The problem with sharrows is that impatient drivers will try to share the lane anyway. And when they do, the results can be horrible:
A female cyclist is in hospital with life-threatening injuries after she was struck by and became pinned under a float trailer that was being hauled by a large truck Wednesday morning, Toronto police say.
Police said the woman came into contact with the right side of the trailer as she cycled in Spadina Avenue’s northbound lanes, just south of Dundas Street West, at about 7:15 a.m. The woman was riding in the curb lane, where there is a sharrow lane for cyclists, with shared lane markings.
After making contact with the side of the trailer, the woman was caught by its rear wheels and dragged a short distance, police said. The northbound truck, also travelling in the curb lane, came to a stop while the woman was under the trailer.
Part of the problem with sharrows is that traffic engineers don’t even know where to put them. The sharrows on Spandina appear to be off in the gutter.
Looks like since they were installed incorrectly…lawsuit against city, and of course the truck company.
Not to mention, the article is full of victim-blaming and “robot car” language.
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Your final sentence is key. Properly placed sharrows are right in the middle of the lane and are telling bicylists “RIDE IN THE MIDDLE” while telling cars “YES, BICYCLISTS BELONG IN THE MIDDLE”.
These are incorrectly marked sharrows.