It’s no secret New York sees it’s fair share of collisions between motor vehicles and bicycles. The state’s Department of Transportation reports 49,882 bicycle accident injuries and another 290 fatalities reported last year alone.
These numbers are a call for concern to many and debate is swirling around how to improve bicycle safety in New York. Adding a bike lane to roads may be one solution, but is has been met with skepticism from some.
It seems to be a simple cause and effect relationship. Add a bike lane to the road and you eliminate a lane of traffic for cars, thus causing increases in traffic. Many have bought into this idea, including some highway engineers, but one new study is showing this way of thinking couldn’t be further from the truth.
An article from Mother Jones reports researchers have concluded adding bike lanes to roads, in fact, cuts down on traffic. The case study examined several streets that were altered in New York City and found that simply reducing lane width gave enough room to add a bike lane without eliminating lanes of traffic for vehicles. This, in turn, reduced travel times by as much as 21 percent.
At William Mattar Law Offices, our Buffalo personal injury lawyers are aware of the importance of creating safer and more efficient means of travel in our state. That’s why we are hopeful this study can persuade officials to consider adding more bike lanes along New York’s roads.