Quote:
Originally Posted by Turkle
It's clear, here in NYC, that the "protected" bike lanes, which hide cyclists behind a row of parked cars and make intersections incredibly dangerous, are not designed to protect cyclists.
They are there to get cyclists out of the way of cars so the cars can go at maximum speed everywhere. Full stop.
If cyclists get killed using them, the engineers won't care one bit.
I absolutely refuse to use them.
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Like you, I generally refuse to use segregated lanes. Once, I was riding with a friend who insisted on using the segregated lane on Second Ave, and every other block we had to deal with cars turning left across our path at the last moment.
I was riding up First Avenue in the bus lane a few days ago, and was stopped at a red light at E. 20th St. A woman crossing First Ave yelled at me that I didn't belong there, and had to ride in the segregated bike lane on the left side of the avenue. I told her that I was entirely in the right to be on the right. Then I had to deal with an aggressive M15-SBS bus driver who kept honking at me to get out of his lane.
Two weeks ago, I was riding south one evening in the right lane on Union Square East, because there was ice and snow in the segregated bike lane. A driver passing in the left lane shouted at me when we reached a red light that I wasn't allowed to be outside the bike lane.
Cycling in the city was much more enjoyable before we were given "separate but equal" facilities.