Painted bike lanes are intended to make life better for cyclists, right? Why, then, do two studies I came across recently contradict that?

First, a study by Dr. Jennifer Dill out of Portland State University found that cyclists perceive painted bike lanes to be among the least safe types of bike infrastructure out there: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cengin_fac/221/

Then, this Australian study found that motorists tend to pass cyclists more closely when a bike lane is present than when there is no bike infrastructure at all: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001457518309990

So I put these ideas to the test by recording my bike commute and seeing just how close passing cars come to me when I'm using different types of bike lanes -- painted lanes, separated lanes and roads with no bike lanes at all.

#bikecommuting #biketowork #cycling

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Tom Babin is the author of Frostbike: The Joy, Pain and Numbness of Winter Cycling: https://rmbooks.com/book/frostbike/