Originally Posted by sbhikes
I for one have no problem whatsoever with drivers passing me as fast as they want to when I'm on my side of the bike lane line and they are on the other. I see no reason for them to slow. I find that when there is a line there they stay on their side of it, and when there is no bike lane that the passing clearance they give me is highly variable. I prefer predictability from motorists (like they prefer from cyclists) and find that the bike lane provides it.
Diane, thank you very much for this.
Somebody recently accused me of not accepting the points of view of others or something. Yet this post is a great example of what I'm looking for on this forum.
While most of my argument against bike lanes deals with problems at intersections, this aspect of it addresses between intersection problems, and is based on the premise that bike lanes encourage high-speed close passing by motorists of cyclists without slowing down or adjusting their lane position (to increase the passing distance), and that that is a bad thing (for cyclists).
Some people have argued, directly or indirectly, that bike lanes do not have that effect.
But here you have pointed out something else entirely. Something very interesting. Essentially, you're saying you don't care if motorists are traveling 40+ mph faster than you in the adjacent lane, and, apparently, even if they're doing so only a few feet away,
as long as they stay in their lane.
Here, you are rejecting a core assumption in my argument, so of course it is not convincing to you.
Why you're okay with fast/close passing (when there is a separating bike lane stripe) and I am not, is perhaps a question we can address later.