Testing the most dangerous roads | Why painted bike lanes suck

I always enjoy all the man-hole covers, cracks, potholes and poorly refinished roads surfaces bicyclist get to go over on road edge. Not to mention all debris from trucks and cars.

The best bike infrastructure is completely detached from roads with cars. Where I like there are wide bike paths along rivers, canals, and through greenbelts.

I think a big issue with the painted bike lanes is that people feel that as long as their wheels are on one side of the line and the bicyclists wheels are on the other, it's okay. The issue is that they fail to take their side mirrors and the width of the cyclist into consideration.

I often find bike lanes on busy roads sometimes suck because they're too narrow, hence the close passes.

I agree with your conclusion. Where I live, most painted bike lane are simply too narrow to do any good. And anyway they disappear suddenly, without any warning -- the bike lane gets narrower and narrower, until it disappears into the curb, minus any signage. In situations where it gets dicey, I either take a lane in traffic or else hop onto the sidewalk (not legal everywhere, but it is in my town). Or if there's no better option, tuck in behind a parked car and wait until the situation improves. I doubt they have this problem in Copenhagen or Amsterdam!

I'm not a cyclist but I always tried to think what space would I want a car to pass me at if I was a cyclist and I try to give the cyclist that space

hi Tom, I agree with all of the points you make in your video. However, in my years of commuting every day, I have seen all kinds of driver Behaviour that lead to the conclusion that there is at least one benefit of painted bike Lanes: they create a legally defined space for cyclists. unfortunately, there are lots of people that identify as drivers, and consider cyclists as being members of a different tribe. This creates an us-versus-them mentality, and since the driver has the bigger weapon, he may feel he can bully the person on the bike. Cyclists know this, and that's why they ask for separated bike Lanes. Lastly, a line of paint is no protection from a distracted driver. And distracted driving is a pandemic in our society.

I think the problem is that painted lanes are too small, they’re literally just a couple inches wider than my handlebars. Meanwhile the cars get like 4 feet of extra room. This leaves us feeling trapped because we’re often stuck right up against the curb.

To me, it seems like the main difference in people passing when I'm just on the road vs in bike lane is the speed with which they feel comfortable passing. On normal surface streets, they pass slower, regardless of passing distance. If there's a bike lane, it seems like people think "OK they're in their lane. I'm in my lane. I can go as fast as I want", which feels way more dangerous.

In the US, we all should have been taught, pass only when it's safe to do so and yield to bicycles because they have just as much right to be on the road as motor vehicles. Yes this means slowing down (sometimes dramatically) to respect their space and safety until safe to pass. Same goes for slow moving vehicles like tractors and buggies. We all should have a a right to travel on public roads safely. It is a privilege to do so in a car.

The problem is that painted lanes have traditionally been an afterthought on streets that have existed for decades. So ultimately all they are really doing is imposing a narrower lane for vehicles - and large SUV or pickup drivers have to thread a tighter needle.

In Belgium the new favorit word of 2018 was "moordstrookje" = little murderlane. Well it's a 'nicer' way to say : narrow painted bikelane!

Automobile drivers endanger their own lives just as often as yours, I know this because I witness numerous near misses each day that I drive. I am a commercial driver that travels upwards of 700 miles on any given work day. They not only do they endanger you and me, but themselves as well. They have no sense when it comes to operating their machine safely, it is all about the hurry up and get somewhere. P.S.I ride a bicycle as well, it is on board with me as I travel my routes, it offers great exercise and an escape from my mobile prison.

We need concrete barriers in between all bike lanes and car lanes to shield bikers from cars and trucks.

As far as I understand the driver should leave 3 feet between himself and the bicyclist. I expect that means 3 feet between the drivers right hand mirror and the bicyclist left handlebar. What I notice is that the bike lane is not wide enough to give that much space to the bicyclist. Let me repeat: the bike lane isn’t wide enough to begin with.

All that riding right in the door zone tho... :(

This reminds me of another motoring situation that happened in my home town. There was a 4 way stop that was notorious for collisions because no one really followed the rules and assumed they had right of way. There was debate on how to fix it such as increased policing or putting in a light. The solution they came up with was to remove the 4 way stop and leave it as an unregulated intersection. The result was that accidents dropped dramatically and the theory is that it forced people to stop and think about if what they're doing is safe rather than relying on assumed safety and permission to proceed.

There's an interesting painted lane that I use that I have mixed feelings on. The local government realised that lots of cyclists cut through this industrial estate so they put a painted bike lane around the main road that cyclists used. But the reason cyclists used it was because it was a 30mph road with a dedicated overtaking lane so cars and bikes were never fighting for space. Now that they've put the cycle lane in there's now just one oddly wide traffic lane with a painted bike lane on the side. It's nice that the government noticed that cyclists were using the route and tried to improve it, but it feels like they didn't understand why people were using it and were just putting it there to meet a quota or something. I can't tell if it was a good inclusion or not.

Since 3 feet is legally required space, they should make the bike lane 3 feet wider, just take it from the car lane since they often have tons of extra room.

Painted bike lanes are bad because, imo, it makes car drivers think it's okay to pass cyclists very closely.