Portland, San Francisco, and Vancouver are experimenting with bikes boxes - dog-leg extensions to bike lanes that put cyclists at the head of the pack at an intersection. The purpose is to prevent right turns that drivers make without noticing the bicycle that's riding alongside them.
Bike Portland has been advocating and covering the rollout of bike boxes, including police enforcement of traffic rules.
Posted in Labels: bicycle advocacy, commuting Posted by Sherwood at 1:40 PM
The title of this post seems awful presumptive. Where are the statistics to reinforce the perception that "Bike Boxes Improve Safety"? I think the mere fact that the police are having to implement "targeted enforcement missions" is proof that the message is not getting out. If the message is not getting out, how can safety be improved.
You nail the issue on the head when you correctly state these boxes are experimental. As such, no determination of merit and efficacy can be derived until the experimental period has ended and the results analyzed. Anecdotal wishful thinking is not a legitimate conclusion.
I think this is a great idea!
Velociped has a point that there is no data (yet) to back up the improvement of safety, but I see it in line with the fact that more cyclists = fewer accidents involving cyclists (there IS data to back up this fact). The existence of bike lanes or boxes will naturally remind car drivers to check for bikers. Well done Portland.