Bike lanes: lax enforcement

I don't think trying to enforce no stopping in bike lanes is realistic. I very recently posted on it, and had some in-depth discussion in the comments as with a knowledgeable T.O. rider. We didn't agree, but that's OK.

Post link: http://rantwick.blogspot.com/2009/11/ive-got-question.html

If swerving out of the bike lane is dangerous, why not just stay OUT of the bike lane and ride in the RH traffic lane all the time? Looking at the video, it seems that a cyclist riding in the LH tire track of the RH lane has got no problems with either scofflaw parkers OR overtaking traffic who all can see he's there when well back rather than get surprised if the cyclist swerves into it from a bike lane.

Given that I regularly see cop cars parked in the bike lane at Church and Shuter while they are grabbing some Starbucks to go I have little hope that this is going to get better any time soon.

The impact of someone stopping a car in a bike lane really depends on the road and time of day. If traffic is moving at high speeds then forcing cyclists into the car traffic is indeed dangerous. At other times though it's no big deal to merge and pass the stopped car.

What really irritates me though is when people stop in the bike lane when 20' in front of them is actual car parking. That's just lazy and rude.

...and please, if you are in a car, and I safely merge into the right hand lane (signaling and everything!) please don't honk your horn at me like I did something wrong.

I'm just sayin'......

Very explicative video. Nice if cops in this town did their job: safety, not auto facilitation.

A more intensive enforcement of bike lane parking during peak hours would be appropriate; maybe that's a good place to start.

Nice one Rick.

Maybe the city will install concrete curbs(watch out for passenger doors!) The simple bike-lane is obviously flawed.

I get people here parking permanently in the bike lanes... and the real street parking is empty yet these drivers(residents) are too slovenly to move their useless car 10M further down the road from their driveways. Now all cyclists have to merge 10M from a busy intersection(ok not so bad) - but get this - It's basically a merge from a bicycle lane into a lane which is full of cars that are merging out of the lane the cyclist just merged into and all the drivers are shoulder checking or trying to race their opponents(cyclists maybe) into the merge for the remaining single-outer lane. Your standard double merge... all inside 10-15m of the intersection on a 60km/h road. Just because somebody was too arrogant to park properly.

Anyways, don't get me started on those darn pedestrians.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2009/11/24/11...

The lede:

"A Toronto Police officer who parked his cruiser in a bike lane to get his lunch is getting no love from his superiors, who are coming down hard on his "stupid" and "unacceptable" actions."

I was not aware that there were any Bike Lanes on roads with a posted speed limit of 60 kmh or more, due to the danger to having unseparated lanes next to traffic moving that fast.

I did a double take this morning riding along College: a huge delivery truck was stopped in the RH car lane leaving the bikelane completely clear. OK it's still inconsiderate, but darn it, if I'd seen the driver, I think I would have given him a hug for that one.

...here's a Sheppard bike path in Scarberia, with a happy 60km/hr limit:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=39+Shel...

Yes I saw that too. I wished that I had a camera. It was right by Ein Stein's

Yesterday on College I saw a UPS truck, on the WB side, parked in the car lane just east of University. Amazing.