Originally Posted by
Maelochs
I don't care about anyone's opinions .... but My opinion (which is of course the most important) is that I do Not want a line of parked cars on my left, a curb and pedestrians on the right ... pedestrians can move, doors can open
Typically a protected lane has room to stay out of the door zone unless passing another cyclist, that said pedestrians not reading it as a danger area is an issue.
and cars in the road cannot see me. if I need to join the travel lane (say to make a left turn) I have to sneak out from behind or between parked cars ... and I cannot make any sort of signal announcing my intentions in advance, since my front wheel will be in the road before my arm.
This is a much bigger issue - not already being part of the traffic flow creates more problems at the points where you interact with it.
And yes, as others have said, the answer is to simply go slowly through dangerous terrain. However, the point of bike infrastructure is Not to make bike so slowly, but quite the opposite--to allow them as unfettered operation as much as possible.
Unfortunately, I don't think that's true. Bike lanes, especially protected ones, are more about giving lots of people the confidence to ride, than about making things faster for those who already do. In famous "bicycle cities" people ride fairly slowly. Confident vehicular cyclists tend to prefer the flexibility of mixing in with other traffic, especially in situations where that might not be all that much faster.
In an ideal world, you'd have a choice, unfortunately most places where lanes go in then decide to require you to use them.
That is the main reason why the floating parking lane is a bad design. Give me six feet of clean pavement ---or even four feet----next to the traffic lane
The problem is that if you do that, drivers (especially delivery, for hire, and notoriously police official and private vehicles and other placards) then claim it as their parking/double parking zone.
Plus, if the bike lane is immediately adjacent to the traffic lane, i can switch lanes when it is safe, not when I am forced to.
That's great if the bike lane is respected; in denser areas where it becomes the other parking lane you end up constantly being forced into the ordinary traffic lanes.
And as far as car-bike collisions are concerned ... most of them in urban environment happen at intersections, which, as noted, would be worse with the floating lanes because drivers would not be able to see cyclists in advance.
Yes and no, we've had a lot of mid-block issues with cars, trucks, and busses impinging on an unprotected lane or hitting cyclists avoiding obstacles in it. And doorings or people swerving to avoid a door being killed by overtaking traffic. But you are right, the issues at intersections are real, and fully protected lanes not only likely enhance them, but almost by definition leave them as where the collisions happen, because it's all but the only place they can.