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Where Bike Lane Design Collides with Savvy Cycling

August 29, 2018/10 Comments/in The Savvy Cyclist /by Paul Schimek

If you’re an urban bicyclist, you probably know what “dooring” means. When bike lanes are entirely within reach of the doors of legally parked cars, it’s harder for bicyclists to ride safely.

Even the cyclist who knows it’s not safe to ride in the door zone may feel that riding in the lane adjacent to an unusable bike lane is like riding with a flashing “Harass Me” sign.

Door-zone bike lane

Why do cities continue to make it hard to ride safely?

I address this issue in a new article in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention. Door zone bike lanes (DZBLs) continue to be installed because design guidelines still allow them.

For decades, it has been conventional wisdom that crashes involving bicyclists and opening car doors are rare. This belief is based on motor vehicle crash reports, but these reports generally exclude this crash type by definition.

The crash hiding in plain sight

National and state databases only include crashes involving motor vehicles in transport. Since a parked car is not in transport, and a bicycle is not a motor vehicle, crashes where a bicyclist hits a parked car door are excluded.

A few dooring crashes make it into national and state crash databases anyway, which has led some studies to erroneously conclude that dooring accounts for less than 0.2 percent of bicycle crashes.

Dooring accounts for 12 to 27 percent of urban car-bike collisions, making it one of the most common crash types.

I found 10 sources in cities in North America, plus one from Australia, that include dooring incidents, unlike official crash data. These police, hospital, insurance or EMS reports indicate that dooring accounts for 12 to 27 percent of urban car-bike collisions, making it one of the most common crash types.

Substandard standards

I reviewed four studies of bicyclist riding position with bike lanes and parking lanes of varying widths. With the minimum dimensions allowed (5-foot bike lane and 7-foot parking lane), almost all bicyclists were observed riding within reach of parked cars.

However, when there was another three feet between the bike lane and parked cars, almost all bicyclists rode outside the door zone.

When there was another three feet between the bike lane and parked cars, almost all cyclists rode outside the door zone.

Only one of the North American bike lane design manuals I could find (the Ontario Traffic Manual) requires a buffer between bike lanes and on-street parking. Paradoxically, the guidelines for separated bike lanes — where the bike lane is on the curb side of on-street parking — all require one.

Why require a buffer from car doors when the bike lane is on one side, but not when it’s on the other?

Designing to avoid dooring

In 2014, the Transportation Research Board published the results of a three-year, $300,000 study of bike lane width. The authors recognized that “the design of the bike lane should encourage bicyclists to ride outside of this door zone area and should account for the width of the bicyclist.”

The report found that bicyclists need to center themselves 12 feet from the curb to be outside of the door zone.

Bike lane with door buffer in Cleveland (photo: Andrew Cross)

Change is slow, and stubborn

The Transportation Research Board’s report recognized best practices. Yet its authors still recommend installation of bike lanes that are less than 12 feet from the curb.

Even where there was enough room for a door buffer zone, the report recommended using half of the buffer zone on the travel lane side.

The authors are aware of the problem with their own recommendations. “Where bicycle lanes are designed according to the guidance [in this report], it should be recognized that bicyclists will still likely position themselves within the door zone of parked vehicles,” they wrote.

The researchers did not consider the possibility of recommending shared lane markings where there is insufficient room to install a bike lane outside the door zone, because their goal was to provide “design guidance for a bicycle lane given the decision that a bicycle lane will be installed.”

How bicyclists use shared lane markings

Some say that cyclists will ride in the door zone, even when not directed to by DZBLs. But is this really so?

Shared lanes marking in Washington, DC

I looked at four studies that observed the position of bicyclists before and after shared lane markings were added in the center of a travel lane adjacent to on-street parking. The SLMs were centered about 14 feet from the curb; on average bicyclists were centered 11 feet from the curb.

In the most successful case, 85 percent of bicyclists were riding within the door zone before SLM installation, and only 45 percent after. In addition, there was a large drop in sidewalk bicycling. The posted speed limit was 25 MPH in this case, compared to 30-35 MPH in the others studied.

