Bicyclists tend to ride defensively, which, perhaps counterintuitively, puts them at greater risk. I took a short ride with my cousin, who is in his late 50s, and lives in a city of some 10,000 people. I was a bit horrified to see him duck to the right wherever possible, to hug the curb as much as possible. As a result, he was basically weaving around parked cars and presenting himself as a meandering line along the edge of the road.
Riding more confidently as far to the right as *practicable*, but presenting a consistent profile, is safer. The existence of sharrows provides the bicyclist with the confidence to take that route and notifies the motorists that bicyclists will be taking that route. Predictability tends to reduce conflict, more or less in all interactions. > All good points. But, just curious...you would be riding erratically > without the sharrows...because...why? (: > > ~kel > > Daniel Liu writes: > >> I agree, it's exceedingly valuable to let drivers know that bicyclists >> are not only allowed, but supposed to be in lanes marked with sharrows. >> I've found it's a great boost in my confidence as well, and I don't >> ride >> as erratically in the lane as I do in unmarked ones. >> >> As far as road markers go, it's nicely subtle, and works best when you >> know what else is around you â just like most other road markers, like >> crosswalks or yield markers. They're starting to appear in a lot of >> other >> cities as well. I saw them first in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and >> both Seattle and Portland have painted a lot of them in the last few >> years. The chevrons and the exact size seem to be the key indicators: >> to >> let people know that "bikes can go here" in the positive sense, not >> "only >> bikes here." I don't think many people would get them confused with >> striped bike lanes, in part because sharrows should be painted only >> where >> there no separate bike lanes, and mostly on busier streets. (Johnson >> north of Ingersoll would be a great place to put some down.) >> >> --Dan Liu >> >> >> On 8 Oct, 2009, at 10:12 AM, Bill Obermeyer wrote: >> >>> I like the idea of a marking that encourages people to ride on streets >>> and encourages people in cars to share the road. Letting motorists >>> know that it is OK for bicyclists to "take the lane" is priceless. >>> It's >>> great that something is being done about E. Wilson. >>> That said, I'm a bit skeptical about these particular markings in the >>> long term. If we don't instantly recognize the meaning of the >>> symbol, >>> what are the chances that someone who is not a bicyclist will do so? >>> An education campaign would help - 'though it would not help >>> out-of-towners. >>> The symbol, at first glance, looked like an enhanced bike lane >>> marking >>> to me. If people get in the habit of driving over bike silhouettes, >>> will people be able tell the difference between sharrows and bike >>> lanes >>> when they are driving. Will we have to add markings to the bike lanes >>> to make it clear that a silhouette without chevrons means that no cars >>> are allowed? From what I understand, a research project about >>> effectiveness is ongoing. >>> -Bill >>> >>> >>> On Oct 8, 2009, at 9:48 AM, Mitchell Nussbaum wrote: >>> >>>> I'd like to see them on the on-street segments of the Lake Monona >>>> Loop. >>>> No guarantees that they would prevent crashes at the Dempsey/ Cottage >>>> Grove >>>> intersection, but they might, if they encouraged bikes to ride in the >>>> street instead of hiding on the sidewalk. >>>> >>>> Michael Rewey wrote: >>>>> Sharrows are being placed on East Wilson between the bike path >>>>> segments! >>>>> Cool. They >>>>> probally aren't really needed for bike-motor vehicle safety on this >>>>> street, but its a great idea >>>>> to place them on street segments that are part of the path system. >>>>> Good >>>>> for continuity. >>>>> >>>>> Other street segments might be Olin-Turville Park Road and the short >>>>> street segments on >>>>> the the Starkweather Path. Waunona Way? >>>>> >>>>> Thanks! >>>>> >>>>> Mike Rewey >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> Bikies mailing list >>>>> [email protected] >>>>> http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Bikies mailing list >>>> [email protected] >>>> http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Bikies mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Bikies mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
