Originally Posted by zeytoun
Thanks, but I asked whether or not bike lanes encourage cyclists to ride closer to the curb.
EDIT: I'm not trying to pick a fight. Your first post implied (at least to me) that bike lanes encourage cyclists to hug the curb. I wondered if you felt that this is really so. Clearly, you didn't mean this. You meant that cyclists like yourself who exit the bike lane might be harrassed.
Avoiding right hooks, door zones, and poor visibility situations (to name a few) may dictate operating outside the bike lane.
If people interpret the law as requiring cyclists to use the bike lane, then cyclists who use basic defensive driving techniques will be considered to be operating unlawfully.
Some cyclists may be less likely to drive defensively in order to avoid the stigma and related harassment by motorists/ticketing by police.
Others will ignore the stripe and deal with the consequences.
In either case, it makes it harder to promote public understanding of defensive driving on a bicycle.