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The design of ordinary roadways (unlike controlled access freeways) must start with the assumption that bicyclists will operate on those roads in travel lanes as drivers of vehicles, following the ordinary Rules of the Road (including use of proper lanes based on destination). Bicyclists should not be segregated into "separate but equal" paths, bike lanes, or shoulders because these facilities are never really equal. Segregation violates the safety principle of destination positioning at intersections, encourages accumulation of debris, substandard surface conditions, parked cars, pedestrians, and other obstacles in the segregated facility, and places cyclists where other road users are not ordinarily looking for vehicles. Bicycle drivers operate in travel lanes because everyone knows how traffic ought to operate in travel lanes, everyone knows to look for vehicular traffic in travel lanes, and the use of travel lanes by motorists means that their maintenance and continuity will be given reasonable attention (unlike paths, bike lanes, and shoulders.) At first, a wide paved shoulder may seem like a wonderful facility for bicycling, but the benefits of extra space may be wasted. Poor maintenance and debris may make the shoulder too hazardous for cycling, and right turn lanes or other stripes at intersections require the cyclist to merge into the through lane to avoid the turn lane and traffic exiting or entering the roadway. Cyclists should never be expected to ride straight in right turn lanes, or worse, to the right of right turn lanes. In most cases, the same width of asphalt is better used as wide outside lanes, where cyclists will position themselves based on speed or destination as necessary.
Every roadway where bicycling is permitted is, by law and in practice, a bicycle facility. Contrary to popular belief, every travel lane of every roadway provides sufficient space for bicyclists. What?!! Yes, every travel lane of every roadway that is wide enough to accommodate normal-width motor vehicles is wide enough to accommodate bicycles. What is missing from some roads is the space for motorists to overtake bicycle drivers at safe and legal distance without the overtaking motorists moving into the adjacent lane, partially or completely. Additional roadway width is not a bicycle facility; the bicycle facility is already there. Additional roadway width is a convenient passing facility. This analysis of how roads currently operate agrees with traffic law and constitutional principles that protect the travel rights of bicycle drivers, unlike the discriminatory, taboo-based bikeway system.
Additional road width probably provides subtle improvements in safety to cyclists, as suggested by data in Table 1. This has not been proven conclusively by any study at the time of this writing, because the overtaking crash rates are so low that they are hard to measure accurately for different road types, and because nobody promoting segregated bikeways ever cared enough to study the actual effects of road width on cyclists' crash rates. But under no conditions should the lack of a clear path for motorists to pass cyclists without delay be construed as an unreasonably unsafe facility for cyclists. Overtaking drivers are obligated by the rules of the road to drive within their sight distance and respect the right of way of those users already on the road ahead of them. Enforcing this principle for the benefit of cyclists also benefits every other user of roadways. Obedience of this principle occurs because those motorists who ignore it inevitably crash into slow or stopped motor vehicles. In any event, overtaking-type collisions represent a tiny fraction of injuries to urban daylight cyclists. Bicycle drivers will inevitably use every roadway regardless of its design. The decision of road width should be based on the relative importance of reducing friction between bicyclists and motorists, the desired operating speed of the roadway, and the costs of the facility.
Bicycle drivers should be expected to obey all traffic signals. In return, all traffic signals that require sensing of the vehicle in order to operate properly should also sense bicycles. Otherwise, bicyclists are encouraged to ignore red lights that will never turn for them, which perpetuates the myth that cyclists do not or need not obey the traffic laws. Bicycle drivers should not be expected to proceed against a red light or wait for an automobile to arrive. Nor should bicycle drivers be expected to dismount and operate pedestrian signals, because this encourages unsafe and inefficient pedestrian-on-wheels behavior. Traffic signals that detect bicyclists operating in travel lanes as drivers of vehicles protect the safety and convenience of bicycle travel.
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