When the Bike Lane is Blocked and Drivers Won't Let Us Over
Vložit
- čas přidán 14. 03. 2024
- Two moments in one day where a driver takes a bike lane, and we have to get over but it's not easy, and it's not safe, all because paint is not protection.
Thanks for watching.
These videos can be scary, but please know that my goal isn't to deter people from riding bikes in San Diego, but to show the real-world conditions. Sometimes it's pleasant, sometimes it's just fine, and other times there's tension and conflict.
The roads in San Diego should be safe and accessible to everyone without the use of a car. My hope is that these videos help those in power make better decisions for all our safety. I also believe that the more people who decide to ride, the safer the roads will become.
Please remember to support your local bike safety and mobility advocacy organizations, like BikeSD (bikesd.org/), the San Diego County Bike Coalition (sdbikecoalition.org/) and Circulate San Diego (www.circulatesd.org/)
"Drive less, ride a bike anyway." I love your attitude.
Thanks! Just trying to think about the common good: journals.scholarsportal.info/details/02724944/v91icomplete/nfp_ottcgiroiumb.xml
It's not that they don't see us - it's that they aren't even looking. They drive with tunnel vision, and half the time don't even see other cars; let alone cyclists or pedestrians. We have to look out for ourseleves AND everyone else besides.
This is what car culture looks like. Car drivers expect to have priority over everything else.
A lot of it is down to the way the street is designed. Ideally there would be more separation for bikes and cars
I would love to see, at a national level. All these dumbass painted lines replaced with an 8 inch curb or SOMETHING.
I'm here for it.
Colorado here, the city has made some bike lanes with triangular medians designed to beach cars that either try to lane hop or by mistake, cross over.
Getting creative to make a safer environment for cyclists and pedestrians is much needed. Problem is in a lot of locations across the country adding some sort of physical impediment like that would make it almost impossible to clear snow in the winter; at least where I live. Biggest problem is that municipalities are trying to add in bike lanes to existing infrastructure that was only ever intended for cars. Cyclists move like cars but are vulnerable like pedestrians; makes for a challenging traffic issue to solve.
Driver didn't see you? If they didn't see you, then how did they know why you were looking at them? They would've been like, "What did I do?"
The all too common driver pretending I didn't see you so I don't have to slow down before racing toward the red light
I ride an Aventon class 2 E-bike wearing a safety cone orange windbreaker plus matching helmet. Still have moments where drivers are clueless but I also discovered red didn't exactly catch eyes as easily as orange does. Stay safe out there. Edit: might as well sub your channel!
I have a yellow/orange vest with retro-reflective strips I wear sometimes, but no matter what I was wearing, these folks were going to be blocking the bike lane. I think @GCN has made a video about the high vis thing: czcams.com/video/33GpfTWdk8U/video.html
Thanks for the sub!
@@RidingBikesinSanDiegothe retro-reflective strips do help visibility at night.
Emergency vehicles in Norway switched to a bright yellow paint, as studies have shown that's the colour we tend to notice the best. I'll usually also bike with the lights turned on even during daytime, just to maximise my chances of being seen.
Yes, blame the driver. When I drive, I watch out for stuff like this. Drivers are asleep and not paying attention. You are visible and doing the right thing.
Enough trying to manage people's feeling, when they cant give 2 seconds of attention to follow the law.
What gets me on second one is that there's a parking lot like 100 feet away, and it's always open, and pretty empty because it's a church lot.
@@RidingBikesinSanDiego It's laziness and disregard for others. Somehow because that involves a car, and because you are on a bike, we let that go. I get situations like this daily, even as a pedestrian.
@@RidingBikesinSanDiego Same thing when you see Uber, Lyft, whatever drivers just STOP in the middle of a street when there is room to pull over- not even using hazards.... Truly the majority of drivers have no clue what they are doing on the road. Not saying all cyclists follow the laws because we all know we bend 'em and break 'em just like drivers do sometimes... but at least we are not 2000 pound hazards.
Problem is sh**ty road design.
From your keyboard to the city engineers, @gert-janvanderless5307!
I don't disagree with you that most roads are terrible for cyclists, but the problem isn't sh**ty road design. The problem is roads in this country were designed to move cars, not cyclists, and now they are trying to shoe horn bicycle lanes into any and all existing infrastructure without tearing out and rebuilding entire roadways which would be terribly expensive. In order to properly protect cyclists they would need to completely redesign and rebuild entire road systems. That's not to say that municipalities shouldn't be coming up with better road designs for future roads and any roadway that is already planned for complete reconstruction, but even doing that there will always be dangerous places where cars and cyclists have to interact.
