sbhikes

It's Fall now and the sun is low both coming and going to work. Yesterday, I rode my motorscooter to work instead of riding. I could barely see where I was going! Even when I shielded my eyes with my hand I could barely see. At least my face shield wasn't all fogged over like the lady I saw travelling the other way.

I decided to take a careful measure of what I actually could see. All I could see was light and shadow. As long as light reflected from some large surface I could see it. Otherwise everything else was hidden in black shadow. I could see the road some distance in front of me as a blinding blob of yellow, the sun reflecting from car roofs, and the sky with silhouetted trees against the ocean. Smart people in opposing lanes were driving with their headlights on. Thankfully, I could see the white line of the bike lane stripe. I actually found it a helpful guide to the actual boundaries of the road. The glare was that bad.

I could see nothing inside the bike lane. My only hope was that the bikes would stay in there, and that HH wasn't in town for a visit. There's no way I would have seen him in the road in front of me. I couldn't make out any shape smaller than a car, and the only part of the car I could actually see were the tail lights and the roof. And yes, I was going pretty slow. But cars all around me were passing me like I stood still.

I don't know about you guys, but I'm taking the bike path until the time changes and this low sun is gone. I'm also using my lights. Good luck out there HH. I hope you don't have to travel due east or west at the wrong time of day. Don't take your eyes of that mirror of yours if you do.

It wouldn't hurt to use your lights at this time, too.

Dchiefransom

Maybe getting to work 30 minutes earlier and relaxing would be a better way to do it.

thechrisproject

Wow.

Helmet Head

Last year a cyclist was killed here in San Diego when he was run over from behind by a airport transport van. It was in the morning, both were driving into the sun. The cyclist was in the bike lane.

I agree that cyclists are particularly vulnerable at sunset and sunrise with glaring sun visibility issues. While I don't have any sunrise riding experience, at sunset I do adjust, taking extra care that approaching traffic sees me, even pulling over and waiting for a gap from time to time. But I'm not going to assume that white stripe is going to protect me from motorists who don't see me. If they don't see me, they are likely to not see the stripe either...

John E

Although I generally concur with Serge's post, when the sun is in everyone's eyes, on a very fast road with few intersections, I would rather be outside the main traffic stream than taking the outer lane. I always plan or adjust my recreational cycling to avoid riding directly into the rising or setting sun. For transportation cycling, I have fewer options for achieving the same objective.

sbhikes

I'm telling ya. That bike lane stripe was the brightest thing in the road. It glows. I wouldn't poo-poo it completely like you do.

77Univega

--- Yeah and here is an excellent article that promotes vehicular cycling:
https://www.humantransport.org/bicycl...cs1/index.html

And the article contains this evidence of the proven safety of bike lanes:
https://www.humantransport.org/bicycl...tics1/img6.gif

lws

Um. When I took driver's ed, they told me that if I couldn't see where I was going, I should pull over and stop until visibility improved. Isn't it illegal to drive with impaired vision? I'm sure people do it all the time, and I know that nobody cares to enforce laws against dangerous driving, but I'm surprised that anyone here would publicly admit to doing it themselves.

Dchiefransom

Gee, I wonder what point of view we're going to get from an organization that has titles that include "Bicycle Driving"?
You're second link has statistics that do not compare to any other stats listed.

I-Like-To-Bike

Wonder no more; "Bicycle Driving" is a sure sign of a Bruce Rosar rant and a handful of associates who take his unique legal/cycling theories seriously. Referring to bicycle lanes as "segregationist discrimination" is another tip-off of same.

Using stilted language to make wacky ideological points seems to be a trademark of the VC extremists: Think "cyclo-segregation" or "cyclist-inferiority phobia, complex, or superstition."

sggoodri

Be careful with your conclusions. The study showed that streets where bike lanes were added had lower crash rates than all other streets in general. But it didn't compare apples to apples, and so we don't know if stripes make roads safer, or if stripes only get added to roads that are relatively safe for cycling to begin with.

I believe it is the latter. For example, the NC Department of Transportation does not endorse bike lane installation on roads with high speed/high volume traffic or lots of driveways and intersections. And, the striping is not allowed on roads with pavement too narrow to allow adequate passing distance. As a result, many cities including the one where I live will only install striping on low-volume, low-speed streets with few junctions. These roads are inherently safer for cycling before the stripe is added. In fact, that is a deliberate decision by some of the transportation departments, who fear that striping might lure novices out onto busy, more hazardous roads if they stripe the busy roads.

