CycleDog has a nice post up that discusses why he and the group he is involved with for bicycling advocacy are opposed to bike lanes. The author discusses the statistics of car/bike crashes, the increased spending on cycling specific facilities ineffectiveness and fostering higher cycling numbers.
Some of the points raised in the post address some conflicts I have have with being an occassional commuter and bicyclist. In many cases, I specifically choose to ride on certain roads in order to make the other people there aware that cyclists exist. On some days, I'll feel like not taking a chance and will ride the sidewalk (in a non-business district) along a very busy 2 lane road. And other times, I'll make sure my route is on less busy side streets where I can have a full lane most of the time. Its interesting to see that riding on the sidewalk is considered three times more dangerous than on the street. I've ridden in areas where I could see this being the case, busy roads with lots of driveways and businesses, cars pulling onto the sidewalk to try to enter traffic. (85% of crashes occur at intersections, there are more intersections on a sidewalk is the logic behind the tripling I believe).
I'm surprised that the author doesn't point out the problems attendant with the typical "door zone" bike lane explicitly in the list of problems with cycling facilities.
Some of the points raised in the post address some conflicts I have have with being an occassional commuter and bicyclist. In many cases, I specifically choose to ride on certain roads in order to make the other people there aware that cyclists exist. On some days, I'll feel like not taking a chance and will ride the sidewalk (in a non-business district) along a very busy 2 lane road. And other times, I'll make sure my route is on less busy side streets where I can have a full lane most of the time. Its interesting to see that riding on the sidewalk is considered three times more dangerous than on the street. I've ridden in areas where I could see this being the case, busy roads with lots of driveways and businesses, cars pulling onto the sidewalk to try to enter traffic. (85% of crashes occur at intersections, there are more intersections on a sidewalk is the logic behind the tripling I believe).
I'm surprised that the author doesn't point out the problems attendant with the typical "door zone" bike lane explicitly in the list of problems with cycling facilities.
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