Cycling Is Getting a Lot Safer in American Cities Adding a Lot of Bike Lanes

[Neal]

Hello All,

http://usa.streetsblog.org/2016/11/16/cycling-is-getting-a-lot-safer-in-american-cities-adding-a-lot-of-bike-lanes/

"Researchers examined 10 cities that have been “especially successful at improving cycling safety and increasing cycling levels by greatly expanding their cycling infrastructure.” The above table shows recent changes in bike network growth, cycling rates, and crash and injury rates for cyclists in those cities. Minneapolis, Portland and New York City have seen the largest drop in injury and fatality rates among this group."

Cheers,

Neal

+1 mph Faster

[John Forester]

Neal has been deluded, again, this time into believing in the propaganda served up by John Pucher. The paper on which this message is based is: Pucher and Buehler's Safer Cycling Through Improved Infrastructure: American Journal of Public Health December 2016

The table show correlations between installing bike lanes and reductions in cyclist crash rate. The propaganda implication is that the bike lane stripes, the defining characteristic of bike lanes, caused the reduction in crash rate. However, there is no evidence, never has been, anywhere, that bike-lane stripes reduce car-bike collisions. And Pucher writes that a more intensive design is necessary: cycletracks. He refers favorably to the three N. American studies of cycletracks: Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, without mentioning that all three have been conclusively disproved. He also writes: "However, the type and quality of bicycle infrastructure matter as well. It is crucial to provide physical separation from fast-moving, high-volume motor vehicle traffic and better intersection design to avoid conflicts between cyclists and motor vehicles." Here Pucher enters the field of traffic engineering, a field to which Pucher admitted, in public meeting in San Diego, he never paid attention. Had he been paying attention he would have realized that his favorite bikeways, bike lanes and cycletracks, actually created more conflicts between cyclists and motor vehicles: bike lanes to some extent, cycletracks to a great extent.

Nobody knows the cause of reductions in car-bike collision rates; there are too many variables. We do know that some bikeway designs create car-bike collisions; that's about as much as we do know. We also know that obeying the standard rules of the road steers cyclists into avoiding many types of car-bike collision, but our society refuses to take the appropriate action to get cyclists to ride safely.

-- 
John Forester, MS, PE
Bicycle Transportation Engineer
7585 Church St, Lemon Grove, CA 91945
619-644-5481, fore...@johnforester.com

[John Forester]

I disagree with Gary on that. California requires cyclists to use bike lanes because that is part of Motordom's program, since 1925, for kicking cyclists off the roadway. Motordom gets away with this oppression because Motordom has, since 1925, conducted a program of frightening cyclists about same-direction motor traffic. Of course Motordom conceals its intent in false words about cyclist safety, but the public has understood Motordom's message as Motordom intend it: "Stay out of our way or we will kill you!" Is that not what the public says it believes?

On 11/18/2016 12:06 PM, Gary Cziko wrote, in part:

And the myth persists that somehow door-zone bike lanes or narrow edge bike lanes like this make cycling safer, which is, I suppose, why California requires their use by cyclists.

-- Gary

==================================================

Gary Cziko ("ZEE-ko"), PhD
Professor Emeritus, Educational Psychology
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

CyclingSavvy Instructor (CSI)

Board of Directors, American Bicycling Education Association (ABEA.bike)

Board of Directors, California Association of Bicycle Organizations (CABO)
Co-Manager, i am traffic Facebook page

Administrator, Los Angeles DownWind Paddlers (LADWP) Facebook group

[John Forester]

Yes, the myth persists because it is the embodiment of the cyclist-inferiority phobia. Motordom's persistent campaign over ninety years that cyclists who get into motorists' way will be killed has progressed from simply encouraging fear to producing a phobia. That is, a fear not justified by facts that forces its victims to act in accordance with that fear and therefore, since the fear is not justified by facts, against their own safety interest.

On 11/18/2016 11:43 PM, Jim Baross wrote:

Yes, as Gary wrote "And the myth persists ..." Continuing as long as people bicycling let it, and continue trying to stay out of the Way; curb-hugging, as ninjas, or scared off.

Jim Baross

Bikes Right; and Left & Center

Bicycling Instructor/Advocate

CABO President

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