Fabulous bike lanes!

[KnottedYet]

Check out these physically separated and traffic-lighted bike lanes!

Sure could use some of those around here...

http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2007/5/18/12579/3294

I don't mind riding on low-volume roads, but separate bike lanes on the main roads with their own traffic lights and such would be pretty darn cool.

[quint41]

Wow. I am so jealous!!!

[RoseC]

Nice! I remember seeing those in some areas in Germany when I was stationed over there - essentially a second mini-road for bikes. I was envious then, and I'm envious now.

I'm starting to toy with the idea of riding to work, though it'd be a haul. There are wide lanes and bike lanes almost every inch of the way, but it isn't enough to make me feel good. If I slip and fall down, what happens if I fall in the wrong direction? *shudder*

The physical separation of these bike roads just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy...it's like having a whole other dimension just for bike people!

[KnottedYet]

And it looked like the physical "gap" between the bike lane and the car lane was wide enough that a pedestrian crossing the lanes could use it as a buffer zone.

Nice transportation planning!
(I want some!)

[northstar]

Looks very exciting.

I wonder, though...is this going to be any safer than the bike paths we have that currently run parallel to roads? Are there any statistics on accidents? Or would they be skewed by the difference in awareness/driving habits between Europe and the U.S.?

It looks like something I would be thrilled to ride on...but I'm wondering if it would REALLY be safer...sad, huh?

[Python]

Northstar. Considering the amount of cyclists in Holland I doubt there would be that many serious or fatal accidents. Look how many car accidents there are every day with 4 or more people killed. Coming home tonight, in the middle of town, there had been a serious car crash. By the look of it, it was a fatality. Someone had obviously come down the dual carriageway far too fast, lost it at the roundabout and ploughed head-on into a signpost, flattened that and bounced off the barriers which are about 1 ft behind the signpost, spun off and came to rest about 50 yards up the road. The accident couldn't have happened more than about 20-30 minutes (or less) before we came past. The Police, Fire Brigade (who I think had cut the roof off the car to get the occupants out) and the Ambulance Service were all there. I didn't see it but my son said there was a body bag on the ground - and there was a body in it Heartbreak for someone tonight

I don't know what cycling's like in America but over here we so badly need a system like they have in Holland. Our government has been banging on for a long time about people being overweight, global warming etc. etc. yet it does nothing to get people onto bikes. Any new roads that are constructed should be constructed with completely separate bike lanes as we have seen in the videos and I think it's high time various cycling groups lobbied the governments of our respective countries for this.

At the end of the day, bicycles are going to be around long after cars have become a thing of the past.

[northstar]

I'm most certainly NOT against designating bike lanes. I did not intend to come off that way. There's just so many different schools of thought on what the safest way to get people from point A to point B on bikes is. There are people who won't commute unless they have an off road path. There are people who won't use those paths because they don't feel they are visible to cars when they approach intersections. The research I've seen showed that there were actually more accidents when people rode on bike paths that were off-road mostly due to cars cutting in front of them at intersections. If I recall correctly, it ran second only to the number of accidents when people ride on sidewalks.

I *personally* feel safest when I am in a clearly striped bike lane that runs next to traffic, not up on the side of the road or separated from traffic with a barrier. I was just curious about the stats on this, that's all.

I am not a defender of car culture, believe me Python!