SF resident here.
I've had quite a few close calls, and the same holds true for many of my friends who bike.<p>These typically happened on these "shared bike lanes" - it's where the city takes the right-most car lane, draws a bike sign on it, and tell cars and bicyclists to "get along" (since cars are still allowed full use of it).<p>This, of course, doesn't work.
Cars are much faster than bikes, and asking these two vastly different transportation methods to share a lane is nuts.
Should the cars just drive 6mph? Should they go around, try to merge and hope they don't misgauge the distance?<p>The problem here is that the city didn't put any real thought into the bikes lanes, and the result is a terrible and incredibly dangerous system.<p>Personally, I've given up on bike lanes in many areas of the city. It's simply not safe.
Bicycle lanes, at least in my experience in the UK, are almost universally pointless (lanes and tracks through parks are generally OK.)<p>Riding on the road is always safer, because the highway code actually applies there. You just become a slow car, you have right of way at roundabouts etc. Be considerate and pull to the left when you can. Sorted.<p>On roads that are too narrow to cycle without completely blocking traffic I generally use the footpath at slow speeds (e.g. 6-8mph, just rolling along).<p>On super fast roads (limit 50 and above) generally unless it's late at night and quiet I would just try to find an alternative route.<p>I don't think anything needs to happen other than more drivers cycling and more cyclists driving, to enable empathy. Everything else is just fluff.
Hi all, I am the cyclist/coder behind the site. It's clearly not "the solution" but I think it's an important part of it. If you do ride, I encourage you to sign up, the site becomes more effective as the network grows. I am also exploring a couple partnerships that should make the site more effective this summer. Appreciate the support. Thanks.
And when the cyclists don't obey the rules? Can we have a database for that too? Wait they don't have tags<p>Legally bikes have to stop at red lights, but in my experience the opposite is the norm: quick glance to make sure no one is coming, and dash across multiple lanes to turn left on red.<p>Wanna bike on the roads? Great! I do too. We can turn all city roads one way, making room for nice thick bike lanes. But! Get tagged like every other road vehicle so we can report on problem cyclists.