I truly feel the only way for bicycling to be safe is to have separation of bicycle traffic and motor vehicle traffic.
Any highway engineer will tell you the reason is simple: The disparate speeds of the two modes is simply incompatible and sets up an unsafe operating environment. The same holds true for air operations, train operations and seaport operations. In these three, disparate traffic is kept separate, either in space or in timing of right of way using central control as well as highly technical (and expensive) hardware designed to prevent collision when human error occurs. Frequently.
The bicycle-auto conflict in shared travel space relies 100 percent on human performance, requiring simultaneous situational awareness, knowledge of the rules and, most important, willingness to follow them. This must happen among both mode operators, 100 percent of the time. It is nonproductive to continue to point out who is at fault when the system fails. While each incident is human failure, the unsafe environment is systemic.
Let’s get serious about this and fund sensible separation of motor vehicle and bicycle traffic. Or continue the same post-incident debate as to who is at fault when the lack of safety is due to immutable physics and known inherent inadequacies of human performance.
JON PEARSE
Concord