Research Paper on Bicycle Lanes

Introduction

Everyone likes to have a happy life with their loved ones but when death sets in everything turn out to be sad and out of place. Parents who lose their children feel the pain, and they regret having them take part in an activity that led to their death. Death is not something that anyone would want to experience happening to the close friends or relatives. In that case, it is always advisable to stay away from any activity that would lead to the same. I am a loyal and patriotic citizen of the city of Tucson, Arizona and I have been taking part in all the initiatives that it has put in place to make sure that the well-being all its people is maintained.

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Over the past few years, the state has been undergoing some accident and the cases of people losing their lives while riding on the road. This has been taking place because the government allowed the riders to share the road with those who have vehicles. This was a decision that was not well thought of as it led to more congestion on the roads and also the number of people who lost their lives on the road increased. For instance, according to data that was collected in 2016, the number of bicycle riders who died from the road accidents was 570, and this is a figure that seemed to increase. By the time when the data was being collected, there were still others who lost their lives in that spree. In that case, the data showed that Tucson was the second highest when it came to the number of accidents that have been taking place concerning the bicycle riders. All these issues began when the government came up with the law that all the bicycle riders should share the lanes with the vehicle users. In that case, I stand on the point that all the bicycle riders should have their lanes contracted aside or elsewhere as this is the only way in which the accidents will be reduced and people will live better lives without having to lose anyone. (Thesis)

Most of the people in Tucson have still not realized the reasons as to why the accidents have been increasing over the past few years. Many are still supporting the government over the initiative as they claim that it is a way of saving funds that can be used in other sectors and also dealing with those who are notorious when it comes to crime (Egan, 8). The people also argue that the bicyclists are the ones who are always on the wrong as they are not keen when riding and that they do not follow all the traffic rules that have been put in place by the relevant authorities. The people of Tucson are still condemning the bicyclists stating that they have never been in line with the traffic rules and that is the reason why the government has not come up with a new lane because the issue will not be different in any way.

I believe that the fact that the idea of bicyclists sharing lanes with the car owners is the one that has led to an increase in the number of people who get accidents on the roads. For instance, according to the data that was presented by Tucson News Now, it came out that out of three mornings, own would have a bicyclist being killed in a road accident that involved a car (Marries 3). This is clear evidence that the bicyclists are having a problem regardless of the fact that many of them are trying to be in line with set rules of traffic. There are also many car owners who despise the bicyclists claiming that they are not supposed to be using the road because they have not been licensed in any way. In that case, there are those who hit them intentionally, and the result is that they lose their lives in dangerous ways

The idea of sharing all the lanes with bicyclists is still not good as it makes the roads to have many users and therefore there is no free flow of vehicles from one lane to the other. The lanes are made in such a way that one can shift from one to the other and therefore have them shared with many users' lead to dangers (Chaurand, 1176). The bicycles are not made in such a way that one can indicate when changing lanes and this brings in confusion. This confusion is the one that causes accidents that the bicyclists have not been able to evade. For instance, the roads in Tucson are made in such a way that the pavements are only left for the pedestrians while the highways are left for the bicycle and car uses (News 4 Tucson Staff, 6). In that case. The bicycles do not have a place that they can ride and declare themselves safe from any of accidents that have been taking. In this case, I am still not in support of sharing the bicycle lanes with the car users as it is the one that leads to tremendous cases of accidents.

Even though this is true, there is still a group of people who are against the ideas of the government allowing the bicyclists to share lanes with the vehicle owners. Such people are on the notion that the rules that have been put in place for the bicyclists are not strict and that is the reason they find themselves in many accidents. For instance, according to Chen (2012), it came out that a lorry hit a bicyclist because he was trying to go against the traffic rules of changing lanes and he was also not wearing a helmet and a reflector that could help him in case of an accident. In that case, he got hit by a lorry that was speeding past him. There are also some bicyclists who have the tendency of riding on the wrong side and this renders them unsafe when it comes to road transport.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the number of bicyclists is likely to increase shortly and that means the road users will increase, but the road will remain the same. This a clear proof that the accident menace is not likely to come to an end. For this not to happen, the government of Arizona State should make that the bicycle lanes wider so that they can have a better way of riding on their own. In this case, any car owner who gets to bicyclists' lane is the one who will be in the wrong, and he or she will be judged from that move. The people who are still on the idea that the lanes should be shared are those who have not had any of their close affiliates being part of the accidents. But if the same acts continue, they might end up being part of the same. I believe that no one would want the same to go on and therefore it is good to implement the recommendation and urge the government to omit the statement that it made previously on the sharing of lanes.

Works Cited

Marries, Dan. "Bicyclist Killed in One of Three Morning Accidents involving Cars and Bicycles." Tucson News Now. 2016

Chaurand, Nadine, and Patricia Delhomme. "Cyclists and Drivers in Road Interactions: A Comparison of Perceived Crash Risk." Accident Analysis & Prevention, vol. 50, 2013, pp. 1176-1184., doi:10.1016/j.aap.2012.09.005.

Chen, Li, et al. "Evaluating the Safety Effects of Bicycle Lanes in New York City." American Journal of Public Health, vol. 102, no. 6, 2012, pp. 1120-1127., doi:10.2105/ajph.2011.300319.

Egan, Sophie. "Safer Roads for Cyclists." The New York Times, 13 July 2013, p.

Gu, Jing, et al. "The Cost-Effectiveness of Bike Lanes in New York City." Injury Prevention, vol. 23, no. 4, Sept. 2016, pp. 239-243., doi:10.1136/injuryprev-2016-042057