Bike Lanes

[Rick]

I dislike bike lanes for some of the reasons cited above. They get covered with debris, but then cars assume you have to stay in them and get irate if you stray into "their" lanes.

It seems quite obvious to me that the best solution is wide shoulders, and driver education that bikes have just as much right as anyone to use the roadways. Then bicyclists should also strive to be courteous and ride as far to the side as practical. But there is a fine psychological line there, because you shouldn't be forced to ride so far to the right that it becomes the cyclists's responsibility to stay out of "their" lanes. It is the motorists' responsibility to pass safely. In Utah, USA there is a law that motorists must clear any cyclist by at least 3 feet when passing. So if cyclist is hit it is almost always automatically the motorist at fault.

[metal]

Bike lanes and bike tracks are for inexperienced riders. Riders who, if riding on the road, ride a metre out from the gutter, and hold traffic up while getting abused, and even though they are in right. They don't understand how to share the road effectively.

Personally, I don't mind riding the gutter, or on the white line on roads. I'm a rider who is confident enough to hold my line with little deviation. All a passing motorist has to do is 'tap' the centreline. It works, everyone is happy.

I wish the shoulders where wider though. Alot of roads don't have enough shoulder to ride down safely. And while I stick to the edge of the road, I just wish that all roads would have a shoulder of about 30-50cm to ride down. Unmarked preferably to give serious cyclists a good bit of road to ride safely on.

[Asymptotic]

Nice article , this is probably the reason I exclusively head out into the hills instead of doing the Glenelg - beach route.

Interesting hearing about the different accountability laws in the US, definitely preferable to ours.

[Tapeworm]

^ Old Freeway is one of the best "proximity to CBD vs quality training grounds" in Australia IMO. And Mt Lofty and it's cycling nirvana from there as well.