I like bike lanes. Having homes in Chicago and in the San Francisco Bay Area, I experience riding in Metro areas with and without. I much prefer Bay Area riding where it seems more roads, but not all, have the lanes. I have no empirical data to to support or refute the safety claims, but I am of the opinion the lanes, at minimum, serve as a reminder to motorists that bicyclists might be present much in the way school crossing zones build some awareness to the possible presence of children. I know when I'm driving and see a bike lane, it serves as a trigger to my awareness.