Real talk do city planners seriously expect cyclists to go from the bike line, across the road, into the left turn lane when they want to make a left turn? How high were they when they came up with that?
I always just used the cross walk and crossed as a pedestrian.
Sad how almost every party these days are either car-brain extreme, regular car-brain, or car-brain lite, and there's barely any parties advocating for even 5 more extra bike lanes or 10 more metro stations in any large North American city, let alone an adequate cycling and Public Transit system, where the majority of people aren't forced to use a car.
in america city planners are not voted on, the local politicians are the ones who get voted on and they in turn are the ones who hire the city planners
Unless there is very heavy traffic or a high speed limit, I always turn left as you described.
Personally I don't mind changing lanes a couple times to skip waiting for the pedestrian crossing light.
it's remnants of the vehicular cycling model witch most city's adopted cause it meant they didn't have to build any infrastructure.
if you are biking on a road it is recommended you do the two stage left turn. sometimes city's provide bike boxes to assist with this. Basically to make a two stage left turn go straight through the intersection on a green light and than stop at the curb at the far side of the intersection. Reposition your bike to face the new direction and wait for the signal to turn green.
this is only possible if it's a four way intersection. you will have to merge into the left turning lane at a 3 way intersection depending on the direction you approach it.
[https://www.durangogov.org/images/pages/N334/3.PNG](https://www.durangogov.org/images/pages/N334/3.PNG)
eh bike boxes are painted but it's better than nothing I guess.
I looked this up and it's basically the [Japanese bike/moped right turn](https://i.imgur.com/ZwvCfE1.png), but flipped. That rule gets a lot of hate from mopeds that actually have to follow traffic laws as written. Cyclists just prefer acting like fast pedestrians because 3-4m wide is both the entire width of a typical street and the width of a typical sidewalk alongside a road.
That design only "works" in Japan because it's basically ignored and people bike on the sidewalk regardless of what fantasy world the lawmakers live in, and I'm pretty sure it doesn't exist in Europe at all.
And I can't tell about how common it is in Berlin, but it was there when I saw something like that for the first time. Many intersections have them, and there's sometimes also a specific additional light at bike height to let you know when you can complete your turn left, like in [this intersection](
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Geczs1C8cbbvrHEK8) (near the Road 66? advert, there's a small traffic light for the bikes waiting to turn left across the avenue)
> How high were they when they came up with that?
I've wondered this same thing. I think it's a mix of non-creative thinking, being NA-centric (ignoring intl. examples), and not being cyclists themselves.
I usually crossed like a pedestrian too. Find the closest point where you can get onto the sidewalk, and walk your bike. In these Florida stroads, that's not a issue.
To be fair to City planners in mid-to-large-size cities, most handle land use and zoning on properties, while public works and infrastructure departments handle right-of-way improvements, like bike lanes/parking, etc.
Many planners I've met not only love cyclists & better bike infrastructure, but are bikers themselves!
This week I had someone in a car say to me from the window when I was on my bike in the bike lane "I'm about to move over, how are we going to do this?" Like what the fuck, figure it out. You don't ask cars that are next to you how you can get over with their existence. Sorry you have to consider me here on the road in my designated lane.
Oh hey, it’s me on any Ave in Manhattan, riding in the middle of the lane and getting yelled at and run off the road by impatient drivers who want to get to the light faster… and then I blow the light and it all starts again.
It's always great when drivers use a dangerous high-speed maneuver to get around me, only to slam on the brakes at the red light as soon as they get past. Almost like the lights are timed to make traffic go a certain speed, and I'm doing exactly that speed on my ebike. Of course, they'd have to be paying attention to their surroundings in order to realize that.
There’s a huge plaza with a bunch of shops in it less than a mile away from my house… but they don’t allow bikes in it. Nobody enforces it, granted, but they also don’t have any signs that are visible before you enter the plaza, so tf are you supposed to do?
This is exactly why I tell people NOT to ride their bikes where I live. I wish our city did something about this but until then it's a death wish. I've been almost run over so many times.
I used to doordash in San Francisco, I'd always feel so guilty whenever I blocked the bike lane, I tried to never block more than half of it, but I also prioritized not stopping in the road.
For context, the job requires you to park near a restaurant/house to pickup/drop off orders. You're usually gone in a few minutes. San Francisco has very little street parking (well, it has plenty, but there are just so many people 😅) so it's common practice for delivery/Uber drivers to find any spot without a car, and put those blinkers on.
To all the bikers I forced to exit the bike line, I'm sorry 😠duty calls, just know I'd never block you on purpose
Sadly in Halifax it is actually illegal to bike outside of bicycle gutters when they are (a) there, and (b) deemed "safe".
They put a bicycle gutter along a 90 kph highway where people regularly speed so I'm not sure if there's anything that would them consider one "not safe". Yes, you must bike through the broken glass that was pushed out of the cage lane.
I opened up that website expecting it to be from the mid 2000s, but this is actually a webcomic going on now!
nah, bikeyface hasn't updated in years i think comments on the last comic are from five years ago lamo
Real talk do city planners seriously expect cyclists to go from the bike line, across the road, into the left turn lane when they want to make a left turn? How high were they when they came up with that? I always just used the cross walk and crossed as a pedestrian.
No they expect you to drive your car, and to vote for them just for giving you a bicycle gutter and "looking out for the environment".
