bike lanes save money/lives/health

guyser · July 24, 2014

I wonder if this idiot is a poster here.

Wilber · July 25, 2014

Bikes and cars are here to stay. Neither one is going away so get along kiddies.

Wilber · July 25, 2014

They kind of are. When's the last time you saw a cop get a traffic ticket? Or drive under the speed limit on a highway?

When was the last time you saw anyone driving under the speed limit on the highway?

Bryan · July 25, 2014

Too many cyclists just blissfully keep going through without paying attention to the cars ahead of them are doing, assuming the drivers will see them or that they have the right of way.

That's because they DO have the right of way. If you're to the left of me, that's MY lane. If you try to occupy the same lane as me to my left, you're the one breaking the law. If you turn in front of me, that collision is 100% your fault.

Black Dog · July 25, 2014

That's because they DO have the right of way. If you're to the left of me, that's MY lane. If you try to occupy the same lane as me to my left, you're the one breaking the law. If you turn in front of me, that collision is 100% your fault.

Nope.

When a motorist is making a right-hand turn, cyclists can either stay behind the vehicle or pass the right-turning vehicle on the left by shoulder checking, signalling, shoulder checking again and then passing on the left. Never pass a right-turning vehicle on the right.

More: on a right turn, who has the right-of-way?

The rules-of-the-road state that when a motor vehicle driver plans to turn right, they must signal and only make the movement when safe to do so, using due care and attention to avoid a collision. For the turn to be safe, a driver should check for other motor vehicles as well as cyclists and pedestrians who could potentially enter the path of their turn.

The cyclist should also follow the law. Passing on the right is allowed where there is unobstructed pavement for two vehicles to pass. The pass must only be made when safe to do so. Therefore, a cyclist passing a vehicle ahead that is clearly signaling a right turn — which might block their path at any time — would not be making a “pass in safety.”

Bryan · July 25, 2014

Sorry, you're wrong. It's got nothing to do with me passing the car. If the car passes ME to my left, and cuts me off by turning right, it's 100% his fault, PERIOD.

Black Dog · July 25, 2014

Sorry, you're wrong. It's got nothing to do with me passing the car. If the car passes ME to my left, and cuts me off by turning right, it's 100% his fault, PERIOD.

If the car reaches the intersection before you, you have to pass on the left. If your reach the intersection first, the car has to wait.

guyser · July 25, 2014

Sorry, you're wrong. It's got nothing to do with me passing the car. If the car passes ME to my left, and cuts me off by turning right, it's 100% his fault, PERIOD.

Uh nope.

If the car has successfully passed you and then has the lane to signal and turn, you would be at fault.

If the lane change is legal, so is the right turn.

Wilber · July 25, 2014

If the car reaches the intersection before you, you have to pass on the left. If your reach the intersection first, the car has to wait.

Common sense.

Big Guy · July 25, 2014

Common sense.

I both drive and ride my bike occasionally. When I am on my bike I always give the cars the right of way - always. If we are both right or we are both wrong then it is a tie - I'm either hurt or dead. I would rather be right and alive than right and dead.

Wilber · July 25, 2014

I both drive and ride my bike occasionally. When I am on my bike I always give the cars the right of way - always. If we are both right or we are both wrong then it is a tie - I'm either hurt or dead. I would rather be right and alive than right and dead.

Reality bites. The driver will have a dent and some scratches, the cyclist will have "He had the right of way" on his tombstone.

Black Dog · July 25, 2014

I don't know what jurisdiction Bryan is in, so maybe the rules are different there. But in Ontario, you're only entitled to the whole lane in urban areas when it is too narrow to share or otherwise unsafe. Otherwise, you have to share the lane.

bush_cheney2004 · July 25, 2014

Reality bites. The driver will have a dent and some scratches, the cyclist will have "He had the right of way" on his tombstone.

Yes...that is the universal Law of Gross Tonnage....it has served me well as a cyclist.

Bryan · July 25, 2014

Uh nope.

If the car has successfully passed you and then has the lane to signal and turn, you would be at fault.

If the lane change is legal, so is the right turn.

Absolutely not. Racing past you and cutting you off is not a "successful pass", it's attempted murder.

cybercoma · July 25, 2014

Bike lanes should be torn up. If you're not a skilled enough bike rider to get around in traffic, then maybe you shouldn't be riding your bike at all. But people who drive their cars shouldn't be inconvenienced by your life-style choice.

overthere · July 25, 2014

Bikes should stick to the sidewalks. where they can fight for space with pedestrians.

