Are painted bike lanes enough to ensure proper bike safety?

https://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org/study-shows-painted-bike-lanes-arent-enough/

https://www.monash.edu/news/articles/more-than-a-stripe-of-paint-needed-to-keep-cyclists-safe

I believe that paint being the only barrier between motorists and cyclists is not enough to ensure adequate safety. Riding a bike alongside the road poses many risks for cyclists. Though there are designated bike lanes designed for cyclists’ safety, there is not enough being done to minimize accidents and ensure safe travel. In fact, new research by PPM has found that painted bike lanes are actually more dangerous for bike riders. In the study it was found that when roads had a painted bike lane, motorists would leave an average of 3.25 feet between the car and the cyclists. Whereas, in the instances where there was no bike lane, cars would leave about 5.5 feet between them. With the presence of a bike lane, drivers tend to leave less space in between. There is a false sense of security surrounding the idea that these lanes actually protect cyclists. The bike lanes provide no real form of protection. They can not prevent cars from driving into their lane and causing an accident. There needs to be more protection for cyclists to make sure that they are just as safe on the road as motorists.

To better prevent this issue and reduce the risk of collision, more visual infrastructure and physical barriers, such as elevated bicycle paths, need to be developed to make more effective safety methods. The barrier between allows for more caution and awareness and makes accidents more unlikely. It can be very intimidating riding alongside a car going twice the speed when there is no protection between.

When researching this issue, I came across a Twitter post that Mikael Colville-Andersens’ retweeted that proposes the question, “If children walked to school in our bike lanes, would city leaders still consider painting a good enough barrier?” This quote really puts this issue into perspective and allows you to better understand how cyclists may feel when riding alongside cars. There is a sense of  vulnerability associated with it, similar to a child walking alone on the road. Besides a helmet, there aren’t many safety features that a cyclist has to prevent them from risks. Motorists are also much more intimidating on the road than cyclists because they can do far more damage. They aren’t treated with the same respect. This emphasizes the dangers surrounding the painted barrier.

In many cases, bike lanes are made for more than just cyclists to ride in, they are a shared space for cars to park and buses to pull into. When cyclists ride in bike lanes they are at risk of cars accidentally driving too far in their lane or parked cars blocking their path. Bikers should be allowed to have their own designated spot on the road that reduces the dangers all around them. Cars are already driving at much higher speeds and can cause much more damage to the cyclists. Cars are equipped with plenty of safety features preventing them from certain incidents. There need to be measures put in place for the safety of our cyclists. Cities need to design and install better barriers and there must be equal treatment for all forms of transit; not just cars. Cyclists deserve to be safe and protected while riding freely on the road. The more we address this issue, the more people will want to ride bikes.