I would love to see some pics of the worse barriers.
You don't want to clip anything with your pedals, it's scary. The only thing worse (other than a head-on) would be to clip your handlebar.
I was once doing a fast left-hand turn (in heavy traffic) and as I came out of the 90 deg. turn at a fairly good speed, I clipped the curb with my right pedal. I don't know how I kept the rubber side down -- it was really scary.
P.S. I was riding with clipless pedals.
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