[SDCBC] Pet peeve: cyclists have "no choice" but to be unsafe/crazy

[John Eldon]

On Thursday evening and Saturday morning I heard a traffic expert claim that lane stripes and even bike lanes or shoulders with contrasting colors help reduce motorist speeds, particularly when the main travel lanes are narrowed to 10 feet. Bike lanes also help reinforce a "no parking" message.

I have sometimes felt indifferent between wide outer lanes and narrow outer lanes + bike lanes or shoulders, but if a WOL is indeed an invitation to speeding, it may not be such a panacea. 

You and I love and use the I-5 shoulder between Roselle and Genesee and would never consider taking the lane on a freeway. Given the speeds involved, I do not think the bike lane on Palomar Airport Rd. is much different.

Serge Issakov <serge at issakov.org> wrote: But if the stripe were removed, the space would still be there for you to use.  Or do you feel that the stripe itself gives you something of value?   I think all the stripe does is enable faster overtaking of you.  That is, whether you're there in the bike lane or not, traffic moves just as fast.  But if the stripe is not there, then overtaking traffic is more likely to take notice of you (because you're up ahead in their lane as opposed to up ahead in space adjacent to their lane and separated by a stripe), and move aside and/or slow down as they pass.  The latter situation is preferable, I think.
 
Now, I understand the political argument - sometimes the only way we can get extra space is by having bike lane striping.

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