BIKE: Re: bike safety

[Dave W]

Jeff, thanks for the info and link; I bookmarked it.

> 2: There has been no significant demonstration that 
> either bike paths or bike-lane stripes have reduced
> the cyclist crash rate. On the contrary, bike paths 
> have several times been shown to be the most
> dangerous facilities we have.

As for bike paths, I don't dispute that they're
dangerous, maybe even more dangerous than cycling on
(some) streets.  I can only relate my experience on
several bike paths in the Washington, DC area.

On most of my commutes on the Mount Vernon, Martha
Custis, and Capital Crescent Trails, there were no
other users around, maybe a jogger or two.  A simple
bell ring and loud "passing on the left" let them know
I was coming.

I never had any problems because there was rarely
anyone to crash into.  But on the first warm sunny
spring day, you can bet all the runners, walkers,
cyclists and whatnot were out clogging up *my* trails
:).  Another very rare problem was the "gorilla"
cyclists out doing training on the bike path.  They
usually didn't give much audible warning they were
coming.  But I'd rather be hit by a gorilla than a
car.

Besides the mixing of high and low speed traffic, bike
paths also suffer from their accessibility to
all--including people with no riding skills or
etiquette.  Children slaloming from one lane to the
other.  People passing without an audible signal.  And
walkers and joggers who execute U-turns on the path
without even looking behind them (with or without
headphones).  But, once again, I'd rather collide with
a path user than a motor vehicle (I've done both, so I
know ;) ).

Dave Westenbarger

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