibility, not hardly.

*************************************************

As for the right hook situation... yesterday I was riding on a road without a BL, and where there is a mix of parked cars and open spaces. I was riding well into the right tire track... not moving fast, mind you. Along comes a young "buck" in his fast little car.... sweeping past me and he suddenly slows down. Alert signal goes off in my head and I yell at him to stop. (his window was down) His snappy reply... "Hey, I saw you." BTW he stopped and I continued on.

So the real question then becomes... OK sure, but then why didn't you merge behind me instead of trying to race around me?

I was well left into the right lane, and he should have moved behind me to make his turn... but no, again here comes "the notion" that he should pass a cyclist, NO MATTER WHAT.

So no BL involved, similar situation as HH, I am positioned well left in the lane, in the right tire track on a WOL where there is plenty of room to my right for cars to park (and even pass me along the curb)... yet this kid still chose to try to go around me to try a right hook and turn.

why? that's what the average cyclist does, brother. aren't you clued into your riding brethren?

Have you seen curbhuggers on unaccomodated roads, daily? they hug the curb, weaving behind parked cars, and out again. it's very common. However, bike lanes to the left of a parking strip, with a buffer, place riders out in a more visible, much more visible, consistent road position. sorry to rain on your parade.

I'm also not willing to continue to debate the obvious visibility advantages bike lanes provide average cyclists, daily. you are clearly anti-faciltiies; that is apparant.

In my area where there are no BL, folks ride the sidewalks... in fact I see far far more sidewalk riders than any other form of cyclist.

That doesn't make it right mind you... I saw an illustration of the worst of sidewalk riding yesterday afternoon... riding against the flow, against traffic turning left at a light and confusing the heck out of motorists (and no doubt biasing them against cyclists in general) who couldn't tell what this bike rider was doing. I could only shake my head in disbelief.

gene, bike lanes, striped to the left of parked car zones, with a buffer, move cyclists consistently away from a curbhugging position so common by bicyclists. it moves the average cyclist out into the road by 12-14 feet away from the curb, where an 'average' and the majority of bicyclists would ride by default, right next to the curb.

municipalities can position cyclists in a more visible default road position by adding buffered bike lane networks.

This is all far from the intent of the original post and common knowledge; i'm not intent to debate this fact in this thread & add this just as clarification.

I'm anti-stupid-facilities and pro-cyclists taking personal responsibility for their own safety.

Some bike facilties make sense, others don't. Except on high-speed roads with few curb cuts, segregated striped lanes generally don't make sense. On other types of roads, cyclists should show the personal responsibility to learn how to ride safely. Whether they take an official course, practice on low-traffic roads to learn, read books (taken out from the library if they can't afford to buy them), or watch vidoes (again taken out from the library if they can't afford to buy them), cyclists have many options to learn how to deal with traffic.


I am 100% with you here.



It's not that hard to ride in traffic. And that's why the choice of some to remain ignorant is not an excuse. The VC case is about personal responsibility. The AC (or whatever) case is about child-like dependence on the nanny-state.

I have to laugh here, as motorists are highly dependent of the nanny-state. They need slot car like guidance to show them exactly where to drive, and all forms of "safety devices" to protect them lest they fail to act responsibly. And of course all that "safety" tends to just empower motorist to faster and faster.