Comments on: DIY Geurrilla Bike Lanes, Sharrows, and Separated Bike Lanes

By: Kevis Brownson

Kevis Brownson — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:08:37 +0000

Re Jake’s and Lucas’ posts:
When I returned from a visit to Bavaria in 1997, my town (Alameda, CA) was in the process of redoing the bicycle master plan. I went to some meetings on it and when I suggested the German way, of having bike lanes on the sidewalks, separated from the cars, people really did not want to take this idea seriously. It seemed as if the bicycle activists were more interested in having more bike lanes on the streets and could not even think of how this might work with pedestrians. I protested that it worked very well in Germany, once one was attuned to not standing or walking in those bike designated areas, but to no avail. I am glad to see that this idea is being discussed.

By: Alan

Alan — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 03:31:30 +0000

Jen, another Boulder commuter here. Both times I’ve been hit has been at bike path/right turn late intersections. Never had problems when riding on the street, though I’ve almost been doored a couple times. Also, the bike path by campus is a nightmare after about 9, when it’s swarming with drunk college kids; while not the best idea in terms of politeness or safety, it’s great fun to brush them with my bag as I fly by at night. Yelling at people to get out of the way just makes them freeze and stare. What a waste.
Separate bike lanes cause trouble at intersections, but on street bike lanes cause some problems with traffic. Pick your poison.

By: Sally ala Fixpert

Sally ala Fixpert — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 00:33:51 +0000

Hi Jonas! Wow, thanks for the great comments! This is really interesting to me. I’m going to try and do more research into these sidewalk bike lanes that you have described.

Sorry to hear that your bike was stolen while you were getting X-Rays, but I’m glad you’re ok!

By: Jonas

Jonas — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 22:47:36 +0000

p.s. the only accident i had in the 15 years that i am riding a bike happened on a separated bike-lane when a car driver coming from the side didn’t see me and crashed into my right side, knocking me off my bike - luckily i only suffered some bruises, but my bike got stolen when i was in the hospital for x-rays…

interesting site btw.

By: Jonas

Jonas — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 22:43:44 +0000

Here in germany we have the situation, that almost all of the bike lanes are separated from the road by being part of the sidewalk, that means a part of the sidewalk is made of a different material so you can see where to drive with your bike. Studies conducted in germany have come to the conclusion, that riding on this separated bike-lanes (which mostly are in a terrible state) is actually more dangerous (slightly more and most importantly more severe accidents) than riding on the street. Most accidents here take place on crossings or driveways, espacially on left-side bike-lanes, because drivers tend to focus on the street and pay less attention to the sidewalk and the bike-lane (which seems to be the problem that you face in L.A.). I notice myself that, when riding my bike on the street, car drivers tend to dirve carefully around me and i have experienced less situations where i had to avoid an imminent accident. So it seems to be more a problem of awareness in other traffic-participants - maybe bike-lanes on the streets themselves should be ommitted altogether and more space be left for cyclists - if you drive offensively (demanding your rights that you have - just because you are less motorized doesn’t mean that you have less rights in the traffic!) on the outside and defensively and carefully on the inside (anticipating, watching the traffic carefully), car-drivers are going to respect that (just like jen said above, ride strong!).

greetings from germany

By: Sally ala Fixpert

Sally ala Fixpert — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 08:26:15 +0000

Hey Jen, thanks for the comment. I’ve been wanting to do a post for quite some time now about looking out for doors — stuff like what you said, looking at the side and rear view mirrors to see what’s going on.

Thanks again!