
Originally Posted by
Eden
My problem is that it is not actual safety, but only the illusion of…. There's plenty of data to back that up and one rather flawed Canadian study to refute it (they studied a 10 or so block section of separated bike track with *no* intersections and declared that separated cycle tracks reduce cyclist accidents by an amazing 80-90%!!! - total BS- though I do suppose that it prove well that intersections are the problem area… a place that cannot be separated, and the rest of the cycle track is simply window dressing)
What Canadian study are you referring to?....I'd like to read it
The 7 month Anne Lusk Harvard Montreal study I mentioned earlier included 6 (two way on one side of the road) cycle tracks and then reference streets that were parallel to the cycle tracks with the same cross streets as endpoints, subject to the same intersection frequency, cross traffic, car volume and speed. It found the two way on one side of the road lanes safer with a crash rate of 10.5 per million kilometer vs 67 per million kilometer for the reference streets.

Originally Posted by
Eden
green bike boxes which were supposed to be this great panacea to prevent right hooks were found to have at times doubled the rate of collisions in Portland, OR….
To be more accurate…..if you're referencing the older study done by PBOT for the Federal Highway Administration (the only Portland one showing an increase)....the vast majority of those 32 accidents, over 4 years, 81% were right hooks at just a couple of intersections on a couple of streets that were also downhill so people riding were going faster through the intersections than other streets and one with a right turn on-ramp to a freeway. ALL the other streets, the majority, had a safer record, including with right hooks, after the green boxes were painted. With separate signals, no turn on red signs, a slow down sign for bicycles, a $242 fine for an illegal right turn and a prohibition of vehicle right turns at one intersection all those lanes are now safer. Right hooks are a problem for all transportation designers. Montreal, Chicago, Portland etc. have all worked on better designs and are continuing to think through new solutions that can help. My personal bicycle safety measure is to just approach an intersection with caution and make sure I’m seen. I’ve never had a problem while doing that.....if someone wants to just ride fast through an intersection without giving thought to cars possibly making a right turn then my hope is they always make it....unfortunately 88% of that 81% were people who didn't
Last edited by rebeccaC; 04-16-2015 at 12:22 PM.
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