"Why, they're still bikes. "
Powered bikes. That's what the "P" stands for.
Allowing them in bus lanes makes bus lanes more dangerous for
vulnerable road users, pedestrians and cyclists alike, and saves very
little time on an average commute.
Placing other peoples' well being in jeapordy for no discernable
benefit makes n sense to most people, why do you feel differently?
PTWs are about 1.5 times as likely as cars to be involved in
collisions which cause serious injury to cyclists, twice as likely to
be involved in causing them serious injury and about three times as
likely to be involved in killing them, per mile travelled.
Data already collected shows an increase in the number of casualties
to motorcyclists and other road users as a result of the experiment.
Transport for London should be planning to remove the concession to
motorcyclists: they need to ensure that there is effective enforcement
of bus lane restrictions.
I already have motorbikes using the cycle lane on Bishopsgate in a
very dangerous way, what a limited study like this can never predict
is how the mass legalising of motorcycles using bus lanes would affect
motorcyclist's behavior in the long term.
At the moment they tentatively creep down bus lanes. In the limited
study I'm sure their behavior was also mitigated by the time/
geographical restraints of the study.
My worry is that, if there was full legalisation, they would soon
start behaving in bus lanes as they behave everywhere else - i.e.
seeing how fast they can accellerate in any given situation. As an
experienced taxi driver you will know what I'm talking about.
Also, they will start to dominate the ASL areas, which are often
extensions of the bus and cycle lanes. In fact they'd have to use the
ASL area, otherwise they would block cyclists from entering it. So the
thousands of ASL areas nationwide would be rendered potentially
worthless.
At the moment the law is clear. Buses, taxis and (usually) cycles can
use bus lanes. Everyone knows (or should know) where they stand. Start
allowing motorbikes into the bus lanes and it's all up for grabs,
including cycle lanes, as motorbikes would get into the habit of
filtering up the inside of traffic.
http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.ph...10e5 3a7fa5df