Bicycle Lanes for or against

I love riding my Trek bikes
I also appreciate cities giving us bikers a separate lane for safety
Was a bike commuter, now work from home but still ride my bike a lot

I came across an article where some citizens in Coronado CA are against bike lanes.
I was a little taken aback
Then I read the reasons against bike lanes and was really really taken aback

"You are covering Coronado with paint stripe pollution.”
“The graffiti on the streets does not help our property values.”
“bring to mind a visual cacophony that if you look there long enough it will induce a dizzying type of vertigo.”
“These black streets with these brilliant white lines everywhere ... it takes away from your home, from your outlook on life.”
“It’s very similar to personally taking all three of my daughters to a tattoo parlor and having them completely body tattooed.”

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/sep/23/coronado-bike-lanes/


For or against?

I can respect cyclists who stay in designated lanes, pay attention to the road and the traffic signals (you can't run a red light and make a left turn at an intersection just because you're pedaling), and understand that in a crash with a car they'll very likely die. Bike lanes help keep the interaction with other traffic to a minimum.

Motorcycle riders, I'm convinced, are one and all suicidal and they don't care whom they drag along with them.

Bike lanes and paths is one of the few causes I really care about. If I were a politician at a local level it would be a priority of mine to make more.

You have to read the whole article.

It's not that the people are against bike lanes per se, but they are against an over abundance of them.

Additionally, the typical reader, like myself, lives in a town that has limited numbers of bike lanes (actually, none in my town), so our reaction is, "What's the big deal?"

Although I don't ride, I am in favor of bike lanes. But, after reading the WHOLE article, I can see the point that the residents of that town are making.



For the record, I think it might be better if cyclists were required to pass a "rules of the road" test.

About 10 years ago, I hit a cyclist.

I was stopped at a stop sign, waiting to make a right turn. I looked right, then looked left while waiting for my opportunity. When it came, I proceeded when the accident occurred.

The cyclist was riding on the wrong side of the road. It is unclear if I hit him or he hit me. He got banged up a bit, nothing major, but the front wheel of his bike was bent beyond repair.

He was also someone who probably should have known better - he was a man in his fifties.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

It's not that the people are against bike lanes per se, but they are against an over abundance of them.


For the record, I think it might be better if cyclists were required to pass a "rules of the road" test.

I think this has to happen. I agree that some places have too many, also sooner or later I can see having to pass a written test to travel in higher density areas.