Originally Posted by
Helmet Head
Specifically:
You say your friends did not ride there before the bike lanes were added. Did anything else change besides the addition of the bike lane stripes and designations? Any other street reconfigurations? Was onstreet parking removed? Were other lane lines moved? Remember, I'm not saying change it back to the way it was before, I'm saying leave it the way it is now, except remove the bike lane stripe and designation - so there is just as much width as there is now, except the outside lane becomes a WOL instead of being adjacent to a bike lane. Would your friends stop riding there? Why? Do they not understand that removing that stripe has no negative impact on their safety? Good biking friends don't let their friends think bike lanes make them safer... surely you are a good friend, are you not?
I beg to differ... that little white stripe has always been an indication of something. Usually the edge of a roadway but nowadays also a bike lane. Granted, if the road was not widened, it just made for a more risky lane to squeeze by the cyclists.
Give me some data to support that removal of the striping has a positive impact on risk and I'll quit riding in bike lanes. Seems to me that any little advantage/signal, such as a white stripe, bicycle stencil or diamond that may help motorists be aware that something is different are useful.
I, too, race between bike lane routes to minimize the time spent on old fashioned roads.