Thanks, @hskrgrad, but I'm going to have to disagree with you. There's a pretty good book called There Are No Accidents by Jesse Singer that talks about how important design actually is. Beyond that, most folks don't know that the first paved roads were actually built because of the advocacy from cyclists. They were then taken by the auto industry. The history is one of the theft of our public spaces.
@@RidingBikesinSanDiego I don’t disagree with you on either fact that roads were initially designed and built for bicycles or that good design is important to creating a safe environment for motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians to coexist. And I do think that more care needs to be taken for proper design of future roadway projects. It is safer for everyone and makes for better communities.
But my original point was that current roads are not “sh**ty” road design for their original intended purpose which was moving large amounts of cars. You can’t design something for one purpose and then call it “sh**ty” when it performs poorly for a completely different purpose. It’s kind of like driving a sedan and then calling it a sh**ty design because you can’t easily haul lumber in it.
While the first roads in the late 19th century were indeed designed for and created at the petition of cyclists, that trend shifted in the 1920’s and 30’s and ever since that time roadway design has been predicated primarily on efficient movement of vehicles. Not a single road in your video was likely designed for cyclists, they were all probably designed singularly for cars and later retrofitted to better accommodate cyclists. I’m not saying it is right, but very few roads that are in service today were designed for anything but moving cars. And converting them to a properly designed road that is safe and comfortable for all three is extremely difficult if not impossible without tearing out the road and starting over. We have 100 years of car centric infrastructure to deal with in order to make better cyclist integrated roadways. Because I agree with you just painting a stripe on a road isn’t a great solution, but it is what municipalities have been able to do with the infrastructure they have. But by all means people should petition municipal leaders to design roads that are better for cyclists moving forward so that when a new major road project is undertaken cyclists and their safety are a design consideration. Public demand is the only thing that will force policy change and different roadway design.
Have a great day and enjoy that sunny California weather! Riding a bike where I am today would be pretty cold and miserable!
Problem is sh**ty traffic engineers who could not care less about bike and pedestrian safety.
correct me if i'm wrong...maybe the laws are diff in CA, but if you're taking a left aren't you supposed to stay in the car lane, not cut off the cars in front of you?
Answered in another response. Thanks for watching!
Nah ill keep driving. I think its crazy you guys ride bikes next to these roads. more power to you, good on you, but ive been on the road enough to know you cant trust motorists other thsn yourself and that no matter how well you drive/ride. All it takes is for someone else to not be careful and hit you.
It the same reason i dont ride motorcycles, when you get hit, YOU get hit.
"...these roads" are in neighborhoods, @cacklingcoyote4882. In both of these moments, I'm passing homes. But maybe you're illustrating that more roads should be closed to drivers entirely...
Some people only have bikes or feet. I hate drivers who get mad when Im walking too slow. Listen, Im exhausted. Im saving to go see a doc. This is my top speed. Youll be miles down the road in an instant. Not everyone is having the easy life. Being able to have a car and drive is life on easy.
@@RidingBikesinSanDiego mostly yes, I agree with you that the infrastructure should be better for you guys so it's more safe. cars can't block your lanes or just easily cross into them and even in neighborhoods drivers can be careless and end up hitting you guys.
were you signalling left?
Yes. Also, drivers were in their cars and trucks in the space I'm supposed to be in.
@@RidingBikesinSanDiego I'm a little confused. I see the garbage truck blocking the bike lane at the beginning (which is probably pretty hard for them not to), but the white pick-up and silver car are in a vehicle turn lane? Is that what you are referring to? I am not seeing where they are in a bike lane unless I am missing something?
On a side note I would think the trash bins sitting in the bike lane would also be an irritation for you. They seem to greatly restrict your available space.
They cant see my 13ft tall 70ft long truck. Actually, car drivers dont pay any attention or have any skill. They all need to go back to drivers ed.
The driving test needs to be MUCH more difficult than it is. But, if it was, the auto industry and the fuel industry wouldn't thrive like they do.
