Originally Posted by
sauerwald
Freeways act like huge barriers to cyclists, with very few roads that cross them, therefore cyclists, as well as motorists are funneled together onto the few roads that cross these barriers. In California, the design of those places where city roads cross freeways is done by Caltrans, not by the city in which the roads exist, and Caltrans tends to place as it's priorities getting motor vehicles on and off the freeways - so the bike infrastructure in these places suffers. In California, an unusually high percentage of bike-car collisions occur at freeway overpasses.
Couple those high speed ramp entrances and exits with high speed surface streets and cyclists really suffer... These designs favor the motorist to such an extent that they clearly are a hazard to cyclists... and in this particular case there is NO bike infrastructure at these crossings. I have actually had to slow down, and give very wide room to motorists that didn't "get it" while I was crossing in the other direction on this same road... hand signals and gestures just did not work (do not work) for some drivers... they are clueless.
We don't however know what happened in this case... it could be a situation of unlighted cyclist ninja riding in dark clothing. I see many people on bikes riding through this intersection... and some of them have just come off the sidewalks and have really very little experience merging and mingling with motor traffic. (they are little more than "rolling peds...") This particular ramp is also right next to a parking lot exit, which further compounds the traffic complexity.