“Sharrow Lane” Explainer Video

In South Florida, the Florida Department of Transportation is installing more and more Shared Lane Markings, or “Sharrows” for short, to make it easier for bicyclists to navigate the streets. This explainer video accompanied a story on the Sharrow Lanes to show readers how they work.

Below are GIFs of all the animation work I competed for the piece, accompanied with the script. I drew the vectors in Illustrator, and imported them into AfterEffects to create the motion graphics.

Sharrow Lane Motion Graphics

“A new traffic marking is showing up more and more in the middle of South Florida’s roads — a bicycle with two arrows.

“Called a shared lane marking, or sharrow for short, they’re designed to make riding safer for cyclists, but they may have you confused about the rules of the road.

 

“You can see them in two situations.

“One is when the lane is wide enough for both a vehicle and a cyclist, and it tells the cyclist the correct part of the lane to use.

“The other is when the lane is not wide enough for both car and bicycle. One those roads, the cyclist uses the entire lane of traffic. The driver of the car must drive as if the bicycle is another motor vehicle.

 

“Cyclists usually move slower than vehicles, so when is it okay to pass?

 

“On a two-lane road with a double-yellow line, cars can not pass the cyclist. Just as they would not be allowed to pass another vehicle.

 

“When the road has a dashed yellow line, the car may pass the cyclist on the left when it’s safe — and with proper signaling. The same is true on roads with no center marking at all.

 

“On a four-lane roadway, a driver may pass a cyclist using a sharrow just as if passing another car.

“No matter the situation, the law says that a car must maintain three feet distance from a cyclist — even when passing.”

 

Final Video