Originally Posted by AndrewP
I think these wide fast streets are probably safer for cyclists, because they usually have wider lanes and fewer intersections. Difference in speed isnt a problem if the bike and car arent trying to use the same space at the same time.
In Houston, newer neighborhoods consist of "gated" or limited access subdivisions, connected by roads where the flow of traffic is moving between 40 mph and 50 mph. The lanes are narrower than a big truck or a bus, so larger vehicles travel with the right wheels next to the curb and their left wheels on the lane divider line.
In theory, there might be a way to ride a bicycle on such roads, and live to tell about it. However, I have yet to see anyone attempt this feat.
These same neighborhoods generally lack sidewalks. School buses, belching smoke, come to each corner or house to pick up the often chubby, usually out-of-shape kids such neighborhoods tend to produce.