This is absolutely hellacious and a prime example that paint is not protection. A combination of dangerous design and drivers who just Do. Not. Give. A. Shit. - ThreadSky

gravelinfluencer.bsky.social • 13 days ago

This is absolutely hellacious and a prime example that paint is not protection. A combination of dangerous design and drivers who just Do. Not. Give. A. Shit.

Reposted from Rothaí 🇮🇪 🇺🇸

Biking home from elementary school dropoff past the local middle school. Doors being flung open on our right. Left lane is cars coming off the freeway ramp and still going fast.

In the afternoon, we have to navigate this with our 7- and 8-yr-olds bikers trying to get home.

#oakland #claremont

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markshore.bsky.social•13 days ago

vehicle parking on the left
two lanes of one-way car, SUV, and truck traffic
painted bike lane
vehicle parking on the right

I wonder which one of those would be sacrificed if push came to shove?

bluegirldogmom.bsky.social•12 days ago

Friday, May 16th, is "Bike to Work Day." Please be kind...and aware.

ekstromenator.bsky.social•12 days ago

Paint is not infrastructure.

julierthanyou.bsky.social•13 days ago

I instinctively braced for being doored secondhand just watching this

gravelinfluencer.bsky.social•13 days ago

It's one of the more visceral videos I've seen

nclud.bsky.social•13 days ago

What radicalized me? "Car pick-up & drop-off at schools must be destroyed"

gravelinfluencer.bsky.social•13 days ago

The school around the corner from my house is utter chaos. It's not as bad as this, but at least it's a narrow road and cars can't really go fast.

nclud.bsky.social•13 days ago

Ours is well managed, it takes a lot of staff to keep it flowing as cars do their thing at the big loop. But so little infrastructure and space it dedicated to pedestrians and kids cycling. The crossing lady even told me she was reprimanded for letting too few cars go between rounds of pedestrians 👿

nclud.bsky.social•13 days ago

Short version, there shouldn't be any street parking spaces within a school zone ever.

wuhanclams.bsky.social•13 days ago

If I had kids, they'd be learning a lot of very colourful new language during this.

gravelinfluencer.bsky.social•13 days ago

Yes indeed. Reminds me of the video @sundance.bikesky.social posted a few days ago

sundance.bikesky.social•13 days ago

rewatched this video.

what are your thoughts on strait up smearing a long the side of these folks (cargo bike no kids)?

I don't carry insurance and of course would do my best to not "be reckless" but in situations where contact is unavoidable I guess there's nothing that the driver can do?

vplow.bsky.social•13 days ago

I used to be a lot more apt to do something like that, but honestly drivers have gotten very weirdly aggressive since the pandemic. Covid brain maybe?

vplow.bsky.social•13 days ago

Here in Oakland CA we stay very vigilant for aggressive behaviors and attitudes from drivers. Drivers blowing stoplights/stopsigns, completely freaking out at our #bikebus because "kids need to learn to ride single file" (this, on a city-painted "bike boulevard" route...

vplow.bsky.social•13 days ago

My partner and I routinely speculate that if we ever get smushed, it will be from a carload of young adults speeding away from a crime in a stolen KIA. We've seen a lot. My poor 9yo daughter has seen too much from the back of our cargo e-bike.

wuhanclams.bsky.social•13 days ago

Cops will generally regard touching someone's car as an act of violence, so any action they take in retaliation would be viewed as justified.

sundance.bikesky.social•13 days ago

A few lawyer websites in my area claim that any instance of “personal injury” can be easily countered but you are probably right

sundance.bikesky.social•13 days ago

Wait, is this a global problem?

I think we might have an epidemic on our hands

arpeggiator1972.bsky.social•12 days ago

gravelinfluencer.bsky.social•13 days ago

Parents and kids everywhere running this gauntlet

ablum.bsky.social•13 days ago

Plastic bollards come in for a lot of deserved criticism, but at least they signal to drivers that the bike lane is a carriageway, not just free space to manage your errands.

ascentale.bsky.social•13 days ago

Yes, plastic bollards are way better than paint.

dervala.bsky.social•13 days ago

Yes, over the years we’ve had a lot of “Why Mommy Yelled Fucking Watch It! at the Man” conversations while waiting at that stoplight.

Also “Yes, Yelling Is Rude But Sometimes…” chats

dervala.bsky.social•13 days ago

Gentle Oakland children with Irish mothers learn to calibrate how much, and at what volume, you can swear at the drivers of different car models before the real psychos activate.

More importantly, they learn which car models to never, ever trust at a stop sign.

pbsaurus.bsky.social•13 days ago

I like the new designs they're putting up in Santa Clara County where the bike lane is next to a curb, parking is to the left of the bike lane, then there is a buffer so that parkers can open their driver's side doors/garbage cans can also go here for trash day.

gravelinfluencer.bsky.social•13 days ago

Oh I like that addition of the buffer! Any photos or good stories on this implementation?

pbsaurus.bsky.social•13 days ago

Here's an interesting delineation from a cycling advocacy's perspective, but I haven't found many pictures online of what I'm talking about. Bike lane next to curb, vertical poles to prevent cars from going into bike lane to the left, then delineated parking spaces to the left of that, 1/2

pbsaurus.bsky.social•13 days ago

, then a marked buffer, then the lanes of traffic. Blossom Hill Rd and Winchester Blvd in Los Gatos, CA has these. I've also seen this in the City of Santa Clara. 2/2

pbsaurus.bsky.social•13 days ago

I also found this but no pictures.

https://www.losgatosca.gov/2590/Winchester-Boulevard-Class-IV-Bikeway-Pr

gravelinfluencer.bsky.social•13 days ago

Thanks for the additional information!

jeffbell408.bsky.social•13 days ago

One problem of having the bike lane to the right of parked cars is that any side traffic has to stop across the bike lane to check for cross traffic.

westside-backyard.bsky.social•13 days ago

I've seen good and bad parking-protected bike lanes.
The bad ones are too narrow for passing, don't provide a buffer from passenger-side doors, and obstruct visibility at intersections so right-hooks are more likely.
People can also be careless stepping between the sidewalk and their cars.

westside-backyard.bsky.social•13 days ago

In my experience passengers are more careless about opening their doors since they're not worried about opening it into an incoming car, and bikes can't avoid without hitting the curb, so width and buffer space are essential.

whatsarasaid.bsky.social•13 days ago

came here to post this: next door in Berkeley, the sequence is car traffic-parking-bike lane-sidewalk & I bike everywhere

because I'm not scared of dying suddenly from it

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