Originally Posted by natelutkjohn
Oh, I get it now, when a bikelane advocate talks about riding in a lane (or next to the cars), its called segregation, but when VC does it, its called choice... I think I finally saw the light!
Advocating for bike lanes does not mean advocating that you MUST ride in the bike lane.
In a wide outside lane, the cyclist operating leftward during intersection approach has chosen a position in his lane. On a bike lane striped street, the cyclist operating leftward has chosen to operate contrary to the traffic control marking indicating where cyclists are expected to operate; he is operating outside of "his lane."
I have had a lot of experience on local roads before and after bike lane striping was added to convert 16' lanes into 12' lanes plus 4' bike lanes. I never experienced any harassment from motorists when operating more than 4' from the gutter on these 16' lane roads until the bicycle-specific stripes and stencils were added, indicating to motorists where I as a bicyclist was supposed to operate.
This is the direct, measurable result of the striping and space designations where I live- increased social friction when operating according to vehicular cycling and defensive driving principles whenever they require operating farther from the gutter. Cyclists are not advocating that cyclists stay in the bike lane. Motorists are, as a result of the stripes being marked and subsequently "disobeyed" by cyclists.