[*BCM*] riding

[turtle]

Boston Critical Mass <list at bostoncriticalmass.org> wrote:
> 
> "The US government has also done its part to promote a more bicycle-friendly 
> environment. Some 3.5 million dollars in federal money has been set aside to 
> create cycling trails over the next four years."
> 
> Calling this government action "doing its part" is commentary.  And you are 
> right to say this is a 'little'.

Well, that's why I was wondering why you used the word "suspicious"...
> 
> So, it surprises me that the European model of bike lane delineation is not 
> the ideal according to members of the list.  Having ridden there, I never 
> felt safer on a bike.  Yet, some claim there are more accidents in a place 
> like Amsterdam.  The lanes there are nothing like the death traps of the 
> Southwest Corridor, or Central Square Cambridge.

Well, I'm sure you will find no end of differing opinions about the
"ideal" road design for cyclists on this, and all other, bicycling
discussion lists!  My own background includes the beliefs that:

1. Simplicy is best when it comes to rules and laws, including traffic
laws.  So having the same basic roads, signs and signals, and traffic
regulations for all road users is the most effective, respectful, and
safest way to go.  Making weird lanes, paths, etc. exclusively for
two-to-three-wheeled-non-motor-powered travellers seems overly
complicated and causes more problems than it solves.  Especially in
crowded urban areas with lots of messy intersections.

2. Fair and equal treatment for cyclists and other HPV users will only
come when the VIPs start treating us as equals on the roadways.

3. The time and money spent on designing, building, and maintaining all
these special facilities for cyclists would be better spent on
education and enforcement.  I would like to see the US educating the
entire population about traffic rules and safety.  A crucial element
would be elementary school classes on traffic safety, including actual
on-road practice with HPV's (bikes, trikes, quads, kick-scooters,
skateboards, etc,) like they do in the Netherlands and other
progressive countries.  And I would like to see the judicial system
enforcing the traffic laws fairly and justly when it comes to cyclists
and other HPV users.

4. Very few, thorough, unbiased studies have been done to show any
evidence that special bike facilities are any safer (or even as safe)
as a well designed shared facility.

5. Most special bike facilities that get built fall well below standards
in both design and maintenance, causing conditions that are almost
guaranteed to be more dangerous than they wouold have been otherwise. 
(Bike lanes squeezed into too small a space or on the right of right
turning traffic for example.)

6. Having ridden a bike in other places like Holland and Portland,
Oregon, where bicycling is admittedly much more pleasant, and having
really looked at the possible reasons for this, I've come to the
conclusion that it's not because of the engineering designs, but
because of the high respect that motorists have for other road users in
these places.  People simply drive nicer there!  (And there seems to be
less stress in general in these places.  Massachusetts is a really high
stress state!)

Given all this evidence, I have come to the conclusion that special bike
facilities are a poor solution to my goal of being safer, happier, and
better respected when I'm on a bike.

I understand that other people have other very well thought out reasons
for supporting exclusive bike facilities and special treatement for
cyclists, And that is perfectly understandable.  They may have
different goals than I (a need for feeling special, a desire to punish
motorists, a priority of speed over safety, or they may even have a
thrillseeking personality that enjoys the confusion and danger that
bike lanes cause!).  Or they may simply have not seen all the evidence
that I have (not surprising, since most people haven't actually had an
opportunity to work as a professional bicycle advocate, and be paid to
research this kind of stuff).

-Turtle

----------
"One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we
seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal.  We must
pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means." - Martin Luther King Jr.