Originally Posted by
BlazingPedals
In Michigan, bike lanes are not mandatory, and I tend to avoid using them. I'll even ride in the traffic lane right alongside a bike lane. I'm not dead-set against them, but all too often they are unrideable due to debris, sewer grates, rough pavement, and even gutter seams. Going out into the traffic lane to avoid something is more dangerous than just staying in the traffic lane because it violates the #1 rule, which is to be predictable. Plus, they complicate normal obstacles like bus stops; and every intersection becomes a free-for-all. Bike lanes benefit two groups: Motorists, who get most of the bikes out of THEIR traffic lane, and beginner-level cyclists, who believe they now have a safe place to operate and believe that the little white line prevents cars from flattening them.
I think the "going out is unpredictable" is nonsense, and I do it a lot. I always check that the traffic lane is clear BEFORE I do it, and I signal the lane shift as well on the very, very slight chance that I missed something.
Again, we are having way too many people generalizing the conditions in their locality to being universal truths. On Mass. Ave in the Boston area, the bike lane actually empowers experienced cyclists to safely go faster than the motorized traffic. I've seen several bike lanes I wouldn't use on a bet, but this notion that experienced bicyclists don't use any of them is poppycock..