Advocacy & Safety - Door Zone Video

Or, how close can you safely ride to parked cars?

Take a look (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TQ7aID1jHs)

You may conclude, for your own safety, that most "bike lane" markings are about half as wide as they should be.

This is why I avoid 80% of bike lanes (even in bike friendly Portland) and claim the entire lane to myself.

Scary. Thanks for sharing the video.

Great video...Good clip to show my 10 year old daughter who like to take short rides with me.. :thumb:

The instructor here is Preston Tyree, head of the League of American Bicyclist's education program. This was filmed during the on-bike part of a League Cycling Instructor training course last week or the week before.

If you ever wonder what you miss by not taking one of the League's Traffic Skills courses, this is a little piece of it...

As I said in another thread, the instructor makes it sound easy to just move out of the bike lane when passing parked cars, maybe in a more bike friendly town than mine. My experience is that the majority of local motorists do not understand why you're not riding in the bike lane that they seem to feel that their hard earned tax dollars have provided.

I will ride on or near the inner white line of a bike lane, and only move out of it if there's an obvious obstruction/vehicle intrusion in the bike lane. I find this method more suitable for my needs, than trying to educate the hundreds of motorists that I interact with daily. When there's no bike lane present, I usually ride in the right tire track or more center depending on the roadway's width. It's interesting to see the difference in motorists' attitudes when there's a bike lane present than when there is not one.