Originally Posted by Helmet Head
This is the myth of bike lanes - that they make motorists more aware of bicyclists. Simplistic speculation may lead one to think so, but there is no evidence of this, and thoughtful speculation suggests the opposite.
http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.p...7&postcount=15
My own experience the first time I came into contact with bike lanes is enough for me. Remember,
I AM A MOTORIST. I know exactly how a motorist acts and thinks because I am one. So there you go, you can forget this whole
myth thing. I know exactly what I was thinking when I first saw bike lanes.
Originally Posted by Helmet Head
If you accept the premise that what is of primary importance to a driver is what is ahead in his path, that if drivers did not give what is ahead primary importance than they would crash much more often than they do, and that what is ahead in the driver's lane is more relevant to him than what is outside of his lane, then it follows that a cyclist up ahead in a bike lane is less relevant to a driver than the same cyclist up ahead who is within his lane.
Oh, so that's the reason there are no signs on the side of the road! Oh, wait a minute, there are. Hrm...
Drivers don't crash
more often than they already do out of self preserverence. It's not like
we, the drivers are out there to kill ourselves.
Originally Posted by Helmet Head
In fact, that a cyclist is expected to be in a bike lane might lead a driver to be LESS likely to notice him, much like a jar of mayo is easy to not notice when you open the fridge looking for milk, precisely because you expect to see the mayo there (there is nothing unusual or unexpected about that). But if you see a big rat staring you in the face, you're likely to notice him, because he's unexpected.
So because he's "expected" in the sense that you mean a cyclist should be expected to be in a bike lane, he is less likely to be noticed. And because he is less likely to be noticed as he is passed, he is less likely to be expected (in the sense that I mean it) to pass on the right.
But when driving we expect to see cars in front of us, how come we don't
overlook them as well.
So what if you have your way and all bike lanes are gone and everybody rides their bike in the road? Now cyclists are "expected" to be there. Now
we are the jar of Mayo but instead of being off to the side we are directly in the line of fire. Thanks Helmet Head, thanks for killing my neighbor because there wasn't a bike lane for her to ride in. She was hot too, but now she's dead... oh well.
One last thing.
I love the way you have removed yourself from being a motorist every time you talk about them. You say
them and
they but never
us when you talk about how they are like sheep or stupid or how they overlook things and never pay attention. Don't you drive?
I gave up driving a long time ago but I still call myself a motorist. It's nice how you think you are better.