Safety and user perceptions of bike turnouts

Abstract

At Mount Diablo State Park in Northern California, a local coalition of cyclists known as the Mount Diablo Cyclists observed an overrepresentation of driver-overtaking-cyclist collisions on curves with limited sight distance. In response, they adapted the design of a truck climbing/passing lane to propose a ‘bike turnout’ which provides cyclists with exclusive right-of-way and a dedicated space for drivers to safely pass cyclists on uphill grades. Since 2016, 67 bike turnouts have been installed in MDSP. In 2022, the Oregon Department of Transportation aimed to study the attitudes of drivers and cyclists to bike turnouts by deploying a statewide online video-based survey. The results from both surveys revealed overwhelming receptivity to implementing bike turnouts in Oregon – 88.3 % of cyclists and 83.6 % of drivers were supportive of the implementation of bike turnouts in Oregon. On average, the perceived potential impacts on safety and user comfort had the greatest degree of effectiveness. Collectively, these findings indicate the viability and potential for bike turnouts in Oregon.