after nearly getting hit by a right turning car while im in the bike lane for the nth time today i am really starting to get jaded on bike lanes.
sure there are good things: gives us our own lane, don’t actually have to be in traffic, theoretically they are ‘safer’
but on the other end of the spectrum i feel as though on the whole motorists do not pay attention to traffic in the bike lane and so it is almost more dangerous to be in the bike lane than to be in an actual traffic lane.
i’m all for sharrows and taking the lane. if a car needs to speed and go around me then they can fuck off. nobody is in that much of a hurry. bike lanes are exactly the width of a car door, or on the freeway, a car. coincidence? no. City Planners do not care about bike. I was in a bike lane on the freeway that was a foot wide for about 30 feet today, and I was scared shitless. They are just done crappily.
the City of Toronto’s official stance on right-turns and bike lanes is that it’s up to the cyclist to go left around the car. Of course, almost nobody on the road knows it. I stopped passing on the right a loooong time ago for this reason.
jesus christ. i just went to the store. on my way out, not a block from my apartment, i almost get hit again. this time im going down an arterial coming up to a non-arterial intersecting with my street. im taking a right. a car comes up on the left side non-arterial and is going to cross my street. im just about to take my turn and this car starts to go, getting pretty damn close to hitting me. i yell “what the FUCK are you doing???” and continue on my way.
but seriously what the fuck? twice in like an hour? im going on a donut ride tonite. this better not happen again.
we need to make those caution: wreckless driver stickers. i just ordered some bike lane stickers, I have had so many uses for them that i’m kinda stoked.
[quote=“bold”]we need to make those caution: wreckless driver stickers. i just ordered some bike lane stickers, I have had so many uses for them that i’m kinda stoked.
Today was an exceptionally bad/good day with motorists. Bad because I was extra invisible and came across an intentionally jerkheaded woman. She saw me coming and still didn’t stop when I had the right of way. The good part was how I chased down three drivers and asked them kindly to watch out for cyclists. No screaming, spitting or window breaking. I really don’t feel good when those things happen, and I’m happy to be nice to people. But sometimes, when that adrenaline is going…
Edit: On topic, I prefer to take a lane whenever I can do close to the speed limit. Otherwise I’ll ride right and pass left. If there’s a bike lane I’ll use it but I spend a lot of time looking back over my shoulder. More than when I have a lane.
i was on a group ride once and some guy threw a half full can of beer out of the car and hit the pack alot of us had beer on us so we chased the guy down, and a bunch of us were yelling at the guy. then there was the most epic stand off i have ever seen. the driver and a passenger got out of the car, one of them had a wood bat, then there were about 20 of most of us with frame pumps. luckily the driver just left and some one reported him he got busted for a dui.
in some way?