Painted cycle lanes result in more close-passes by drivers, study finds

[huskerdont]

Something I observe anecdotally every time I ride on the line (to avoid the door zone) on Quincy.

That study seems to conclude though that segregated infra is needed, but of course, segregated has its own detractors.

I suppose it should be noted that in the Australian state where the study was carried out, there is no legal passing distance requirement, although I doubt that makes a huge difference.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

Regarding Quincy and any other bike lane. Regardless of the parked car, standing car, delivery truck, trash can, gravel, jogger, stroller, tourist, zig-zag, bollard, blind spot or door zone that’s in the bike lane, if you don’t bike in it you are fair game as far as a driver is concerned. It’s just a matter of time until the traffic regs are changed to restrict us only to bike lanes.

[lordofthemark]

@Brendan von Buckingham 190314 wrote:

Regarding Quincy and any other bike lane. Regardless of the parked car, standing car, delivery truck, trash can, gravel, jogger, stroller, tourist, zig-zag, bollard, blind spot or door zone that’s in the bike lane, if you don’t bike in it you are fair game as far as a driver is concerned. It’s just a matter of time until the traffic regs are changed to restrict us only to bike lanes.

The only jurisdiction around here that does that is Md, and that law is filled with exceptions, and AFAIK not enforced. Increases in the number of riders, due in part to seg infra, make expansion of such laws unlikely. (edit and the Md law does not apply at all on streets without bike lanes).

[lordofthemark]

@ImaCynic 190311 wrote:

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/painted-cycle-lanes-result-close-passes-drivers-study-finds-422068

“Dr Beck explained why painted cycle lanes saw an increase in close passes: “When the cyclist and driver share a lane, the driver is required to perform an overtaking manoeuvre.””

“This is in contrast to roads with a marked bicycle lane, where the driver is not required to overtake.”

“This suggests that there is less of a conscious requirement for drivers to provide additional passing distance.”

despite this, there are data showing that adding even door zone bike lanes does not detract from safety vs a road without, and that a non door zone conventional bike lane increases safety.

Possible reasons – 1. while some advocates dismiss the fear of being hit from behind, these kinds of collisions are real. 2. The reality is lots of riders ride on the right side of the road, allowing a driver to pass in lane in a standard width lane, anyway. 3. Convention bike lanes reduce auto speeds 4. maybe this particular study is not generalizable (while many people say it agrees with their personal experience, it does less so with mine – I do see people passing properly when I am in a bike lane, and often passing close when I am taking the lane. In particular the latter is less predictable – I see behavior ranging from going all the way across the yellow line, to just veering over, to the occasional punishment pass. When I am in a bike lane, they won’t cross the yellow line, but they will almost never enter the lane – its fairly predictable where they will be.)

[lordofthemark]

Here is a bike lane in Melbourne, where the study was done

https://www.google.com/maps/@-37.7767498,145.0106379,3a,75y,182.44h,75.75t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sW6z9zeXTPFOE1rSS1ruaPA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DW6z9zeXTPFOE1rSS1ruaPA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dsearch.TACTILE.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D96%26h%3D64%26yaw%3D186.10886%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656!5m1!1e3

Door zone, not particularly wide, conventional bike lane. Planners and advocates already generally do not consider these optimal.

Absent them, you would have wider lanes. They are probably there to help calm traffic, for the benefit of all modes, as is often the case in the USA.

Melbourne seems to separate directions with a white stripe, not a yellow stripe. Does this change driver behavior on streets without bike lanes? Note, in the USA, we distinguish streets with no center stripe from those with a center stripe (and of course some streets have center medians)

IIUC Au has generally low bike mode share – more like the USA than any other western industrialized country. It may take some doing to get the constituency for mass provision of protected bike lanes there.

[lordofthemark]

Here is an earlier paper by the same author, which concludes that conventional bike lanes can reduce crashes in some conditions, but PBLs do so to a greater extent.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30476630

Note this study looks at number of crashes, not severity, so probably underestimates the benefits of changes to the road that reduce motor vehicle speeds.

[ImaCynic]

@huskerdont 190313 wrote:

Something I observe anecdotally every time I ride on the line (to avoid the door zone) on Quincy.

That study seems to conclude though that segregated infra is needed, but of course, segregated has its own detractors.

I suppose it should be noted that in the Australian state where the study was carried out, there is no legal passing distance requirement, although I doubt that makes a huge difference.

I’d argue that any minimal passing distance rule is pointless as most drivers have no clue as to the size/position of their vehicle in a lane, let alone a relative distance from it.

[accordioneur]

@lordofthemark 190322 wrote:

Here is an earlier paper by the same author, which concludes that conventional bike lanes can reduce crashes in some conditions, but PBLs do so to a greater extent.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30476630

Note this study looks at number of crashes, not severity, so probably underestimates the benefits of changes to the road that reduce motor vehicle speeds.

I was surprised to see the authors admit they don’t have any data on how many cyclists are using the lanes being studied. Drawing conclusions from the number of crashes without knowing the usage of the lanes is not the best science.

[jrenaut]

@lordofthemark 190320 wrote:

IIUC Au has generally low bike mode share – more like the USA than any other western industrialized country. It may take some doing to get the constituency for mass provision of protected bike lanes there.

Melbourne is an absolutely lovely city with tons of bike infrastructure and no hills. It suffers greatly from the state’s mandatory helmet law, however. The bike path that follows the Yarra River right into downtown is beautiful.

[dasgeh]

@Brendan von Buckingham 190314 wrote:

Regarding Quincy and any other bike lane. Regardless of the parked car, standing car, delivery truck, trash can, gravel, jogger, stroller, tourist, zig-zag, bollard, blind spot or door zone that’s in the bike lane, if you don’t bike in it you are fair game as far as a driver is concerned. It’s just a matter of time until the traffic regs are changed to restrict us only to bike lanes.

Eh, I doubt it. Bike lanes & trails have been around for a long time and there’s been no traction on this (in DC & VA). And even the must-walk-on-sidewalks reg has a ton of exceptions that cover the issues noted above. Any rule would amount to “ride in the bike lane unless you don’t want to”

[dasgeh]

My experience is also that cars pass closer when I’m in a painted bike lane than when I share the lane. It is also my experience that drivers are more attentive/drive slow when lanes are narrow. So my preference would be putting in protection is best, but if not possible, painted bike lanes are better than nothing. Still, I probably will take the lane in situations where I may need space that I don’t expect drivers to give me.

@huskerdont 190313 wrote:

Something I observe anecdotally every time I ride on the line (to avoid the door zone) on Quincy.

There are spots (Quincy at the Custis entrance comes to mind) where there’s a median making it not possible for a driver to be 3 feet away from a cyclist in the middle of the bike lane. I really hate those, and always take the lane.

[SarahBee]

I would love to see this theory tested out in downtown Arlington. If you took away the bike lanes on Clarendon and Wilson, would driver behavior change? I don’t feel safe at all in those unprotected bike lanes with the daily shenanigans I encounter. Would no bike lanes increase or decrease the shenanigans? Perhaps Arlington should perform their own experiment to inform best practices for new infrastructure.

[Author]

Posts