The Guardian on the Door Prize: How Bad Bike Lane Design Is Killing Cyclists


Bike blog : Car dooring, or being hit by an open car door
A young cyclist swerves to avoid being hit by the door of a car. Photograph: Alamy

In many cities, bike lanes are little more than painted lines between parked cars and moving traffic. In the Guardian bike blog, Laura Laker notes that this might even increase the risk of injury from "The Door Prize"- people opening their car doors without looking. A cycling instructor once told her to " ride "a door and a bit more" away from parked cars, even on narrow roads. " Yet many of our bike lanes aren't designed to leave you enough room to do that. This is certainly the case in Toronto, where I ride. She writes:
Unfortunately some urban cycle lanes are within the dooring zone, encouraging cyclists to ride dangerously close to parked cars. David Dansky, of Cycle Training UK, advises cyclists not to use these lanes: "The risk [of dooring] while riding in the car door lane is much more than being rammed by a car behind who can see you."

Read on at Treehugger.com

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