Shared Lane Marking - Effectiveness

Effectiveness

Behavioral studies have shown that streets with shared lane arrows have increases separation between motor vehicles and bicyclists, encourage cyclists to ride outside the door zone, may reduce wrong-way cycling, and sidewalk cycling, which is associated with increased crash risk, is reduced.

However, another study based on hospital records shows no statistically significant reduction in injuries, and possibly a small increase.

Since the implementation of sharrows usually precludes safer safety treatments such as cycle tracks or bicycle lanes, sharrows give cyclists few options other than operating in the door zone. Thus the use of sharrows reduces the choices that cyclists have in choosing whether to ride on dedicated infrastructure or in the middle of the road.