Originally Posted by
SweetLou
It looks like my hometown is planning on installing streetcars. Of course, the rails will be parallel to the travel of vehicles on the road. Whereas motor vehicles will have no problem crossing over the rails when changing lanes, a bicycle will have to overcome this hazard.
I'm just wondering about the legality of a city to intentionally install a road hazard? Has anyone ever heard of a city, county, etc. being sued because of a bicycle crashing due to the parallel rails?
It's not the rails, it's the depression beside the rail for the wheel flange to drop into, that causes most bicycle related incidents. Streetcars typical run on fairly wide roads, so avoiding the tracks in parallel is not difficult, as long as your aware of how to treat them properly when crossing them. Never cross a rail at an angle of less then 45 degrees the closer to 90 degrees the better. This means the best way to handle left turns is to box the corner rather then using the left turnout. Boxing a corner means you stay on the right side, go through the intersection, then turn your bike in the new direction and proceed while staying on the right side of the lane. Hopefully the city uses PSA's to tell cyclists how to deal with the tracks. The danger zone is typically the 10cm on either side of the gap beside the rail.