It looks to me like a fair amount of the divisions may result from different environments. Road designers take motorists seriously, so planning and enforcement seem to be fairly consistent in different places; regardless of any laws, I don't see a social consensus on bicycling so engineering varies widely and I find enforcement varies greatly depending on the individual police officer. Some give bicyclists the same rights as drivers; others have told me I can't bicycle to places that are on roads without shoulders or bike lanes.

I note fears of overtaking from posters in IA and NE are concerned with overtaking while other respondents are not. My experience in Eastern cities is that overtaking is not a major issue due to congestion. In contrast, a local bicyclist mentioned a driver running down his brother in Iowa instead of just changing lanes to pass; during the short time I was in Kansas I found drivers polite in the city but in the suburbs they would often run lights I had tripped on my bicycle because they saw no cars and decided that their light was red because it was broken. (I'm not overly sympathetic to motorist complaints that all bicyclists are a**h***** that run redlights.)

From your scenario, I supposed I'd have to pick going straight when cross traffic has a stop sign, but I actually find the bigger problem is poorly designed facilities in PA and DE. The designers generally don't ride (and don't believe bicyclists ever have the right of way), and advocates think any facilities are better that no facilities. Personally, I refuse to use bike lanes painted to the right of RTOL lanes on to I-76 (installed in 12/2010 after major planning) or the the right of right turn arrows (most intersections in DE). When I've commented on plans that violate AASHTO standards, planners say they will fix them, but install them as originally designed.

Most of the existing Philadelphia lanes are in the door zone; I find motorists are far more hostile after these lanes were painted. Turning motorists don't yield to bicyclists in bike lanes, and honk and swear if bicyclists leave them. I found riding 10mph in the middle of the lane in 10 mph traffic upset fewer motorists before the bike lanes were installed; I think the driving public belives the bike lanes are there to get the f****ing bicyclists out of the way.

In short, I think the hazards vary greatly by location, and the facilities are installed in cities where motorists want bicyclists removed, not where they might help (possibly Nebraska?)