Ok so this post may be better in BikeMagic but I reckon a fare few of you here peddle around from time to time and might find this video amusing. I hear that the guy who put the video together is attempting to make a documentary about cycling in NY, could be interesting.
I saw that video clip a few days ago, and it was quite a laugh, while at the same time highlighting a serious problem. Most bike lanes are in the wrong place, running beside main roads and separated from the traffic by a painted line that is absolutely no barrier to abuse. So, obviously, people are going to drive along them and park on them, so that cyclists are forced off them. The guy in the clip demonstrates the problem by crashing into all the obstacles, including the parked Police car, and I just hope he didn't injure himself or get into any further trouble with the Police!
Bike lanes that are just painted along the sides of roads are never going to be much use unless they can be kept completely clear. The best bike lanes I've ever seen cannot be used by motor vehicles as they are kept completely separate from main roads. Even then, you get pedestrians walking along them in such a manner that cyclists have to stop and negotiate permission to pass. I'm thinking of people who walk in the middle of bike lanes, or walk three abreast, or walk their dogs on long leads that essentially form a trip wire.
I know we don't 'do' common sense in the world any more, which is a pity!
The best bike lanes I've ridden (back in '92) have been:
1. in the Netherlands - where they don't even follow roads (great - but buy a map specific for them or you'll spend a lot of time lost)
2. Germany, where they followed roads, but were separated by a curb - you even got right of way when crossing side roads.
In the UK they are usually an afterthought, painted onto roads that are too narrow, or not maintained and full of grit, stones and cracks, full of "Cyclists Dismount" signs that interupt the joy of forward momentum. The latter are often so bad I prefer the road.
Strangely the most dangerous roads seem to have been long straight ones in Oz in good weather. Drivers seemed not to see us - probably dozing at the wheel. Twice in the same day two of us riding single file on very visible fully laden bikes were almost crushed. One car screeched to a halt just in time, and the other span off into a field -clipping the back rider's pannier bag on the way!
walk in a bike lane in germany and just wait for the advice and lecture as to how you shouldn't be there from a cyclist. or sometimes it will be just like a tram line - it's you fault if your in the way.
