Ed Pirrero wrote:
> Have you ever had a driver shout "advice" to you about bicycles and
> traffic law?
This is where a cell phone that takes photos that can be downloaded to
a remote place for saving is a very handy thing.
Mine doesn't really take pictures but I've shut up a couple of drivers
pronto with it anyhow.
Maybe the times are finally a-changin!!!
I've called 911 on pay phones (remember pay phones?) in the past and
had a squad car respond. "I'm being threatened by a driver" while
giving location, lic. #, car/driver description. Do it! ("I'm going
about my lawful business" is a handy phrase)
> If so, have they ever been right? (If not, then count
> yourself lucky.)
I know what you mean, but I never count myself lucky or unlucky
depending on the behavior of others. Abuse is abuse; same for
threatening. "Get off the road" is a threat, plain and simple.
> In any case, just about every bike lane I've ever seen is an
> afterthought, in the door zone, less than 3 feet wide, not contiguous
> (ends at intersections) or contains a lot of road debris. Or some
> combination thereof. Pretty much any one of those things makes cycling
> in and around autos harder, not easier.
>
> A wide lane, with no bike ghetto off to the right, is my ideal
> commuting set-up. If only for the reason that auto drivers not get the
> idea that bikes MUST remain in the bike lanes.
>
> Those lanes in your area sound nice, if you accept the idea of a bike
> ghetto to begin with. They would be way ahead of anything I've ever
> had the "priviledge" of riding on.
Shoal Creek Blvd, Austin Tx has been a "proving ground" of sorts over
the last year or so.
What works on this curvy street is pushing the vehicular traffic to the
middle of the ROW, with a "Parking/Bikes" lane striped to the right.
Excuse me if I don't provide measurements here. There's about 2'
between the side of a minivan and the stripe:
http://bicycleaustin.info/roadways/shoalcreek-aca.html
The cars slow down because they don't want a headon collision (proving
some intelligence, after all!), while they seem to really respect the
parking/bike stripe if for no other reason than the parking part is
"for them", if you know what I mean.
Some local "zealots" (a few of whom have commandeered the Austin
Cycling Association's bully pulpit) are still trying to get all MV
parking out of bike lanes here but that's not going to happen before
$30/gal gas. Actually, it was their ("zealot", not ACA necessarily,
just to be clear) misguided efforts that caused the furor IRT SCB in
the first place, where wacky lane pattern options were publicly
considered, such as a meandering ROW with parking alternating from side
to side--IOW, approx. half of the residents would have lost their
street-front parking. Let's not pretend to be surprised that they were
mighty PO'd about it. Then, the city paid a ton of money to construct
"parking islands" which obstructed the parking/bike lane in a really
dangerous manner. A swat back at the "No Cars!!!" zealots? Certainly a
"solution" no one liked.
Not surprisingly, a couple of these "Dragons' Teeth" took the oilpan
out from underneath an AARP Buick or two. Not to mention making it
impossible to use a street sweeper... or the fact that much (most, most
all) of the time, there were more parking islands on the street than
parked cars!
So, sanity prevailed and they pulled up the parking islands-- a really
remarkable and welcome admission of error-- and left the Parking/Bikes
lane stripe where it was. I've been riding SCB for 20+ years; there is
a new civility present and obvious; the best bike road in Austin got
better. And more: sections of the street that have not had sidewalks
are being improved not just with sidewalks on both sides, but really
attractive limestone block retaining walls where needed, and also new
driveways, curb cuts, and aprons, again per need. Quite a few residents
are having their old water meters replaced, with new WM boxes and new
homeowner cutoffs, and some old water service yardlines are being
replaced as needed; some sewer line work is being done, also. It's a
fairly extensive re-do and IMHO a showpiece for "how it can be done".
Note, the stripe itself is about the cheapest improvement possible;
along with a few new signs denoting use, a big return on minimal cost.
You'll see complaints in the "hazards to cyclists" theme (such as in
the website above) but IMHO there's an attitude problem* at the base of
this rhetoric, plus a lack of simple real-world riding skills, like
listening and looking behind you, and looking into parked vehicles to
see if someone is about to open a door, not waiting until the last
second before veering around a parked car, adjusting your speed to flow
in traffic, and so forth.
*Anger at past incidents, plus an unwillingness to "share the road";
which after all is a two-way street.
I've been known to slow or even stop (solo riding) at some safe
distance behind a parked car or truck to let a cluster of drivers get
on down the road on SCB (and other places). Some cyclists regard this
as a shameful, or even cowardly act, "letting them push you around",
etc. etc. All I can say is, I take the lane often as not but at the
same time, courtesy to drivers is noticed, appreciated, and returned.
Not in every case, of course. But, why be an asshole *too*?
OK, back to the new novel: "Grime and Polishment". Should be finished
in a couple of years or so!
--D-y
