Author Topic: Door-Zone Bike Lanes  (Read 9608 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline MDeme

Door-Zone Bike Lanes
« on: August 23, 2004, 04:53:32 pm »
I've created this post for those interested in responding to John Schubert's article "The Door Prize to Avoid" in the July issue of Adventure Cyclist magazine (www.adventurecycling.org/features). Please keep the conversation civil and respectful. Thanks.

Michael Deme
Editor, Adventure Cyclist Magazine
Adventure Cycling Association
150 E. Pine St., Missoula, MT 59802
406-721-1776, x 222

Adventure Cycling Association
Inspiring people of all ages to travel by bicycle
http://www.adventurecycling.org
 

 

Offline JayH

Door-Zone Bike Lanes
« Reply #1 on: August 23, 2004, 07:20:59 pm »
I just read that article.

Where I live, I don't have that problem. We have no bike lanes near me that are next to parallel parking.  In either case, bike lane or not, I would bike where I feel it is safe, the problem is with cyclists who think they have to bike in the bike lane and drivers who think that they have to, also.  

Personally, the times I have ridden in some urban environments, I feel safer just cycling with the flow of traffic. I don't feel the need for bike lanes, unless we're talking about the shoulder width.  Ever see the bike lanes in belgium?

Jay


Offline burleyrider

Door-Zone Bike Lanes
« Reply #2 on: August 26, 2004, 08:34:19 pm »
We do not have that trouble either.

Derek

Derek

Offline LDiskin

Door-Zone Bike Lanes
« Reply #3 on: September 03, 2004, 04:19:54 pm »
It seems rather obvious that bike lanes help increase awareness about bikes on the road. Schubert's article is rather disrespectful to the folks that work so hard to create bike lanes in their communities. There is a down side to everything and John has a nack for pointing it out...

--
Larry Diskin
Adventure Cycling Association
--
Larry Diskin
Adventure Cycling Association

Offline DaveB

Door-Zone Bike Lanes
« Reply #4 on: September 04, 2004, 01:07:28 am »
It's not at all obvious that bike lanes make motorists more aware of bikes and John Schubert's dislike of door zone lanes is very well founded.  They create more hazards than they cure.  He should be hard on the well intended but misguided people who work so hard to increase our danger.

A case in point, on a recent tour I was riding with three friends in a bike lane through a small town in upstate New York.  A truck passed all of us and then turned right directly across our path.  We were paying attention so it wasn't really too close a call but it could have been serious.  He didn't do it maliciously, he just didn't realize we were there.  If we had been in the main traffic lane this wouldn't have happened because he couldnt't have ignored us with such ease.  


Offline brad

Door-Zone Bike Lanes
« Reply #5 on: September 22, 2004, 03:14:44 pm »
Bike Lanes are great because they keep a modicum of space for cyclists to use without having to worry, usually, about cars driving in them. Certainly exceptions exist, turn-ins/outs, side streets, and of course paralell parking on the other side of the bike lane. These are all objective hazards that we as cyclists must mitigate by being as coherent and aware of our surroundings as possible. I live in Germany and cycling as a commuter is a way of life for most folks who view a bike, legally and  materially, just as a car. The right of way laws here are based upon road position and not on vehicle type. The onus for all vehicle operators is to be aware of everything around you. In the US it is very similiar except I have never lived where there are bike lanes in the states. I have a good friend of mine here who t-barred a parked car with it's door open and the driver was found at fault and had to buy a new bike. But the judge admonished him  with a fine for failing to be alert.

Pay attention no-matter who or what you are driving (incidentally in ther germany language the word fahren (to drive) is used if talking about a car, a boat, a bike, etc) and be as courteous to cars as you want them to be to you. Too often I get from the message boards a self-hypocritical attitude of holier-than-thou from cyclists. This is something that only hurts cyclists in the eyes of the wider tax-paying population who ultimately fund any and all bike lanes in the US.

Comments please feel free to email me at: jason.b.nicholson@us.army.mil

If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home. ~James Michener