Bike boxes - a failed experiment

Portland's pushers of bike facilities rammed through some bike boxes a
few years ago.

IIRC, they painted these things on the roads despite the fact that
they are not approved in the MUTCD. (The MUTCD exists so every burg
doesn't invent its own strange designs, confusing road users and
killing people. There is a procedure through which burgs can apply
for permission to experiment, but the procedure requires them to
document everything and actually collect data.)

Anyway, after screwing up by installing without permission to
experiment, Portland got its congressman to pull strings to get the
bike box "experiment" approved after the fact. Kind of like "Yeah, I
ran that red light on Tuesday, but my cop friend told me on Wednesday
that I had his permission, so you should dismiss my ticket."

So Portland collected data, and the data is in. And just as predicted
by people who understand simple geometry, physics, traffic movements
and bicycles, it turns out the bike boxes did NOT help. In fact, at
four intersections in particular, the bike boxes seem to have more
than doubled the number of crashes. And there was at least one
fatality, although I'd say that was caused by the bike lane to the
right of right turning traffic, not the bike box itself.

Here are the links:
http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/...crease-crashes

and
http://www.portlandmercury.com/image...etter_merc.pdf

or http://tinyurl.com/cocu8kb and http://tinyurl.com/d9rf4zv

The letter's interesting. Since the green paint in the bike boxes is
not magically protecting people when they're to the right of a right
turning vehicle, Portland has a new plan: _Dashed_ green paint!

Takeaway message #1: Do not position yourself to the right of a right
turning vehicle, no matter what the "magic" bike facility tells you to
do. Instead, guard against right hooks. Take the lane when
necessary.

Of course, in Oregon, bike lanes are pretty much mandatory. That
leads to takeaway message #2: Be very careful what you - or your
local "bike advocates" - ask for.

- Frank Krygowski