Clyde1820

Exactly the point. Every road+path+sidewalk section is condition and situation dependent. I was simply pointing at that at key spots most people will find places where a road gets damnably risky or dangerous; same with sidewalks or other paths, too, of course. Imagining being on a sidewalk alongside a street makes a person immune from vehicular strikes is ludicrous. Happens all the time. Imagining being on a MUP ends up erasing most threats is also similarly baseless, because only God knows what the headphones-in-head-in-the-clouds types are going to do without warning, to say nothing of dogs. For example. So, yes, it all depends.

Sadly, where I live, there are only a handful of spots where there's a bikes-only lane separate from the sidewalk and separate from the vehicular lanes, to the point it's completely safe for cyclists. A dozen or so major throughways across town have decent bike lanes, but not for the whole shot. Elsewhere, it's an ugly crapshoot. Which necessitates, at certain spots, taking the lesser of two evils (if "evil" is the word).

Wish it were better. I suspect for many people who live in typically never-designed-with-bikes-in-mind towns, it's not altogether dissimilar.