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Resident vents frustration after city ignores growing problem on roads: 'This should be a huge fine'

"Poor city planning."

"Poor city planning."

Photo Credit: Reddit

To ride a bike safely takes good balance, a view of what's ahead, and a clear direction of traffic — especially in a big city. 

Yet obstacles in the middle of a bike lane can put all three in jeopardy. 

Like a piece of trash or a tree branch? Unfortunately, it could be something even bigger — like a massive moving truck, as one Redditor reported in the r/VancouverCycling feed.

"Poor city planning."
Photo Credit: Reddit

"It seems like people are using bike lanes as loading zones and temp parking more and more frequently," they wrote, attaching a photo showing a big rig van's parking job that completely covered one lane of bike traffic in the Canadian city.

Parking a vehicle in the middle of a bike lane is dangerous. People have been seriously injured or even killed from needing to swerve out of the way, often into oncoming bike traffic or the car lane.

Granted, everyone's just trying to do their job, and perhaps it's on local governments to account for business needs like loading zones while also expanding bicycle access. Still, no matter how tough it is to find a parking spot, putting an immovable hunk of metal between biker traffic is like parking a plane in the middle of the highway — it just doesn't make sense.

Not to mention, making the bike lane an obstacle course discourages people from reaping all of cycling's benefits in the first place: commuting to work, saving on gas money, or enjoying a healthy hobby, to name a few. That means more people will use a car — and the pollution they create — instead. 

Ironically, bike lanes can actually increase both pedestrian and roadway safety — but it's become dangerous for an actual biker to use them. 

The way out of this conundrum starts with the common understanding that a bike lane is specifically designed for people riding bikes. Supporting measures that decrease our reliance on cars helps, too.

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"More hazards in bike lanes than out nowadays," one commenter noted.

"Poor city planning," another remarked.

"This should be a huge fine," a third added.

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