Originally Posted by
crhilton
Because bike facilities are an afterthought and the city just wants to advertise xx miles of bike lanes.
+1
To add bike lanes that aren't in the door zone, cities would have to either eliminate parking on one side of the street or widen the streets. No one wants to give up parking, and widening streets is expensive and time consuming at a minimum and impossible in many cases. Ironically, it's that very shortage of parking and narrow, congested streets that motivate people to bike instead. Novice cyclists often don't realize the door zone is so dangerous, and would rather ride 2 feet from a parked car than 2 feet from a moving vehicle. If the recent increase in bike commuters is more than just a passing fad and cities commit to more "afterthought" bike lanes to appease them, bike-lane associated accidents and deaths will sadly rise.
For my favorite perspective on Cambridge, Mass's mess of door zone lanes, see
this article. An excerpt:
"Rather than the universal symbol for bicycle lanes (a mini bike in a circle stenciled to the pavement), the cyclist continues, "Maybe a skull-and-crossbones would be more appropriate."