Originally Posted by
genec
Your test is better, but doesn't do much if a cyclist is in a BL and the driver passed without having to move left, but then the driver proceeds to "fail" and makes a right hook. (didn't see the cyclist)
My test just checks for observation... are they aware of others on the road, or do they have lane blindness... Far too many drivers assume that as long as they are glued to the car in front, and stay in their lane, they can get away with anything... such as texting on a cell phone. The problem is, those drivers are not planning ahead, and often react late.
Granted a motorist may not have need to be concerned about a cyclist 2 lanes over and that is reasonable, but if someone just passed a cyclist on their immediate right, it would be nice to know the cyclist was in some manner "registered," even if no reaction is required.
Your outlining a major problem with bike lanes as we tend to implement them, not necessarily the motorist. A driver does not need to notice anything about cars in lanes adjacent to them, unless they plan to merge into that lane. Right hooks occur because they are set-up to require motorists to do something they normally are not allowed to do, which is make a right turn across an adjacent lane of traffic. I know that many places (but not all) have change the law to require a turning driver to first merge into the bike lane, but that isn't really something covered when the vast majority learned to drive. Compound that with the normal tendency of non-cyclists to under estimate cyclists speed and it is all too easy for right hooks to happen. The problem is that we are installing cycling infrastructure just to do so, without consideration to how to integrate the travel on these new facilities safely or to put the effort into ensuring that the large number of drivers who are currently licensed and will have no requirement to get tested on the changed laws since they first got licensed get trained into how to properly drive in regard to these facilities.
I have the same issue with other new (to the US at least) infrastructure designs such as traffic circles. When I first learned to drive many years ago there were no traffic circles in my state or any other state I had to take a test to get licensed. I doubt that the vast majority of currently licensed drivers have ever even seen a description of how they are supposed to navigate these new traffic control devices. And we didn't make re-testing a requirement when implementing such new control devices. Heck, I doubt most cops can tell you what is a legal and correct operation for many of these new fangled configurations.
A motorist is supposed to know, even if they were never required to learn it; however, the problem is that we have taken the easy way out (instead of requiring training and re licensing) so the result will be dead and injured cyclists.
P.S. asking about cyclists in a bike lane next to the car's travel lane would be a good addition to the test and the lecture you can give them after they give you the wrong answer.