Fuck your existing lanes and fuck your 1.5-tonne beasts. Make some space, it won’t fucking kill you.
The irony of the idea that cyclists are “taking lanes” can only come from the mind of a motorist ignorant that roads in North America only started getting paved with smooth asphalt due to a campaign by what is today The League of American Bicyclists. It was only due to the hard work and advocacy of cyclists that roads ever became hospitable to colonization by machines in the first place. If motorists were ever honestly adamant in their demand that no lanes ever be “removed” then it would mean undoing every single car lane.
In an effort to improve riding conditions so they might better enjoy their newly discovered sport, more than 100,000 cyclists from across the United States joined the League to advocate for paved roads. The success of the League in its first advocacy efforts ultimately led to our national highway system.
https://bikeleague.org/about/equity-and-history/
TIL
In Tokyo the bike lanes are all loading and unloading parking for the large trucks, taxis, and private vehicles. Means you gotta merge into traffic because none of the bike lanes lanes are enforced. I see a lot of cops stopping cyclists to check their registration, but I’ve never seen them ticket the trucks and taxis illegally parked. Tokyo needs better enforcement and separate bike lanes like Amsterdam (with a physical barrier or different grade from the street), otherwise its really dangerous to bike on streets even with bike lanes.
Bicycles are registered in Tokyo?
Sounds like a good set of laws to me - especially registration (mostly to help drive down bike theft rates).
In South Africa roads are not even designed with pedestrian walkways. I would hear all the time in the news about drunk drivers hitting a group of cyclists or pedestrians. Its genuinely unsafe to go anywhere without a car. I now live in the Netherlands and I only bought a car 3 years after I moved here, because there is actual working public transport and even the rural areas have bike lanes.
Why did you buy a car?
IIUC, in Ontario cyclists are legally allowed to take up a whole lane on most roads.
Legally allowed doesn’t mean a whole lot when it’s 100kg vs 2000kg.
I don’t mean that it’s not a fair point, but is it worth a life?
I suppose carrying a few cameras would help to insure safety.
When using a crosswalk on foot, I always make sure a car is stopped in it’s lane before proceeding to the next lane. Full eye contact. It doesn’t matter that I’m in a crosswalk. I might have been in the right, but that won’t matter if I die.
It’s the same with cycling. Cameras will only help after the fact, and maybe a bit if it’s very visible. But the best thing you can do is not trust any car, and avoid travelling where you have to trust cars.
In most coastal US cities, if bike-specific facilities are unavailable or blocked then it’s legal to take a full motor lane. At your own peril of course, most drivers and many cops are indifferent to this information. Vehicular cycling is sadly not the answer to getting everyone out on a bike.
Organized protests should not be too difficult (probably ditto many unorganized ones. 😁🙂).
I think you left out an “n’t”.
corrected and thank you for the correction. 😁🙂
And these statistics (I would appreciate OOP’s sources if they’re available) would be good ammunition in the lawsuit filed against the Ontario government for their bill that is spuriously trying to remove bike lanes in Toronto.
I mean I’d love to believe this but there’s no source
Found one and updated it!
As a car-brain it would be really nice if I knew bikes weren’t going to be in my lane. Then I know I could go faster.
Bike lanes might help insure this.
I don’t think they provide insurance, but I do think that’s what the previous commenter was saying it’d ensure. You’re most likely in agreement.
I think that’s their point.
