- Joined
- Jan 22, 2012
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+1
Buses, you wrote that the Esplanade driveways were "easy outs", but you only can believe that as someone who has seen Storrow and the Esplanade many times, and happen to know the layout. (Recall that conditions were dark and rainy in the incident we are discussing)
To take CSTH's point further, you cannot even call them driveways, only "curb cuts" (if that)
And the meaning of "driveways" (or curb cuts) is not "Easy outs" nor "sidewalks nearby" nor "turn here for safety" but rather "dead end" or "head on collision possible" and would lead a lost person on bike or car to conclude that Storrow West is a winding but wide street (such as the 1960s/70s era 'burbs have) and on which cyclists are welcome.
Sorry. I don't think giving this cyclist excuses makes any sense. There are always cyclists on the OBVIOUS bike trail adjacent to Storrow that is accessible by these "curb-cuts" one of which is indeed a driveway with a parking lot. They are easy outs. There's nothing else to call them.
Dark, rainy, possible tourist, unfamiliar surroundings that could be mistaken for a bike-appropriate road, no signs to signal to cyclists, sure... fine excuses all. But considering that this hardly ever happens (unlike the Storrowing truck/bus phenomenon), it seems clear that the vast majority of cyclists with a decent head on their shoulders (even the unfortunate out-out-towners) manage to recognize the Esplanade as the place to bike.
Perhaps dark and rainy is the only reason this person ended up on Storrow, which sucks to them. But if it was me; I'd notice that the lanes were narrow with no shoulder and cars were (likely) honking and zipping around me at speed. I'd be looking for the first place to get the hell off of that road. There are at least three locations to do that between Leverett and Mass Ave...