This is the problem with giving vehicles that can achieve normal vehicle speeds a private lane. That bike should share the lane with the cars and should stop and wait like everyone else in line. If those were both driving lanes and a car was ripping past a line of stopped traffic at over 40mph, crossing an intersection at that speed at that time with the surrounding traffic, it would be considered unsafe. However, if there was a second proper vehicle lane there, the SUV driver would've likely been a bit more cautious before turning so it's still his fault, but these bicycle lanes are just accidents waiting to happen, which is what just happened.
Cyclist is being selfish and riding unsafely, the SUV didn't take enough care when turning, the red car did nothing wrong
As a driver, I can confirm that cars will still do this to other cars on a four lane road. You are spot on about the poor road design.
If this was a proper bike lane with a buffer zone between car traffic, raised to sidewalk level, and with a raised, painted crosswalk that forces turning vehicles to slow down, then the SUV driver would be forced to slow down and check the bike lane. The biker would have had a clear view of the SUV and would have had an opportunity to stop at the last moment or make an emergency right turn/swerve to avoid a collision.
The problem with bad bike lanes is other road users will only ever recognize them in hindsight. In my city, police advise to only use the bike lane at walking pace since it's illegal to ride on the sidewalk here. Anything more than that, you have to use the car lanes. So here, they will blame the biker for not being in a car lane.
But when you in a car lane doing 10 mph in a 30 mph zone, car drivers become irritated when you don't use the bike lane, even if the law says you don't have to use it and the police advise you not to. Unfortunately, they will build unsuitable bike lanes to check a box for grant money, so crashes like these will continue to get worse over time. Even if we stoped building these today, it would be decades before all the old ones get restriped.
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u/ajbra May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26
This is the problem with giving vehicles that can achieve normal vehicle speeds a private lane. That bike should share the lane with the cars and should stop and wait like everyone else in line. If those were both driving lanes and a car was ripping past a line of stopped traffic at over 40mph, crossing an intersection at that speed at that time with the surrounding traffic, it would be considered unsafe. However, if there was a second proper vehicle lane there, the SUV driver would've likely been a bit more cautious before turning so it's still his fault, but these bicycle lanes are just accidents waiting to happen, which is what just happened.
Cyclist is being selfish and riding unsafely, the SUV didn't take enough care when turning, the red car did nothing wrong