Almost every day I think about how a person who drove on the wrong side of the road and killed Matt Keenan only got 4 days in jail and a suspended license for it www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/driver-sentenced-to-4-days-in-jail-for-bicyclists-death/509-8fae7841-73fb-47df-ba09-f0203ce5deac
@@OnYourLeft It takes years in Europe. Finland teaches drivers to basically be rally racers which is good for bad weather. America just wants to sell fuel and med bills. Double wammy, literally.
The marketing campaign that driving is "freedom" definitely works in the US. In truth, a bike is freedom--from regular payments, registration, insurance, expensive maintenance, barriers to working on them ourselves. I hope to ride around Amsterdam a bit this summer...can't wait to see how riding goes elsewhere....
@RidingBikesinSanDiego I used to ride all day and got by with no car for years, but the medical system is so expensive I can't afford my health. I wish I could enjoy that freedom again.
Why did you feel you had the right to pass cars waiting at the red light? Why did you make your left turn minutes before they could?
Hi @420WILD! Thanks for these questions. I passed the cars at the red because I DO have the right to do that. It's called lane splitting, which is legal in CA, and it's safer for me to be where more people in cars can see me. And I made the left before them on the red because (you might not have noticed) the walk-sign turned on because this is what's called a Leading Pedestrian Interval, which is where the sign turns before the light specifically to allow vulnerable people to enter the intersection before drivers, because it's safer that way. I hope those answers help!
Yeh if you're behind cars at an intersection then oncoming drivers can't see you which is a problem when they're turning left and you're going straight. Lots of people gun it left as soon as a gap opens up which is super dangerous if the gap that opened up is actually a bike. Much much safer for everyone if bikes just go up to the front and clear the intersection earlier
@@RidingBikesinSanDiego Makes good sense. We don't have those laws where I live and we don't have a leading pedestrian walk anywhere either. With that said one thing for you to always keep in mind is when people visit San Diego they probably don't realize some of those things either and may not have many cyclists where they live. That goes for stopping in your bike lane too. Problem with living in such a beautiful location; lots of out of town visitors driving around your city!
I'm not gonna lie. Drivers don't care about us or anything outside their metal bubbles. You need to learn how to be fully aware of your surroundings at all times and how to ride defensively. The traffic laws are very different for us, even though they're the same laws, because we are so exposed and vulnerable. Curb your bike lanes my dude. Be aggressive and take your space and be painfully obvious about it
Bike lanes are just fine with me. It's the lack of barriers keeping drivers out, and the lack of enforcement when drivers are parked in them.
@@RidingBikesinSanDiego respect my friend. I'm just saying be fluid and adaptive and aggressive defensive about you and your space which is what's gonna keep you safe. Not the barriers that won't be erected. Take control of the variables and you'll be free on the bike.
I assure you, doing a drive-by yelling "get out of the bike lane" isn't doing anything, but add hate towards cyclists. Not sure how you'd react, but a random person, suddenly yelling at me to follow a rule won't change my behavior. Just ride defensively, and be visible. Expecting more just adds to your stress.
Maybe the yelling does nothing (but I think it at least startles the driver), but moments like this make us justifiably angry, and we can't all be zen masters trying to keep ourselves alive. They're lucky I'm not one of these guys who rides around with a Ulock just to smack mirrors, I guess.
Like the author said a bike lane should be more than just paint. If that were the case these situations would be less likely to happen. Until that happens, someone on a bike has reason to be mad that the sliver of space given to them is taken up by someone in a car.
@@RidingBikesinSanDiego I understand the frustration. I'd argue the risk of a road rage argument vs a car (and potentially pissed off individual, and armed) isn't worth the minor satisfaction of telling them off/they're wrong.
In my mind, @emmakai2243, every driver is armed, because a car is a weapon. But I get what you're saying. I wish there was more of a call to have drivers behave, and less of a focus on how the most vulnerable have to temper their emotions in response to drivers' apathy.
@@RidingBikesinSanDiego If I say anything out loud to a vehicle moving 45+mph with their windows up I'm told that I am "harassing people." LOL
I'll move over when you can travel at my speed. I will not slow down and I will block your path. Get on the sidewalks NObody uses them for walking.
Ah, the lawless driver has entered the chat. Thanks for watching, buddy
There was more than enough space, stop being a baby.
Watch it again...when you're not sitting in traffic
Cry me a river
Serious question: @tylerbickell5576: do you want people to get hurt? I only ask because these conditions are dangerous for all of us. And they don't have to be.
You realize you pay for dangerous streets with higher insurance premiums right? So yea advocating for safety is a good thing