Shared lane markings can prevent dooring

Where there is on-street parking and insufficient room for a buffer from doors, SLMs can help keep cyclists out of the door zone. They could be more effective if supplemented by lower speed limits, eliminating statutes that require bicyclists to have an excuse to leave the right edge of the road, retraining police officers, and making the public aware of the right and need of bicyclists to keep a safe distance from parked cars.

Requiring a buffer for standard bike lanes will require design guides to acknowledge that bike lanes do not fit next to on-street parking without at least 3 feet more of width than is currently provided in the minimum guidance.

With less than 25 feet for a parking lane and travel lane, bicyclists should be encouraged to ride in the travel lane with shared lane markings and Bicyclists May Use Full Lane signs.

The future of door-zone bike lanes

Currently the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities is being revised. However, unless the committee reviewing the current draft intervenes, DZBL designs will be retained. Although there will be new material on buffered bike lanes, the primary concern is a buffer between the travel lane and the bike lane, not on the parking side.

Accounting for the door zone properly would mean that bike lanes could not be installed with less than 25 feet between the curb and the center line.

There’s a pervasive belief, unsupported by evidence, that bicyclists using travel lanes are likely to be hit by overtaking motorists. Following this belief, the new AASHTO guide not only maintains designs that essentially require bicyclists to use the door zone, but also promotes designs requiring bicyclists to stay to the right of right-turning traffic.

Another pervasive belief is that bike lanes make bicycling easier. In fact, cyclists need more education to safely use bike lanes in urban contexts. The dooring risk is merely one of a host of issues with DZBLs.

How savvy cyclists protect themselves

If possible, find another route. If you find yourself on a road with a door-zone bike lane, you could use it with CyclingSavvy’s “control and release” strategy.

Because of traffic lights, motorists tend to travel in platoons. This leaves even busy roads empty for various stretches of time. When the regular travel lane is empty, use it, moving over as necessary to the door-zone bike lane to “release” other traffic.

When you move into any door-zone bike lane, slow down. Go slow enough so that a door opening in your path will not surprise you. For safety’s sake, this won’t be much faster than walking speed.

Be aware that while you’re in the bike lane, you’re not relevant to motorists. Beware of drivers who may turn right in front of you, or left across your path. A door-zone bike lane also shields you from motorists who may be driving onto the road at an intersection or from a driveway.

Never use a door-zone bike lane as a “freeway” to speed by motor traffic stopped and stuck on your left. In these situations, filter forward cautiously (no faster than pedestrian speed).

If door-zone bike lane designs proliferate, savvy cyclists will increasingly have to take longer routes in order to avoid the possibility of harassment (or citation, in cities and states with mandatory use laws for bike lanes). The door zone is a real hazard that must be accounted for in designing for safe bicycling.

Learning A New Street Dance

August 15, 2018/2 Comments/in The Savvy Cyclist /by Marc Caruso

I am a proud savvy cyclist…and I have a confession.

I took CyclingSavvy twice, first in Philadelphia and then Charlotte.

You might ask: Didn’t I learn anything the first time?

Using the top floor of a downtown Philly parking garage for Train Your Bike, the parking lot skills session. Even experienced cyclists – like Marc – learn new things. From left: instructor Karen Karabell, Marc Caruso, Camille Gervasio, Shannon Walsh and John A Petty II

Yes.

I learned an incredible amount about training my bike and how to ride comfortably and confidently with traffic. But some things don’t sink in until later or, in my case, the second time around.

In Philly, I learned from Karen Karabell that there’s nothing scary about empty pavement behind you. How do you get “scary” roads to yourself? You make the lights and the law work for you.

A great example is choosing where you enter a road from. Use traffic lights to your advantage by turning right on green. You have no obligation to turn right on red.

By turning right on green, motorists on the road you’re turning onto are stopped at a red light. When they finally get a green, they’ll be far enough back to use one of the adjacent travel lanes to pass you, in whichever lane you’re not in.

Strategy, Courtesy and Mindfulness

We practiced the right-on-green technique in Charlotte, too. Before I tell you what happened, you need to know that the on-road Tour is like nothing you’ve ever done before.

You’ll be riding on roads you can’t believe you’re using — and you’ll be doing it by yourself, unless you don’t want to. Then an instructor will ride with you. But by the time you get to that point in the workshop, almost everyone wants to try on their own.

