Bike Lanes Are Dangerous

This letter to the editor that appeared in the NY Times a few years ago does an excellent job of describing the flaws in the idea that bike lanes are a safer alternative for bicycle commuters.

The fact is, separate bicycle lanes foster the belief on the part of motorists that bikes don’t belong on the road.  Additionally, they frequently take cyclists out of drivers’ line of sight, creating a very dangerous situation at intersections.

The safest way for cyclists and motorists to co-exist in a community is to share the road.  That’s why we all must do our part to raise awareness among non-cyclists about our place on the road, and how to safely navigate a shared transportation system.

To the Editor:

Samuel I. Schwartz’s nostalgia for the 1980 experiment with barrier-separated bike lanes in Manhattan (”Rolling Thunder,” Op-Ed, Nov. 5) is naïve. These lanes were hardly usable!

In such lanes, bicyclists’ travel is blocked by pedestrians, trucks or their delivery ramps; these also hide bicyclists and turning motorists from each other, increasing the risk of the most common car-bike crashes, those at intersections.

National design guidelines, and position statements of the League of American Bicyclists, strongly discourage the construction of barrier-separated lanes, as research consistently shows them to be more hazardous than riding on the same roadway with motor traffic.

Real improvements in bicycling conditions result, for example, from education, enforcement, bicycle boulevards (streets open for through bicycle travel but for only local motor-vehicle access) and reducing discretionary driving, as with London’s successful congestion charge.

John S. Allen
Waltham, Mass.

The writer is regional director for New York and New England, League of American Bicyclists.

Originally published: November 12, 2006