Do you regularly bike in downtown San Diego? Whether you’re bicycling through the city on a weekend or using your bike as a mode of transportation to and from the office, a bicycle accident can lead to catastrophic injuries. According to a recent article in KPBS News, the San Diego City Council and San Diego County Bicycle Coalition have joined forces to make bicycling a safer activity. There’s a new San Diego Bike Loop that’s marked by green symbols along the road. It’s a 7-mile route that will “take riders from downtown to Bankers Hill, Little Italy and San Diego Bay.”
The San Diego Bike Loop is an important step forward in preventing serious bicycle accidents in San Diego County. If you have been injured in a bicycle accident, however, it’s very important to talk with an experienced San Diego bicycle accident attorney about your case. Contact the Walton Law Firm today to learn more about how we can help.
Details of the San Diego Bike Loop
How will the San Diego Bike Loop make cycling safer in the city? According to Mayor Kevin Faulconer, riders will be able to follow the green circles that have been painted on the roads. By staying in groups and making automobile drivers aware of the new bicycle route, riders should be safer when it comes to the risk of dangerous traffic collisions. Faulconer emphasized how “the San Diego Bike Loop is a big step forward in our push to create a more bike-friendly city.” He explained that the Bike Loop is a low-cost project that’s relatively easy to put together and can “have a huge impact on our neighborhoods.”
Not only will the Bike Loop make riders more visible to oncoming motor vehicles, but the route also takes cyclists through streets that have less traffic than others. Specifically, “bikers on the loop will be riding with cars, but on streets that are relatively quiet and sometimes, but not always, have bike lanes.” In particular, one of the three traffic lanes along 4th and 5th avenues near Balboa Park has been turned into a bicycle lane, which is part of the city’s “road diet,” according to City Council president Todd Gloria.
“Road Diets” in California
What’s a “road diet?” According to Gloria, “like many of us, our roads are now going on diets.” He explained that San Diego, similar to other major metropolitan areas across California and the country, is “removing car lanes and replacing them with protected bike lanes.” He emphasized how the city’s “road diet” will have a big impact on city officials such as himself: “As someone who drives this corridor every day, from my home in Hillcrest to my office downtown, I have see how well used these lanes really are. People are embracing them.”
In addition to simply creating the bike lanes, they’re also be adorned with “sharrows.” Sharrows are visible signs that are painted directed on the road. They depict a bike that’s “topped by two arrows, reminding drivers to share the road with bicyclists.”
San Diego is a particularly good place to test out the “road diet,” as it has wide streets that allow for “protected bicycle infrastructure,” according to Sam Ollinger, the head of BikeSD, a bicycle advocacy group in our city.
The San Diego “road diet” offers hope for better bicycle safety across the city. However, if you have sustained personal injuries in a bicycle accident, you may be able to file a claim for compensation. Contact a San Diego bicycle accident lawyer today about your case.
Photo Credit: ginnerobot via Compfight cc
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