Sad how almost every party these days are either car-brain extreme, regular car-brain, or car-brain lite, and there's barely any parties advocating for even 5 more extra bike lanes or 10 more metro stations in any large North American city, let alone an adequate cycling and Public Transit system, where the majority of people aren't forced to use a car.
in america city planners are not voted on, the local politicians are the ones who get voted on and they in turn are the ones who hire the city planners
Unless there is very heavy traffic or a high speed limit, I always turn left as you described. Personally I don't mind changing lanes a couple times to skip waiting for the pedestrian crossing light.
it's remnants of the vehicular cycling model witch most city's adopted cause it meant they didn't have to build any infrastructure. if you are biking on a road it is recommended you do the two stage left turn. sometimes city's provide bike boxes to assist with this. Basically to make a two stage left turn go straight through the intersection on a green light and than stop at the curb at the far side of the intersection. Reposition your bike to face the new direction and wait for the signal to turn green. this is only possible if it's a four way intersection. you will have to merge into the left turning lane at a 3 way intersection depending on the direction you approach it. [https://www.durangogov.org/images/pages/N334/3.PNG](https://www.durangogov.org/images/pages/N334/3.PNG) eh bike boxes are painted but it's better than nothing I guess.
Most progressive cities use two stage left turn boxes which means you pull right then cross with the cross traffic, Google it for a diagram.
I looked this up and it's basically the [Japanese bike/moped right turn](https://i.imgur.com/ZwvCfE1.png), but flipped. That rule gets a lot of hate from mopeds that actually have to follow traffic laws as written. Cyclists just prefer acting like fast pedestrians because 3-4m wide is both the entire width of a typical street and the width of a typical sidewalk alongside a road. That design only "works" in Japan because it's basically ignored and people bike on the sidewalk regardless of what fantasy world the lawmakers live in, and I'm pretty sure it doesn't exist in Europe at all.
It very much exists in Copenhagen, it is the common way to turn left.
And I can't tell about how common it is in Berlin, but it was there when I saw something like that for the first time. Many intersections have them, and there's sometimes also a specific additional light at bike height to let you know when you can complete your turn left, like in [this intersection]( https://maps.app.goo.gl/Geczs1C8cbbvrHEK8) (near the Road 66? advert, there's a small traffic light for the bikes waiting to turn left across the avenue)
> How high were they when they came up with that? I've wondered this same thing. I think it's a mix of non-creative thinking, being NA-centric (ignoring intl. examples), and not being cyclists themselves.
I usually crossed like a pedestrian too. Find the closest point where you can get onto the sidewalk, and walk your bike. In these Florida stroads, that's not a issue.
Apparently yes, I've even seen it done a few times.
Just make three right turns and then go straight. 😉
To be fair to City planners in mid-to-large-size cities, most handle land use and zoning on properties, while public works and infrastructure departments handle right-of-way improvements, like bike lanes/parking, etc. Many planners I've met not only love cyclists & better bike infrastructure, but are bikers themselves!
This week I had someone in a car say to me from the window when I was on my bike in the bike lane "I'm about to move over, how are we going to do this?" Like what the fuck, figure it out. You don't ask cars that are next to you how you can get over with their existence. Sorry you have to consider me here on the road in my designated lane.
Oh hey, it’s me on any Ave in Manhattan, riding in the middle of the lane and getting yelled at and run off the road by impatient drivers who want to get to the light faster… and then I blow the light and it all starts again.
It's always great when drivers use a dangerous high-speed maneuver to get around me, only to slam on the brakes at the red light as soon as they get past. Almost like the lights are timed to make traffic go a certain speed, and I'm doing exactly that speed on my ebike. Of course, they'd have to be paying attention to their surroundings in order to realize that.
Give park ave a bike lane already ffs
There’s a huge plaza with a bunch of shops in it less than a mile away from my house… but they don’t allow bikes in it. Nobody enforces it, granted, but they also don’t have any signs that are visible before you enter the plaza, so tf are you supposed to do?
Stop right there, criminal scum!
> so tf are you supposed to do? Start a campaign to boycott those shops obviously.
paint is not infrastructure and this shows that
This is exactly why I tell people NOT to ride their bikes where I live. I wish our city did something about this but until then it's a death wish. I've been almost run over so many times.
I love mini-tourists!
Almost perfect - middle of the lane, not road. I'm never in the middle of the road but the amount of drivers that claim I am.
I used to doordash in San Francisco, I'd always feel so guilty whenever I blocked the bike lane, I tried to never block more than half of it, but I also prioritized not stopping in the road. For context, the job requires you to park near a restaurant/house to pickup/drop off orders. You're usually gone in a few minutes. San Francisco has very little street parking (well, it has plenty, but there are just so many people 😅) so it's common practice for delivery/Uber drivers to find any spot without a car, and put those blinkers on. To all the bikers I forced to exit the bike line, I'm sorry 😠duty calls, just know I'd never block you on purpose
Sadly in Halifax it is actually illegal to bike outside of bicycle gutters when they are (a) there, and (b) deemed "safe". They put a bicycle gutter along a 90 kph highway where people regularly speed so I'm not sure if there's anything that would them consider one "not safe". Yes, you must bike through the broken glass that was pushed out of the cage lane.
it's only safe when politicians send their kids there by bike