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Guidelines on what to or not to share online? (RE: 51km/h fall that went viral on Spanish media)


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You do make a good point.  It does make sense to start from the point of considering what the worst drivers are doing, and cellphone gazers have got to be among the worst by definition because they can't even see what they're doing.  

That Memphis experiment sounds like a great idea.  The movie theater business I find very easy to believe.  Many is the time in Los Angeles when I wanted to see a movie, but the traffic was way too thick ... and you might have to pay almost as much for parking as for the movie, if you could even find parking.  

It would be even better with rented e-scooters, because then you wouldn't worry about someone stealing your ride, which in L.A. was almost guaranteed, when I lived there.

But now that I've left ... LOL, no, wait, that didn't sound right ...

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On 12/11/2018 at 9:37 AM, Dingfelder said:

I think bike lanes should be marked off by a special color to make them more noticeable.  Here in America, where the only two colors are yellow and white, things blur together.  How about green?  Bicycles are green, aren't they? (If you see where I was going with that ...)

Here in Spain they are (they're red), but they're very badly implemented. They appear to have gone for the cheapest and easiest option possible as opposed to updating the infrastructure: At times you have two narrow bike lines (one for each direction) on one side of the road; later on, where the sidewalk is wider, they merge onto the sidewalk (often no signs to let you know in advance), and since there was no bike lane on the previous block, people walk where they please. Two blocks further, the sidewalk narrows, and the bike lanes split up: bikes travelling in one direction stay on the same sidewalk, while those going the other direction are forced to cross the road at a pedestrian crossing and continue on the other side of the road. Since widespread urban cycling is relatively new here (and people aren't to concerned about following the rules anyway), it's common to find bikes going either direction in one-way bike lanes. It's also common for bike-lanes to end abruptly and re-appear several blocks later, out of the blue. Signposting is just as bad: when bike lanes cross intersections, sometimes we have a lane and stop light of our own; others we're to assume (because there are no signs or arrows painted on the lane itself) that we have to ride onto the sidewalk, cross the street alongside pedestrians, then back onto the bike lane; other times there's no indication whatsoever, and since we're to cross before the zebra crossing, cars turning right often fail to see bikers, making it a pretty hazardous affair...

In short, it's chaotic, to say the least...

On 12/11/2018 at 9:37 AM, Dingfelder said:

Which is more dangerous?  I don't know, but I can say that when on a bike I have often felt safer driving in the middle of a lane than on its side.  I don't think I was ever bumped in thousands of miles .. but I was forced into a ditch more than once when riding on the side, and damn scared many more times. 

I see your point, and with well-implemented lanes, properly separated from car traffic, it makes sense. But here, I feel it would make things worse. Also, having cars on both sides doubles the risk. Even if a cyclist falls because of a fault of his/her own, and happens to land outside of the bike lane, there's the risk of being hit from behind, or by oncoming traffic, depending on the direction of the fall.

BTW, couldn't agree more about your statement about drivers' perceived hurry and bulls** reasons for speeding and not driving cautiously!

13 hours ago, LanghamP said:

I've thought about this, and if it was before 2008 then I would say take the middle part of the lane, but today I would say take the right and expect to be blown into the ditch.

I totally agree. Texting while driving has become a common cause of accidents, and a driver coming up behind you has a better chance of spotting you, and the further to the right you are, the better chances you have. And in addition to  "being run off is a better chance that being rammed from behind at 45 mph+", it's also better than adding the extra risk of being hit face-on at the same speed.

 

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On 12/11/2018 at 5:23 AM, Darrell Wesh said:

We just live in two different worlds haha. In the USA, no cars can be in bike lanes. Strictly for bikes, scooters or PEV’s. 

Also, there is no free healthcare in the USA as you already know 😓 And you can sue anyone for anything in the USA, like that bicyclist who hit you on the sidewalk and gave you a sore shin!

Somehow missed your comment...two different worlds indeed! Good thing we have free healthcare, as chaotic as things are here!

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