Pedestrian vs Cyclist is a much fairer fight than Cyclist vs Driver.

My friend rides a lot, but she is terrified of the bike lanes and the road in general after a couple of close calls and a road rage incident that cost her some skin. She rides the sidewalks a lot now, and tries to be very careful when around pedestrians so as not to hurt or even startle them. Most days on her way to work she passes an elderly woman who yells something harsh at her with an accent when she carefully passes. Last week the old hag yelled at her, then jammed the tip of her cane into the spokes which send her ass over head into the grass, fortunately not hurt. That's when she realized granny was yelling 'asshole', because she did it again as she stepped over my prone friend. Now she takes a different sidewalk to work.

Wilber · July 25, 2014

Absolutely not. Racing past you and cutting you off is not a "successful pass", it's attempted murder.

You don't have dominion over all the road in front of you. People are entitled to pass slower traffic when safe to do so.

bush_cheney2004 · July 26, 2014

...... Last week the old hag yelled at her, then jammed the tip of her cane into the spokes which send her ass over head into the grass, fortunately not hurt. That's when she realized granny was yelling 'asshole', because she did it again as she stepped over my prone friend. Now she takes a different sidewalk to work.

Yep....granny was right (except for the cane)...there are just enough Lance Armstrong wannabes on the road to give all cyclists a bad reputation and make it harder for all cyclists. Pedestrians hate those types more than the drivers in cars do. At the park, the jerks come flying by, yelling "on the left".....a**holes !!

Edited July 26, 2014 by bush_cheney2004

Wilber · July 26, 2014

Yep....granny was right...there are just enough Lance Armstrong wannabes on the road to give all cyclists a bad reputation and make it harder for all cyclists. Pedestrians hate those types more than the drivers in cars do. At the park, the jerks come flying by, yelling "on the left".....a**holes !!

A major story on last night's Vancouver news was about a pedestrian tourist who was knocked off the Stanley Park sea wall onto the rocks below. She is in hospital now for multiple injuries including a broken back. Speculation it was two cyclists racing each other.

bush_cheney2004 · July 26, 2014

A major story on last night's Vancouver .....

Or San Francisco in 2013 : A bicyclist who fatally struck a 71-year-old man who was crossing the street in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood was sentenced Thursday to three years of probation and 1,000 hours of community service.

Or Washington D.C. in 2012: A man on a bike hit an 81-year-old woman walking on the Four Mile Run trail, ARLnow reports, and the woman subsequently died of the injuries.

Bonam · July 26, 2014

You don't have dominion over all the road in front of you. People are entitled to pass slower traffic when safe to do so.

But not when it's not safe to do so. Nor is cutting someone off part of a passing maneuver. Cutting someone off with your slow right turn is not a safe thing to do. You can't just right turn from the 2nd lane over past a lane of traffic with no regard for people driving in that lane. Think of the bike lane same way.

And as mentioned before, these are all reasons for more bike infrastructure, to avoid these kinds of conflicts regarding road-space and right of way.

Edited July 26, 2014 by Bonam

WestCoastRunner · July 26, 2014

A major story on last night's Vancouver news was about a pedestrian tourist who was knocked off the Stanley Park sea wall onto the rocks below. She is in hospital now for multiple injuries including a broken back. Speculation it was two cyclists racing each other.

WestCoastRunner · July 26, 2014

The seawall is a scary place to be on in the height of the tourist season. I no longer run there during the summer. They really need to do something about bikes being on there. I don't think the paths are big enough.

Wilber · July 26, 2014

But not when it's not safe to do so. Nor is cutting someone off part of a passing maneuver. Cutting someone off with your slow right turn is not a safe thing to do. You can't just right turn from the 2nd lane over past a lane of traffic with no regard for people driving in that lane. Think of the bike lane same way.

And as mentioned before, these are all reasons for more bike infrastructure, to avoid these kinds of conflicts regarding road-space and right of way.

Cutting someone off in a passing maneuver or when it is unsafe is not on regardless of whether it is a bike or motor vehicle. It goes both ways. Cyclists do not have the right to pull up beside and impede a vehicle that is making a right turn.

Wilber · July 26, 2014

The seawall is a scary place to be on in the height of the tourist season. I no longer run there during the summer. They really need to do something about bikes being on there. I don't think the paths are big enough.

Been years since I've been on that stretch. Walked it a lot during the sixties when it ended half way between Siwash Rock and Prospect Point. Not many bikes then.