Re:The Economics of Bike Lanes
by defen on Monday October 24, 2011 @01:47PM
(#3150685)
My perspective - I live in San Francisco and have neither a car nor a bike, so I don't think I'm biased.
I think part of the problem is that most urban pedestrians have fully internalized the threat model of bad drivers. Look both ways before crossing the street, don't assume that the driver sees you, cars are generally found on the roads, etc. On the other hand, we haven't fully internalized the threat model of bad bikers. Sometimes they're on the sidewalk, sometimes they're blowing through stop signs alongside a stopped car (so the average pedestrian thinks it's safe because the only thing that could hit him is stopped at the intersection). So bad bikers are more noticeable (to me at least) because I've never had a close call with a bad driver while walking. But both the biker things I described were near-collisions that have happened to me.
I think part of the problem is that most urban pedestrians have fully internalized the threat model of bad drivers. Look both ways before crossing the street, don't assume that the driver sees you, cars are generally found on the roads, etc. On the other hand, we haven't fully internalized the threat model of bad bikers. Sometimes they're on the sidewalk, sometimes they're blowing through stop signs alongside a stopped car (so the average pedestrian thinks it's safe because the only thing that could hit him is stopped at the intersection). So bad bikers are more noticeable (to me at least) because I've never had a close call with a bad driver while walking. But both the biker things I described were near-collisions that have happened to me.