Reply to Why don’t people use bike lanes?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

I don't ride bikes, but as a driver, I'm really afraid of bikes if the only thing protecting them is paint (and that's in the best case scenario where there's a bike lane).

Unexpected things happen to everyone on the road.  There are so many factors that could easily cause the biker to lose control, (weather, bad roads, distracted biker, an unexpected obstacle, etc.), and they have no protection (car frame, seatbelt, airbag), if they do.  I have a horror of one falling as I'm driving nearby,  and the bike sliding out of their tiny lane into mine.

Compounding the problem, bikers don't always follow the rules of the road.  If you're going to use the road, you should respect stop signs, stop lights, etc.

Even worse, there have been too many times I've seen (just barely), bikers riding at night in dark clothing without lights.

[b]While not a biker, as a sometimes driver and sometimes pedestrian, I would much rather have bicycles on the sidewalk.  If worst comes to worst, a collision between a bicycle and a pedestrian could cause injury, but all parties would probably be able to recover.  If a bicycle and car collide, the bicyclist's chances for survival would seem greatly reduced.  
[/b]
I think it's great for people to bike and to have space set aside to facilitate it.  I think it would be safer, however, if instead of being a lane on the road, it was a separate path/sidewalk area set off from the road.  Instead of having sidewalk - sidewalk border - bikelane in the road, why don't we have sidewalk - bike path - sidewalk border - road.  In areas where there isn't a separate bike lane, I'd much prefer bikes share a sidewalk (courteously) with pedestrians (even if I'm the pedestrian), than to ride in the street.[/quote]

PP, drivers hit people on bikes on the sidewalk all the time - drive out of the drive entrance, don't look, bam. Or, turn into the drive entrance, don't look, bam.

I would love to have a connected, comprehensive network of protected bike lanes. It would be good for everyone, whether they're driving, walking, or biking. But until we have that, we have to let people on bikes make their own decisions on where they feel most comfortable and safest - on the sidewalk, in the painted bike lane, or in the general-travel lane.[/quote]

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