About Bike Lanes...

[Bicyclette]

I'm not real familiar with bike lanes - so I'm wondering - if there is a bike lane on one side of the street only - is that for use by cyclists going in both directions or only in the direction of traffic?

[Bluetree]

Bicyclette, it is not safe to ride against traffic.
Does that bike lane have a divider line for cyclists going in different directions? Most of the bike lanes I've seen are wide enough only for one cyclist. If that is the case and two cyclists approach each other, one will be forced into the auto lane... dangerous!

I don't know about the specific laws in your country, but here are some tips which may help. Autos move on the right in the US, so you might have to some adjusting. This is from http://www.bicyclesafe.com/:

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Collision Type #10:
The Wrong-Way Wallop
You're riding the wrong way (against traffic, on the left-hand side of the street). A car makes a right turn from a side street, driveway, or parking lot, right into you. They didn't see you because they were looking for traffic only on their left, not on their right. They had no reason to expect that someone would be coming at them from the wrong direction.

Even worse, you could be hit by a car on the same road coming at you from straight ahead of you. They had less time to see you and take evasive action because they're approaching you faster than normal (because you're going towards them rather than away from them). And if they hit you, it's going to be much more forceful impact, for the same reason. (Both your and their velocities are combined.)

How to avoid this collision:

Don't ride against traffic. Ride with traffic, in the same direction.
Riding against traffic may seem like a good idea because you can see the cars that are passing you, but it's not. Here's why:

1. Cars which pull out of driveways, parking lots, and cross streets (ahead of you and to the left), which are making a right onto your street, aren't expecting traffic to be coming at them from the wrong way. They won't see you, and they'll plow right into you.
2. How the heck are you going to make a right turn?
3. Cars will approach you at a much higher relative speed. If you're going 15mph, then a car passing you from behind doing 35 approaches you at a speed of only 20 (35-15). But if you're on the wrong side of the road, then the car approaches you at 50 (35+15), which is 250% faster! Since they're approaching you faster, both you and the driver have lots less time to react. And if a collision does occur, it's going to be ten times worse.
4. Riding the wrong way is illegal and you can get ticketed for it. Bruce Mackey says that 25% of cycling collisions are the result of the cyclist riding the wrong way.

There's one possible exception to riding the wrong way. When you're riding in the country on narrow, high-speed roads, it may be helpful to ride against traffic so you can see what you're up against. Compared to city traffic, country traffic is likely to have less roadspace for bikes and cars to share. That being the case, riding the wrong way allows you to bail into the shoulder if a car doesn't see you. You don't have problem #1 above because side traffic is rare, and #2 is avoided because you're riding primarily along one road and not turning right.
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Maybe you can check with your local law enforcement agency about the current laws and safety regualtions. Good luck!

[Dogmama]

My understanding - unless the bike lane is an actual bike path - that is, it is separated from the main road by dirt, vegetation, etc., you travel WITH the traffic.

Funny story - once I encountered a drunk guy on a bike going the wrong way in the bike lane. I took my chances with the traffic, rather than ride close to him.

[MomOnBike]

Last night DH & I rode on the new bike lanes downtown. They are right down the middle of the street on one-way streets. Being a Sunday evening, traffic was quiet, but I wonder how much I'll enjoy them during rush hour with busses and SUVs on both sides .

Still, we didn't have to wonder if we were going the wrong way, and the street trash shouldn't be a problem.

Interesting concept...

[xeney]

Our one-way streets now have bike lanes on either side. Both bike lanes go in the same direction, the direction of traffic, and they make left turns so much easier. These are busy three-lane commute streets that got converted into two lanes plus two bike lanes, and I was skeptical at first but now I really love them. They make it very easy to get around this city on a bike. I am a little bit afraid of bike lanes -- the older ones are all basically one door's width away from where the cars park -- and will usually take the lane instead, but I love the one-way bike lanes now.

As for the original question, I think some European cities have very different bike lane setups than we have in the US so it is hard to answer the question.

