Many cities lack the infrastructure needed to really keep cyclists safe on urban roads , but in Wichita , Kansas , some cyclists are coin back against cars creeping into their dedicated lane . With john plungers .
According toCityLabandKSN , a closed book bicycling activist recently set up toilet plungers with reflective tape along the edge of a bike lane in business district Wichita in a moment of DIY urban design . The plunger act like the bollards that some cities use to create a physical barrier between bikes and fomite dealings , giving drivers a visual admonisher that they ’re not legally permit to cross over into the bicycle lane . From a legal standpoint , plunging the roadstead is technically littering , but it was for a just cause .
wheel lane can have a major wallop on traffic safety machine in a city . rider tend to be safe when riding in protected lane , signify lanes that have a physical roadblock between the bike lane and other traffic . When New York City installed the first protected bike lane in the U.S. in 2009 , the urban center saw a 58 percent decrease in injuries — among pedestrian , bicycler , and driver — on those street [ PDF ] . Intersections be given to be particularly dangerous , because drivers do n’t always see wheeler while turning : in 2014 , about a third of the cycle fatality in the U.S. take place at an intersection .
While Wichita has been taking some steps to create new bike lanes and make cycling dependable for its residents , an anon. bike lover is just prodding drivers to stay in their lane . This kind of guerrilla bike base is n’t unheard of ; cycling and pedestrian safety activists have previously set up cones , dealings delineators , flower pots , and more to stake their territory on traffic - clogged streets . Occasionally , these makeshifts even becomepermanent . Wichita ’s plumber’s helper were only a irregular installation — though there were still some left up a week after the intercession — but perhaps the city will comment that cyclists delight the extra protection .
[ h / tCityLab ]
