"The Disappointing Distraction of “Vehicular Cycling”"
03-18-23, 01:11 PM
#1
Full Member
Thread Starter
"The Disappointing Distraction of “Vehicular Cycling”"
Just released. Makes point that Vehicular Cycling postulates that cyclists need educating to survive in traffic. True enough but IMO until interacting with cyclists on the road becomes an integral part of obtaining a drivers liscense, cycling in traffic will always be an unequal endeavour.
03-22-23, 01:40 PM
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 810
Bikes: 2017 Co-op ADV 1.1; ~1991 Novara Arriba; 1990 Fuji Palisade; mid-90's Moots Tandem; 1985 Performance Superbe
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 352 Post(s)
Liked 503 Times
in
295 Posts
This is a topic that has been beaten to death, dug up, autopsied, burned, and the ashes spread over the Sargasso Sea... maybe it is showing up again now due to the sargasm..
However, it does prompt me to relate a conceptualization I came to recently. I frequent a busy intersection of two arterial four-lane roads which have dedicated left-turn lanes. The intersection was rebuilt about two years ago and advertised as a "Dutch Junction".
I have been going through it both in vehicular mode and using the sidewalks/crosswalks to compare the experience.
In the immediate now of what exists at that intersection, I fare best when I operate as a vehicle. I get through the intersection much faster and without the conflicts that I have about 10% of the time when I use the crosswalks.
Why? The intersection is optimized (design, signals, synchronization, etc.) to move the motor vehicles. Pedestrians, people in wheelchairs, anyone not on the main lanes have priority only slightly higher than pond scum.
I fare best when I operate as a vehicle because the infrastructure prioritizes motorists.
At the end of the day, much of the bike infrastructure I see built maintains the priority of motorists. Without overpass/underpass, priority has to be established, and in my jurisdictions the motorists are the mode prioritized.
However, it does prompt me to relate a conceptualization I came to recently. I frequent a busy intersection of two arterial four-lane roads which have dedicated left-turn lanes. The intersection was rebuilt about two years ago and advertised as a "Dutch Junction".
I have been going through it both in vehicular mode and using the sidewalks/crosswalks to compare the experience.
In the immediate now of what exists at that intersection, I fare best when I operate as a vehicle. I get through the intersection much faster and without the conflicts that I have about 10% of the time when I use the crosswalks.
Why? The intersection is optimized (design, signals, synchronization, etc.) to move the motor vehicles. Pedestrians, people in wheelchairs, anyone not on the main lanes have priority only slightly higher than pond scum.
I fare best when I operate as a vehicle because the infrastructure prioritizes motorists.
At the end of the day, much of the bike infrastructure I see built maintains the priority of motorists. Without overpass/underpass, priority has to be established, and in my jurisdictions the motorists are the mode prioritized.