So, until we see an apples-to-apples study that has enough crash data to be statistically significant, it is hard to say anything about the effect of striping on safety for the same width of pavement, junctions, and traffic characterstics. Personally, on those roads that have had bike lane stripes added to previously unstriped wide pavement, I see a lot more debris accumulation, and I have to ride closer to the cars to protect my tires. I would not be surprised if a study eventually found that riding in a clean bike lane beside a busy high-speed travel lane was safer than sharing the same road without the extra stripe. But since there are no clean bike lanes next to busy high-speed roads where I live, I cannot take advantage of this possibility.

-Steve Goodridge

77Univega

--- Yeah and here is an excellent article that promotes vehicular cycling:
https://www.humantransport.org/bicycl...cs1/index.html

And the article contains this evidence of the proven safety of bike lanes:
https://www.humantransport.org/bicycl...tics1/img6.gif


--- Bike Forums members who want to investigate this evidence are directed to the source:

Moritz, W. Adult Bicyclists in the United States: Characteristics and Riding Experience in 1996. Transportation Research Record 1636: pp. 1-7, 1998.
by William E. Moritz, Ph.D., Human Powered Transportation, University of Washington,
Box 352500, Seattle WA 98195-2500

2manybikes

I agree 100% about the lights.

A good bright daylight visible taillight like the New cateye 10 led tail light can make a red dot in that shadow you see. Lights on for safety. It does not solve everything, but it's one thing you can do that helps. Same for a headlight. It makes you more visible. Even during the middle of the day. Cars and motorcycles do this all the time.

Don't wait until you can't see to ride to put your lights on.

nova

Somethign i find intresting about that "evidence" gif is major road with out BL has fewer accidents than minor roads with out while roads with BLs have better than half fewer crashes and nearly half that of minor roads with out. To me that "evidence" shows bike lanes in general improve saftty for cyclists. But where did they get this "evidence"?
How many states ounties and cities and neighbor hoods were included?

Playing devils advocate for VC here same argument i use agaisnt vc as being the answer can be used to disprove and invalidate this "evidence" for bls. What works in one area will not work in other areas. As ive said all along there is no one answer. A combanation of DE with Vc and Bls as well as other things are needed to make it as safe as possible for us to ride the roads. BLs are great on long busy roads with few intersections and houses. You get out in a farming area where there may be 100 200 300 or more feet between drive ways and even larger distanes between intersections and a bike lane is going to work great. You get in to a buissness district where cars are parked along the road and a bike lane is next to useless. Cars will park in it. If its seperated from the parking lane this isnt a problem. But then you have to worry about cars pulling in and out of parking spot through it and car doors opening and closeing.

VC works better in buissness districts if police help to make it work that is. Now markign a road with a bike route sign does help alot. It helps to keep driivers behaving better ive found. And well ive noticed more and more police officers who have turned in to cyclists when off duty. So this make them more likly to speak up and warn motorists for bad behavior aroudn cyclists. One guy was harrassing me and got the crap ticketed out of him self for it. pretty damn funny realy. Guy was driving aat speed with me cussing me out threatening me etc a cop pulls along side silent as he can be and tells the driver in this realy calm voice "i recomend you appologize to the cyclist on your left and you best hope he aepts. Told this guy fines were doubled in bike lanes and in contruction zones. The guy did appologise but i ignored him and heard the cop say well thats just to bad.

I dont have a clue how much truth there was in what the cop said about double fines for bike routes. But it was a construction zone as well. Chipcom will know the one i mean in down town barberton where the bridge is being rebuilt. So trafic is detoured right through the bike routes (the one on secound street by rd bike shop is where i was cussed and screemed at i was right around fish city when the cop pulled along side the driver). Ither way this guy got nailed with a big old fine.

chipcom 

I've often wondered what possesses us to drive, or ride for that matter, when conditions make doing so unsafe. Sun glare, blinding rain, blizzards, fog, etc. vastly reduce our chances of getting from point A to point B safely. Yet, there we are, plugging away, putting both ourselves and others at risk. I understand that things like getting to work are important, but are they that important that we can't be late or just say 'heck with it, it ain't worth dying for'? Just food for thought.

Dchiefransom

Yeah, but staying home with my wife during some of these times ended up costing me much more in the long run for food and other sundries.