Marc making a left turn in Charlotte

A Savvy Cyclist Can Go Anywhere

As a savvy cyclist, I’m not a road warrior. Just the opposite!

CyclingSavvy instructors teach strategy, courtesy and mindfulness. They figure you’re probably OK riding on your neighborhood cul de sac, or on a trail. What they want is to show you how to make connections, so that you can ride out of your neighborhood, or not have to put your bike on a car to go to the trail.

When Motorists Want to Turn Right on Red

In Charlotte, we watched each student set off to practice right-on-green. It was a busy road and motorists would appear behind them. John Allen instructed the students to move to the left side of the lane and wave the motorists to pass on their right.

savvy cyclist facilitating right on red [orlando]

Staying to the left side of a lane allows motorists to turn right on red while you wait for a green light.

The motorists passed and made the right on red. When the light turned green, the student doing the feature would turn right.

The result was obvious: No cars on the big “scary” road behind the student. By turning right on green, motorists on that road were held back by a red light.

After making the turn, we were instructed to go directly into the lane we wanted. Motorists turning right on green with us could choose another lane and pass us easily.

Epiphany In Charlotte

Instructor Pamela Murray shook my thinking about shoulder checks.

Marc leads other savvy cyclists on the Tour of Charlotte

I use a helmet mirror, so some shoulder checks seemed unnecessary in my mind. Before taking CyclingSavvy in Charlotte, I only did shoulder checks when making lateral movements.

When I merged or turned, I’d do a shoulder check, signal, and shoulder check again to make sure it’s safe. Otherwise, I just used my mirror and then communicated with hand signals like “slow,” or “pass” when it was safe to pass me.

What this does, though, is make it seem like the motorist is communicating with just an inanimate piece of metal.

A Fellow Human

When you turn your head over your shoulder, you’re showing your face to the person behind you and making yourself recognized as another human being, not just a bike.

As a result of seeing your face, they’ll be more apt to take direction from you. People like to help other people out.

I’m grateful for the incredible, knowledgeable CyclingSavvy instructors who’ve helped change my street game into a savvy cyclist dance.

Celebrating last November after a great day in Charlotte. Left to right: Carl Fenske (who became a CyclingSavvy Instructor in February 2018), Marc Caruso, Doug Guerena, Pamela Murray, Charlene Poole, John Allen, John Gaul and Shannon Walsh

The Art of “Just Do It”

August 9, 2017/5 Comments/in The Savvy Cyclist /by Mónica Llorián

Has this ever happened to you:

It’s a lovely day! You decide to bike. After you grab your water bottle, lock, bike shorts, gloves, clip-in shoes, spare tube, pannier, reflective vest, lights, rain jacket, ID, money, helmet, air pump, levers, tools, cell phone, basket, charger…

The joy has left you. It’s too much work. You hop in your car instead.

I know this routine because it’s happened to me. A LOT. Just thinking about preparing to leave for a ride was exhausting.

Well! No pun intended, but I decided to break this cycle. From now on, I’d have a more “just do it” approach.

I decided to test my new resolve with a weekend trip to Kansas City. I was driving there and would take my bike on my car, but leave the car in a free lot and get around town on my beloved Frenchman “Pierre,” a vintage 1973 Peugeot Mixte.

Riding Pierre would make my trip more economical, and let me enjoy KC in the best way possible.

Pierre in Kansas City, prior to his meltdown

Before I left home, I ensured Pierre’s tires were aired up. I took only a basket, lock, lights and helmet. Nothing else! I bike in regular clothes. Travel light, that’s my goal.

Prior to my trip, I asked my Airbnb hosts if there were bike racks in front of building. They couldn’t remember, but said I could bring my bike up to my loft. While I would have use of an elevator, this made me even more determined to travel light.

Biking around KC was easy. I stopped any time I wanted to enjoy views I would have easily missed in a car.

On my last day I wanted to visit a highly recommended vegan bake shop. It was a little far but I didn’t care. The weather was perfect. I’d be able to bike off calories after I devoured pastries.

With very little traffic, I felt like I had the roads to myself. I was just enjoying my time when the unexpected happened: A bolt on the pedal crank broke! Suddenly Pierre was unrideable.

