In fact, the comfort level can actually make cyclists less safe because cyclists let their guard down.
In fact? Tell me what facts please.
It encourages unsafe cycling.
No bike lane discourages cycling.
o make cyclists second class citizens and to push as of the responsibility and danger onto them as possible. Uneducated drivers are never "inconvenienced".
Do bus lanes make drivers second class citizen too? I can't walk in the middle of the road either, or bike on the sidewalk. How about saying bike lanes make bikes legitimate. Yeah, I know, the law says bikes have a right to the road but obviously, many drivers don't think so. When you say bike lanes are there to put bikes out of the drivers' way, I say they exists to put cars out of cyclists' way.
It also encourages waiting until the end and then riding across in a sidewalk. In many cases illegal and in all cases unsafe.
It's a crosswalk, not sidewalk. It's rather inconvenient for cyclists, never illegal and as unsafe as walking a crosswalk.
Every argument I hear from the anti-bike lane people are about "feel" and "encouraging this and that" with no substance to back it up. There was a study here saying there were more serious injuries to cyclists on road with no bike lane than roads with bike lanes. I never mentionned it because it's something I got on the radio and have no link.
My biggest problem with bike lanes is the complete lack of standard.