Old 09-24-22, 09:55 AM
  #104  
63rickert
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Originally Posted by livedarklions
What are you comparing this lane to? Are you suggesting that people just don't ride in cities? In my experience this arrangement is generally better and faster than trying to ride with the SUVs and trucks in the road.
The photograph I quoted showed a floating parking lane with nothing but sedans. Haven't seen anything like that in decades. It was far easier to ride in the city when sedans were the dominant motor vehicle. Not coming back. Sight lines allowing a bike to be seen above roofs of sedans are not ideal, they are way better than the usual situation where drivers have no idea at all what is in the bike lane adjacent. Out of sight, out of mind.

I would compare that lane to same road when it was wider. Wider because no bike lane. Bicycles are maneuverable, the most maneuverable vehicle on the road. Which is a safety feature. What do you do in the bike lane when someone steps off the curb? Or even when there is a ped or skateboarder or dog or child near the curb? You cannot safely assume that child is remaining on the curb and behaving sensibly. Worse is when any of the above steps from between parked trucks into the bike lane. Or when they poke their head from behind parked trucks and there is no way to guess intent.

The only safe and frequently the only possible speed in bike lanes is the speed of the slowest user. You report doing 21mph in a bike lane. I will have to assume you were in splendid isolation in some venue with no other bikes, no peds, really no nothing but you and pavement. I don't know urban settings like that. Entire discussion of bike lanes universally assumes ideal circumstances that never happen.
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