| Re: Buses with racks go a long way
Wayne Pein wrote:
> The Real Bev wrote:
>
>> Wayne Pein wrote:
>>> There is no such thing as a bike unfriendly bridge or road. It's
>>> people who are friendly or unfriendly, and they choose be either way.
>>
>> I don't think that's true. To accommodate more and more traffic, a
>> number of roads have been widened just enough to provide two lanes of
>> traffic each way with NO additional space between the cars and the curb.
>> No matter how friendly a driver might be, there isn't enough space to
>> pass a bicyclist without moving into the next lane, which is probably
>> already occupied by a car. This is dangerous for everybody, and most
>> bicyclists stay off such roads.
>
> If such a road is said to be unfriendly, it is to motorists who must
> wait. Waiting is not dangerous. Being incompetent and moving into the
> adjacent lane when there is not room is. However, this is not a typical
> mechanism of collision.
Possibly because bicyclists sensibly avoid such roads. If I had to use
Atlantic Blvd. during rush hour I'd use the sidewalk. Nobody walks in
SoCal anyway!
> A 2 ft wide bicycle fits just fine no matter how narrow the lane.
Really? Consider the effect of a car whose outside tire-edge is 2 feet
from the curb (in effect, driving in what might be considered the
parking lane). Then consider what happens when the car bodywork extends
even closer to the curb.
> A
> bicycle driver need only ride right in the center of the lane. The roads
> are full of slow vehicles such as stopped busses, motor vehicles
> completely stopped at stop lights, parked delivery vsehicles, front
> loaders, bicycles, etc. Motorists can deal with it.
Indeed, but the roads of which I speak have been widened to carry large
amounts of traffic during rush hour. It is not reasonable for traffic
that normally moves at 45+ mph to slow down to 14 mph (my personal
maximum non-sprint commuting bicycle speed) until the bicyclist decides
to turn off the road.
The lanes are NOT freeway-width, but as narrow as it's possible to be
while allowing use by full-size American cars. Standard delivery trucks
take up more than one such lane and are frequently prohibited during
rush hour.
Use of such roads by bicycles gums up the works, with consequences being
worse for the bicyclist than for the cars. Note: the stupid SHARE THE
ROAD (with a picture of a bicycle) signs are never placed on roads like
this -- at least I've never seen any.
--
Cheers, Bev
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New sig on order, watch this space.
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