Bike lane or loading bay??

[Ian Cooper]

Whilst I am aware not all bike lanes in the US will fit to the high standard I have seen, as per your example, the ones I have seen were more than wide enough to accommodate an opening door unless the cyclist was foolish enough to ride on the right hand side line, effectively placing himself in the parking lane...

You have to be at least 6ft from the nearest parked car, in order to avoid an instinctual swerve away from the door. When Dana Laird was killed, eyewitnesses reported that she did not hit the car door - that's not what caused her death. She was probably riding on, or close to, the edge of the bike lane farthest from the line of parked cars (that's 4-5ft away from the parked cars, or about where the cyclist in the above video is at 1:05 into the video). When the door opened, Dana instinctively swerved out into the path of the bus that killed her.

Cycling instructors in the US teach students never to ride anywhere within a door zone bike lane. Even if they're 6ft wide, they are not wide enough. In my opinion, a door zone bike lane would have to be at least 8-9ft wide in order for the two feet closest to the general traffic lane to be useable.

Here's a blog post that illustrates the point:

http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2008/07/10/the-swinging-door/

Here are a couple of videos that show how to safely ride in the roadway:

 

[Sandra6]

I've tried to paste a link to the street view but it just brings up the main map.
If you want to see its Victoria Viaduct, carlisle.