I was stuck on the side of the road in a town where I knew no one. I was too far from my Airbnb to walk the bike back. My first thought was to chastise myself: “I should have packed my tools and extra bolts!”

Yeah, right. Even if I had tools, would I have been able to fix Pierre? What to do?

I remembered someone telling me that I could Uber a car that can carry a bike. Uber! I’ll Uber! I got my phone and ordered a car to come get me. I locked up Pierre to get him later. I didn’t need to order a special vehicle though it was available. In less than five minutes, my Uber driver arrived. Twenty-five minutes later I was in my car, picking up Pierre.

Not once did I regret not packing “everything” in the event something happened. This was a small hiccup in a fun weekend ride.

Over-planning for the worst could be the worst thing that happens to you on a ride. I ride more since I’ve stopped worrying about what I “should” bring on trips. I don’t even worry about what I wear. You’ll often see me in flip flops and a skirt. This has been a life changer!

There are a few things I always bring: A fully charged cell phone, bike lights and a helmet. But everything is really not necessary. Most things I can get at my destination & leave there, or arrange to get later.

“Anything is fixable except death,” my mom says. So true! These days, anything is a cell phone call away.

Goodies from Mud Pie Vegan Bakery & Coffee

OH! I made it to that vegan bake shop, with Pierre. He was resting comfortably on the bike rack ready to get back home. He has since recovered from his injuries and is back on the road.

Bike Wonk: Ride Like You’re Invisi … Relevant

July 12, 2017/10 Comments/in The Savvy Cyclist /by Mighk Wilson

It was a typical winter morning in Downtown Orlando. Clear, cool and sunny with normal rush hour traffic. Because it was cool, I was wearing my usual neon yellow jacket. I’m not obsessive about “hi-viz” clothes, but if I’m going to wear a jacket, I figure it may as well be a bright one. I’d just turned onto Rosalind Avenue, a one-way three-lane street with short blocks, lots of signalized intersections and a bike lane. I normally use the bike lane.

On this particular morning I made the right turn onto Rosalind at such a time that it held off most of the heavy northbound traffic. I had the street almost entirely to myself. In my helmet-mounted mirror I could see only one vehicle approaching from behind. A woman was driving a van in the right lane with the right turn signal on. We were both coming up to the intersection with Church Street. I could tell that the van would get to the intersection at the same time I would. I’m heading straight. She’s turning right. I tell myself, “This should be interesting.”

Sure enough, as we reached the intersection, she turned right in front of me. Since I was right hook bicycle accident, bike lanes expecting it, it wasn’t a big deal. I tapped my brake and no contact was made, but she missed me by only about a foot. An untrained cyclist might not have had the same outcome.

The point of this story is not to illustrate the fairly common “right hook” conflict, but why this particular driver did something so obviously stupid. She had no other person or vehicle to pay attention to for the few seconds leading up to our conflict. I was exceptionally conspicuous in my jacket. As it was a one-way street, she had no concern about on-coming left turns. There were no vehicles waiting at the cross street. I was the only thing in the world she had to avoid, and she failed.

I can guess at her thought process. Perhaps she misjudged my speed. Perhaps she assumed I would yield. Or perhaps she was so preoccupied that she was not paying attention to anything outside her lane. Whatever. One thing was clear: Even though I was highly conspicuous, I was not relevant enough for her to make the right decision.

Relevance:

The difference between frustrating routine conflicts and a stress-free ride.

CyclingSavvy co-founder Keri Caffrey shot photos of me at this location to give you a sense of how I would have looked to that driver that morning. The photos show more traffic than was present that day and the bike lane is now painted green. But they should still help you “get the picture.”

I do most of my riding in regular clothing and on streets without bike lanes. Over more than 20 years I’ve never had a right hook conflict (or many close calls of any sort), mostly because I ride in the center of the lane by default. But while wearing a hi-viz jacket and riding in a facility that many think is supposed to “make motorists pay attention” to me, I encountered this conflict. (It’s not the only such conflict I’ve had in bike lanes, just the most noteworthy.)

As cyclists we need to understand the differences between “visible,” “conspicuous,” and “relevant.”

