Re: Let's hide the bicyclists behind parked cars. What could go wrong?

Frank Krygowski <frkrygow@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

On 1/9/2025 2:17 PM, Roger Merriman wrote:

Frank Krygowski <frkrygow@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

"Protected" bike lane hazard lawsuit:
 
https://komonews.com/news/local/cyclist-green-lake-neighborhood-king-county-superior-court-aviv-litov-26-years-old-bike-lanes-life-altering-injuries-strittmatter-firm-configuration-tesla
 

I’m unconvinced by such designs seems asking for trouble and and attempting
to please everyone ie compromise the cycleway for car parking, I’m guessing
nice wide junction with no attempt to slow cars down let alone control it?

 
If you're talking about that particular crash, it happened at a parking
lot. "A lawsuit filed in King County Superior Court claims Aviv Litov,
26, was riding on Green Lake Drive North last June when a Tesla SUV
turned into a protected bike lane to access a parking lot."
 
So no, not a "nice wide junction." Cyclists hidden from view are at risk
of collisions at every driveway as well as every parking lot and street
intersection.

It very much was a big wide junction with bonus points of being on a hill
so cyclists will be traveling faster than drivers expect.

<https://maps.app.goo.gl/v7vuiDVNWNYNFf3TA>

So you have a hill with nice wide turns into parking lots so cars can and
will turn at speed with no attempt to slow them down? And the bikes are in
a car door gully hidden from view?

Seems to have been there for a few years but this is at best a compromise,
ie so they can keep the car parking which is part of the root of the
problem, plus having high speed turns across what is a narrow cycle lane.

Ie you get what you design for.

 
But of course there are people like Mike Francisco, quoted in the video
and article, for whom "Any bike facility is a good bike facility."
 

As suboptimal as it is I guess it’s possible that it’s better than what was
previously, google maps etc aren’t the same as being on the ground and so
on.

Roger Merriman