Sunday, January 10, 2010

Should their be more visible bike lane signs?

I almost took out a bicyclist today on Sydney Rd, Brunswick. Apologies again to the cyclist, who was shook up but very fair about his complaints about car drivers. This incident has me thinking about what more we can do about bicycle and car safety.

As a driver, who was not familiar with the Brunswick area, I had no idea there was a bicycle lane. Cars were banked up on Sydney rd, and a taxi driver waved me through to make a right turn. Half way through my turn a bicyclist came out of nowhere, and we had a minor bingle. Thankfully nobody was hurt majorly.

I believe had a bicycle marker been painted through the intersection, this would have made me more cautious about the turn, and an incident like this could be avoided. Something simple like a bicycle sign and LOOK OUT, would be sufficient.

Further in improving driver education, google maps should perhaps indicate bicycle lanes on major bike routes and major rds.

How simple it is to get in an accident. Let's be proactive and set up conditions so this can be avoided in the future.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Whilst I agree that cycle lanes should be made more visible at junctions, don't take other drivers word that it is safe - in this case a taxi driver. As a PTW user I see it all too often when one driver waves another in and they blindly haven't fully appraised the situation.