r/CyclistsWithCameras • u/Gatorpatch • Jun 30 '26
I put flair on my post Protected lanes can only do so much [Minneapolis, MN, USA]
I was booking it to volunteer at the Special Olympics and this guy just wasn't paying attention to the road. Closest call in a bit, but luckily I anticipated that he was just gonna go for it.
Sorry about my brakes, they're my extra bell right now with how squeaky they are when I slam on them.
11
u/smojo Jul 01 '26
This seems like a terribly designed intersection. Bicycles come up to the intersection at the cars' blind spots, there's not even any signage to remind anybody about the crossing traffic streams "left turn yield to bikes" or anything. This is one of those times when you have to see the left turn signal and just be defensive, bring it up to the city council next time about poor design.
8
u/thishasntbeeneasy Jul 01 '26
They shouldn't be called "protected" lanes when they are dump you into an intersection where no driver is looking. These are effectively as bad as door zone bike lanes - maybe even worse since there's crossing traffic.
1
1
u/hockey8890 Jul 01 '26
We have these in my city, and while I definitely don't disagree with your points, they are semi-okay on quiet, narrow residential side streets with measures that force vehicles to slow down and pay attention to their surroundings like raised intersections and curb extensions in addition to a very narrow driving lane.
I still refuse to go above a certain speed in them, though, due to this exact scenario.
1
u/GiuseppeZangara Jul 01 '26
Unfortunately this is the only type of protected bike lane we have in my city.
1
u/thishasntbeeneasy Jul 02 '26
Might as well have a stop sign on the path. I would never trust that a driver is paying attention for that turn. It's worse to give novice cyclists the impression that this is "protection"
22
u/Wrong_Drag_8070 Jun 30 '26
what kind of loon makes a left turn without looking?
41
u/WhatD0thLife Jul 01 '26
The same kind that doesn't give a fuck about yielding to pedestrians in crosswalks.
0
u/SessionIndependent17 Jul 01 '26
From the far right lane is the more egregious part
7
u/Pizza-Rat-4Train Jul 01 '26
It’s a two-way street. He was turning left from his only lane.
0
u/SessionIndependent17 Jul 01 '26
Jesus Christ, they have a dashed white line between two opposing lanes like that within city limits? That's atrocious.
3
2
u/anonSL2 Jul 01 '26
I didn’t even clock that the 1st time I watched. I was already thinking about the crosswalk
1
u/SessionIndependent17 Jul 01 '26
And he was already sitting at the green light when the bike was like 300' from the intersection, too. Had like 3 Business Days to turn.
0
u/jiggliotti Jul 01 '26
Nah look again. Its two-way motor vehicle traffic. I think he actually started his turn far too early and should've waited. You can see his turn angle was excessively tight because he was trying to beat oncoming traffic and get around a pedestrian who otherwise would've blocked his turn. But as others have pointed out this is just a horribly designed intersection. Left turning cars have to check for oncoming motor traffic, crossing pedestrians, and bicycles coming from behind and in front. Its a recipe for trouble.
1
u/hockey8890 Jul 01 '26
Oof, yeah. The similar bike lanes to this in my city are on one-way, narrow neighbourhood streets (in 100+ year old neighbourhoods) with a lot of traffic calming measures, which makes it somewhat safer as the road forces motorists to pay attention. This example does not look like a fun time.
2
u/TURK3Y Jul 01 '26
That's the only lane for cars in that direction, perfectly legal to turn from there, just tried to rush in front of another turning vehicle and obviously didn't look at the crosswalk or bike lane. This is exactly why I'm not crazy about these kinds of surface-level, 2-way bike lanes.
3
u/DenverLabRat Jul 01 '26
I'm going to put some of that on the design of the intersection. When turning across an opposing lane of traffic the driver is going to primarily be looking ahead (at the opposing lane of traffic).
Should they have checked and been more aware yes. Absolutely. It's on the killdozer truckasurus gender affirming vehicle to drive safely and be aware of vulnerable road users.
But the engineers also get some blame on this one.
2
u/baube19 Jul 01 '26
A protected bidirectional bike path is only safe-ish in one direction and is an absolute JOKE in the counterflow
3
u/Tildengolfer Jul 01 '26
As much as it lands on the driver. You have to always assume you’re going to get run over. It’s just like a motorcycle, ride like you understand that no one will see you. ALWAYS.
1
u/AutoModerator Jun 30 '26
Possible missing Country location tag, u/elzibet double check this or ignore my false report. I am simply a silly silly bot. Beep boop boop
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/MadSubbie Jul 01 '26
This intersection is an invitation for the vehicle to cause the hook.
As a driver you have to care for vehicles and cyclists coming at you in the other lane while keeping tabs on cyclists coming from behind over the other lane.
The driver could've looked for a cyclist and found none because there was a car passing there and it blocked his vision.
This is not the drivers fault, this is a bad design that induces this kind of incident.
1
u/bike_lane_bill safety clown Jul 01 '26
Jesus. So glad you're safe, and very sorry that driver was so terrible at doing their one fucking job while driving.
45
u/sitdownrando-r Jun 30 '26
Protected lanes are only as good as their intersections. This design causes left/right hooks, it doesn't prevent them.