You can be visible and highly conspicuous–and irrelevant, as I was that morning:

You can be clearly visible, though not highly conspicuous, and yet be very relevant. This photo shows the default position I use on streets without bike lanes:

You can dress to be highly conspicuous and yet be completely invisible to a motorist who needs to see you. See how this cyclist in hi-viz is invisible to the driver about to turn left?

Or you can be visible, conspicuous, and relevant:

Most cycling safety proponents (and sellers of gizmos) will tell you all about how to be more visible and conspicuous. We hear from lots of cyclists who say they are “doing everything right” and being as conspicuous as possible. Yet they also complain about having too many close calls.

If you’re having close calls, check out the relevance component. CyclingSavvy shows you strategies that will make you as relevant as possible.

You have the power to banish frustrating routine conflicts and enjoy a safer, nearly stress-free cycling experience.

Relevance makes all the difference.

(In a future post I’ll discuss where and when it’s most important and useful to improve your conspicuity, in addition to being visible and relevant.)

CyclingSavvy & ABEA Conspicuous (& Relevant) in The Wall Street Journal

July 1, 2017/2 Comments/in The Savvy Cyclist /by Mighk Wilson

“Yessss! Nailed it!”

Passing strangers at the Minneapolis airport last Monday were probably a bit amused at my enthusiasm. I’d just gotten off the phone with a Wall Street Journal reporter. We talked about cyclist conspicuity. (Some of us get excited about such things.)

Here’s her story, published today in The Wall Street Journal Online. American Bicycling Education Association and its CyclingSavvy program were both mentioned. While the article primarily explored research into a number of clothing and lighting options, the reporter also mentioned the concept of lane positioning, which we teach in CyclingSavvy. I explained to her that being relevant is often as important as being conspicuous. (Stay tuned! This is the topic for my next blog post, which will run July 12.) CyclingSavvy Instructor John Allen was also interviewed for the article.

I suppose it’s all well and good if some people want to wear neon clothing and use some of the gadgets the story covered — and in some circumstances some of them certainly will help. But do we really have to dress like a science project every time we ride our bikes? With CyclingSavvy strategies you’ll find that you can usually just ride in normal clothing in the daytime, and use regular headlights and taillights at night.

In other news…

Congratulations to CyclingSavvy Instructor Bill DeSantis (Professional Engineer for VHB, based in Providence, RI) for being named new chairman for the Bicycle Technical Committee (BTC) of the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (NCUTCD). This committee explores, reviews and recommends new or modified traffic signs, pavement markings and traffic signals relevant to cycling on our public roads and paths. Approved devices are included in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), which is what the federal government and most states adopt as the official standards for traffic controls. Five CyclingSavvy Instructors now serve on the BTC: Bill DeSantis, DeWayne Carver, John Allen, John Schubert and myself.

Bill DeSantis discovers another CSI program that doesn’t involve bicycling.

By now you may be getting the idea that the CSIs who represent ABEA know a thing or two about bicycling. They are recognized as authorities on bicycling safety and education. As a result, they are leading the conversations on bicycling safety and transportation design at a national level.

Update 7/2/2017:

We realize that the Journal piece is behind a paywall, and not wishing to run afoul of fair use laws, we won’t copy the entire story. But a few highlights and quotes:

Research into fluorescent leggings and ankle lights found both are better recognized as being associated with cyclists than fluorescent shirts or jackets or regular headlights. (But I think a motorist approaching from behind is going to see the large area of your torso from a greater distance, assuming a similar color. Depending on which direction you need to be seen from, it may be more important to be seen from a greater distance, or recognized from a shorter distance.) Ankle lights truly do sound like a good addition to your regular tail-light and headlight set-up.

While I wasn’t quoted extensively for the article, I was fortunate to literally “get in the last word.”

“Mighk Wilson, executive director of the Orlando, Fla.-based nonprofit American Bicycling Education Association, says certain strategies can make a rider more visible. One tip in the association’s classes on cycling skills is riding in the center of a lane rather than on the edge, so drivers don’t try to squeeze past or turn in front of you.

“Most important, really, is your positioning on the road, which then enhances your use of those lights and makes you more relevant,” Mr. Wilson says.”