Originally Posted by
cplager
On one hand, in Germany, one actually needs to know how to drive to get a drivers license. This is not really the case in the US. This could be quite an advantage for German bicyclists...
On the other hand, what percentage of German roads has separate bike lanes?
I have no experience in Germany, but in France and Switzerland, most of the places I've been did not have separate lanes and I found that being seen was, as it is in the US, the most important factor.
Cheers,
Charles
Most people don't commute to work on a "road"
per se. They use specialized bike paths. If they live in an urban area of moderate size (100k people and up) then most inner city area will have separated bike lanes until the outskirts are the city. Then you get the US-style lane. But, when you're that far out of the city, there are number bike-only options.
Here's an inner city Frankfurt bike lane
but as you get 5km from city center it's more like this ... this video is good because it starts at the train station and heads out of town.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiteaW_mcRs