[Eden]

I am a little bit afraid of bike lanes -- the older ones are all basically one door's width away from where the cars park -- and will usually take the lane instead....

First - at least in the States (and I would guess elsewhere as well) NEVER ride against traffic. Yes this probably goes against what you were taught as a child, but riding against traffic is very dangerous.

I have to second xeney's opinion too. It is nice to have a place on the road set aside for me, but the more I ride the more I feel that I am actually safer when I am truly a part of traffic and cars expect me to act like it, so I have pretty mixed feelings about bike lanes even when they are done right. Seattle has a fair number of bike lanes, but much too often they have been poorly planned (even new ones), with parking to the right that places the rider directly in the door zone, and no clear path marked out when they come to intersections with right turn lanes (basically the bike lane ends short of the intersection and the cyclists are left to their own devices to figure out whether or not to move over into the straight lane or proceed straight through the turn lane - my personal preference is to move to the straight lane, but many motorist do not like this at all). It does little to help cyclists or our relations with drivers when the bike lanes provided are in themselves very dangerous and cyclists must choose to ignore them. Note that it is not a law in WA that you have to use trails or bike lanes when provided. Our law states you should stay to the righ as much as possible, but may ride in the safest place, which is very nice. Drivers however often do not understand why these bike lanes are inappropriate and get very defensive - well they (the cyclists) should be in the bike lane! that's what it is there for! I've had at least one scary person use their car to try to force me over into the bike lane (with car parking on its right....)

I agree with the person who yesterday said to me no one should be able to get a drivers license without first having ridden a bike around the city for a month - if it were only possible....(and you should never ever be able to design a bike lane without having ridden a bike, which it seems pretty clear to me has not happened.)

[Bluetree]

Seattle has a fair number of bike lanes, but much too often they have been poorly planned (even new ones), with parking to the right that places the rider directly in the door zone...

I had a near-miss this morning on exactly that type of lane, except it wasn't with a door, it was a dog. I was cruising about 16-17 mph and keeping my eye on the parked cars to my right when a woman with a dog came out between two SUVs (she couldn't see me coming over the big cars). Her English Spaniel walked out into the bike lane just as a mass of cars came up on my left.
My options were: Go straight, hit the dog; Go left, go hit by a car; Go right, go right through the dog's outstretched leash.
As soon as I saw it, I started braking and screamed, "Outa the way!" Luckily, the woman heard me and yanked her dog out of the bike lane in the nick of time. The poor critter went sailing through the air backwards as she reeled him in.
I don't think drivers see this space as a "bike lane" no matter how many bicycle logos are painted on the asphalt. They see it as their own private driveway or something. I agree with Eden. Most times I prefer to take up the driving lane on smaller street, despite the honkers... at least they can see you!

[xeney]

I don't think drivers see this space as a "bike lane" no matter how many bicycle logos are painted on the asphalt. They see it as their own private driveway or something.

That is 100 percent true. A non-cycling friend of mine, who has lived for the past fifteen years on a street that is a designated bike route, told me last week that she nearly hit a cyclist with her door when she was getting out of her car in front of her house, and the cyclist had the nerve to yell at her. My friend was very taken aback because she thought the cyclist should have been on the sidewalk if there were cars parked on the street. "What am I supposed to do, check for bicycles every time I want to open my car door?"

I confess that I got a little snappy with her, just because I can't imagine that somebody got to be 50 years old, living in a bike-friendly part of town, without ever thinking that she ought to maybe look around for cyclists. Plus she is a lawyer and ought to know that bikes aren't allowed on sidewalks. (We're criminal defense lawyers and it is one of the excuses that police sometimes give for detaining our clients!)

[Bicyclette]

Thanx for all the great responses! I've always thought that if there was only 1 bike lane it was for cyclists going in the direction of traffic - but I have seen people riding against traffic in them - we really only have 1 spot with a bike lane and there is a lane on each side of the sreet - it's also up on the sidewalk instead of in the street.

