Originally Posted by
sauerwald
Is there any data to show that bike lanes increase safety? Personally if they want to do something to increase cyclist safety, I'd much rather see them reduce the amount of on street parking that there is, to allow for wider right hand lanes. As someone who rides a bike on city streets every day, I don't see a lot of value in bike lanes, but I do see a lot of infrastructure design which is hostile to cyclists for example:
Having right hand turn 'slip lanes' so that motorists don't have to slow down when turning onto another road, and have poor visibility.
Narrow lanes.
Poor quality of the pavement
Debris on the streets.
Just imagine a busy street in a large industrial downtown city. There are taxi cabs. There are buses. There are motorcycles. There are cars weaving in and out of lanes, all vying for the fastest route out of the mayhem. There are cars being parked. There are parked cars entering the thoroughfare. There are parked cars with doors opening to the left, on your immediate right!
Now, do you see the importance of bicycle lanes?....
- Slim
PS.
Strict auto parking laws should be enforced with respect to bike lanes!