Bicycle lanes are being proposed or established in a good many communities in the United States. Although proponents commonly cite improved safety as a justification for the lanes, their contribution to the reduction of bicycle-automobile accidents is the subject of some debate. As a means of evaluating their effect, the accident experience revealed in police records over a 4-year period in Davis, California, a city with a long-standing system of bicycle lanes, was used as a data base. Accidents were classified in a 10-class system. The relative frequency of accident classes in Davis was compared with that in Santa Barbara, a comparable community without bicycle lanes. The same comparison was made of accidents within Davis on streets with bicycle lanes versus those without them. Three accident classes that were judged to be uninfluenced by the presence or absence of bicycle lanes were used as a standard for comparing the effect of bicycle lanes on the frequency of accidents in other classes. The results showed lower accident rates for bicycle lanes in six classes and higher rates in one class. Overall the frequency of accidents influenced by the presence or absence of bicycle lanes was reduced by 51 percent, and the frequency of all accident types combined was reduced by 29 percent on bicycle lanes, demonstrating a positive effect of bicycle lanes on safety. (Author/publisher)
Abstract