I appreciate everybody's help with this - thanx again

Pat

[pepe6599]

Well where I live in Hawaii certain city have bike lanes, usually the bike friendly cities, have bike lanes on one side of street. THose bike lanes, to my understanding, only allow riders to go with traffic; although, I have seen riders go againist traffic also. Hawaii isn't a bike friendly state so very few cities here have bike lanes.

[Cassandra_Cain]

Eden nicely stated many of my own feelings on bike lanes....

I'm a bit cautious about them for a variety of reasons...the inevitable junk/crap/rubbish that is all over them ranging from glass, girt, to parked cars....the fact that cars will rarely if ever bother to look if anyone is in the bike lane before turning, which is how one hit me.....and of course, intersections and disappearing bike lanes are a problem.

I prefer to be on a bike trail far from traffic OR riding with and in traffic, not in between ala a bike lane.

[Kitsune06]

I have a question; more pretaining to a lack of bike lane then the presence of one;
If the bike lane 'runs out' say in front of a small bridge or some such, and the 'Bicyclists on Roadway' sign is there, I know technically Oregonian cyclists are fully allowed to take to the lane (some suggest even taking the entire lane for safety reasons, so cars don't pass where they wouldn't have room to safely do so, etc)
BUT
how is one expected to do that when on a bike where your max speed can top out around 16-18 mph without honestly getting run over/beaten/abused/etc? I'm asking now because if I get either of my prospective jobs now, I'll be commuting over such a bridge 2x/day, and I don't want to get killed on my way to work, and I don't necessarily trust most local drivers, either.

[xeney]

I think you just have to go for it if you don't have an alternate route. I believe that statistically you are less likely to be run over from behind than you are to be sideswiped or doored, but I know that doesn't make you feel any better when a truck is bearing down on you. I will say that I am a pretty timid cyclist, but taking a lane in heavy traffic is less terrifying than I thought it would be, mostly because heavy traffic tends to mean slowdowns, anyway. In terms of driver aggression, I have found that if I take the lane but ride as hard as I can and get back to the right when the bike lane returns, drivers are not horrible to me. They are actually worse if I am lane sharing when there isn't quite enough room -- I think that makes them as nervous as it makes me. If it is clear that I am doing my best to keep traffic moving, maybe drivers are more inclined to be patient while I navigate the area without a bike lane. As I said, I'm pretty slow and timid, but I have only been yelled at a couple of times and neither was in a situation where I was taking the lane.

I always turn on my rear light (on blink) even in the day time if I am going to have to merge with cars. Oh, and signal. That shocks the hell out of them.

[lph]

Aaagh! Never ride against traffic! Just say no!! (sorry, get a bit hyper about that )

Some bike lanes are pretty spooky, since a lot of drivers see them as a handy, large space for them to pull over into, or veer into before making a turn. But it helps if you just assume that all drivers ahead of you are about to make a turn at the next intersection, and ride correspondingly. You can also never be too visible, bright clothes, lights, whatever. And if I feel I get more attention if I ride "purposefully" - I turn my head and check behind me a lot, try to catch the drivers eye, place myself a bit closer to the line of cars than the sidewalk, and use obvious LARGE hand signals well in advance.

A friend saw me and joked that I looked like a bike cop - fine with me

[Crankin]

When I rode in Quebec this summer, there was one part of the Route Verde, that was on the road (a lot of it was) that had one bike lane on the opposite side of the street from the direction we were travelling. It definitely WAS 2 way for cyclists. The lane was marked off by dividers at some points, but everything I know about safe riding made this feel very weird, especially as we climbed up a hill going in the opposite direction of the traffic. A few other cyclists passed us going the other way and that was spooky, too. Most of the Route Verde was on larger roads with a very wide bike lane on both sides. Cars were very aware of bikes here.
So, I suspect the use of these lanes is quite different in different countries.

Robyn