Originally Posted by
Paul Barnard
You don't control the lane. You assume lane position in hopes of influencing driver behavior.
Sidewalks can be very useful in some cases for avoiding dangerous areas or conditions.
Not all bike lanes are created equally. Some are great..far better than the main lane alternative. Others are pretty bad.
Also true of roads. If there's curves, riding the center of a two-lane 50 mph or more road may be absolutely suicidal as the vehicles coming around the curve are very likely to overtake you before they know you're there. You can't influence the driver's behavior if they don't know you're there. I'm in New England, there aren't a lot of straight two lane roads outside of town.