Baltimore Accident Lawyer: Making Maryland Roads Safer for Bicyclists

Several hundred people have suffered injuries and dozens of others have tragically lost their lives while riding a bicycle on a Maryland road over the past several years.  The State of Maryland has taken notice and is working to make our roads safer for bicyclists by adding bike lanes among other measures according to CBS Baltimore.

The State Highway Administration recently opened a bike lane in Dundalk which is a welcome addition to cyclists there.  Director of Planning at SHA, Gregory Slater, was quoted as saying, “So what happens is a driver can go down. They see the lane and they know the cyclist is going to be there and not in the middle of the lane,” said .

The impact of bike lanes cannot be understated when it comes to rider safety. In fact, in a study, bike lanes have being found to cut the risk of injury by as much as 50% as reported by the American Journal of Public Health. Therefore, the increase of bike lanes should improve the roadways for Maryland’s cyclists.

Bike lanes are great, but there is even something better. A protected bike lanes. This refers to bikes lanes that are separated from the rest of the traffic by a physical barrier and not just a line on the road.

It is therefore not surprising that the physical barrier keeps cars away from bikes. A physical barrier is likely to keep the errant driver from wandering onto the bike lane or bicyclist being caught up in the blind spot.  It will also reduce the change of car door being flung open and right into the bike lane.

To quantify the impact, protected bike lanes have being found to reduce the risk of injury by a whopping 90% by a Canadian Study. Therefore, to take bike safety up a notch, Maryland should install as many protected bike lanes as feasible. This may not be feasible in narrow city streets, but may work in suburbs and other roadways.

As society learns more about the causes and impacts of bicyclist accidents, new measures to prevent them are being implemented. Drivers are also becoming more aware with the prevalence of bike lanes serving as a constant reminder.