Door Zone Bike Lane Markings In JP?
Written by Boston Biker on May 29
I saw these little guys a couple days ago…looks to me like they are marking the door zone? Could be a nice addition to several other bike lanes in town.
Add to Reddit. Posted in infrastructure | 8 Comments »
By rosirat
on May 29, 2012 | Reply
yep – and I think all new lanes will have door zone markings – or at least I’ve started seeing them on newer BRA studies.
By yikesbikes
on May 29, 2012 | Reply
Yes! A brilliant addition to any door zone bike lane. Now to make sure people know what they mean…
By rosirat
on May 29, 2012 | Reply
Here’s a link – see page 3:
http://bostoncompletestreets.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/section2-low-res.pdf
By Michael Blackmore
on May 30, 2012 | Reply
Very nifty and I’m glad they are doing it. Now if not only the bikers know but if the folks driving cars could be taught to then they’d recognize and think before they open perhaps…
By Paul Schimek
on May 30, 2012 | Reply
Shows that to clear the door zone, the bike wheels should be on the lane line or further left, give that there is typically 18″ of bicycle + rider on each half of the bike (handlebars are usually widest part).
So, in order to ride in the “safe” bike lane, you have to be no more than half in it.
Not super intuitive to newbies. Or motorists.
(You could have just done shared lane markings instead.)
By Fenway
on May 30, 2012 | Reply
Shared lane markings don’t provide the same area of refuge that lanes do. I’d rather have a full bike lane to pull into and slow way to look inside each parked car I’m about to pass, when dealing with irate or high speed traffic, than some (utterly meaningless to a large percentage of drivers) shared lane marking.
By Paul Schimek
on May 31, 2012 | Reply
@Fenway: what is the safe speed for riding next to cars? Let’s say you’re riding 10 mph. That’s 6.8 feet per second. If you are close enough to look inside cars, you are only a second or two away from them. No way you can stop in time. In the corridor in question, bicyclists frequently go faster than cars. And also there are more shared lane markings than DZBLs.
Don’t let the fear of angry drivers make you do something unsafe. You have just as much right to all of the road as they do. They often go slower than you anyway (waiting to turn left, waiting to parallel park, double parking, or just blocking up the street with so many cars stuck in traffic).
You’re right that shared lane markings are meaningless — you have the full right to use all of the road, every lane, if they are there or not. It’s just that unfortunately we have not done a good job getting government to promote and defend the rights we already have. Drivers should be no more ‘irate’ at bicyclists than they are at all the other things that could slow them down if only they were the only ones using the road.
Unfortunately, bike lanes can contribute to driver anger because everyone assumes that if there is a bike lane the bicyclist MUST be in it.
By Rebecca
on May 31, 2012 | Reply
I don’t understand this idea of looking into every parked car. And if you see a person in a car, you swerve out? What if a car is coming along in the traffic lane at that moment! Much better to ride predictably outside of the door zone always where cars see you in advance & can safely pass on your left than be a surprise for them when you swerve out. By the way, I love sharrows especially ones with the dotted lines, like what the ones on Longwood Avenue in Brookline. It points out to the cars that this is the recommended area of the road for a bicycle to ride safely.
It is my road too & I have every right to be a safe distance from parked cars even if I am going my cruising speed of 12mph. Now if only bicyclists didn’t pass me on the right between the parked cars & myself putting me in mortal danger should they be doored & fall over causing me to fall over into traffic!