When I stopped for a beer the other day, I ended up having an interesting conversation with guy next to me. After we talked about cold weather riding he told me he liked to ride, but stayed on the trails. He didn't even feel safe with the bike lanes developed all through town. I can't say I blame him, but said we have to consider that 99.9999999% or more of the drivers don't want to live with vehicular man slaughter on their record or their conscience, and I have found the vast majority of drivers are overly cautious around cyclists. The most dangerous activity I see on a daily basis are people yielding when they shouldn't. They cause unexpected traffic stoppage, risk getting rear ended and frighten the hell out of the cyclist trying to follow the rules of the road.

I suppose he would feel more comfortable in a "protected" bike lane like the Dearborn cycle express in downtown Chicago. It certainly does make things easier in city traffic. Do the plastic bullards provide protection? Nobody in their right mind would want those plastic wands to touch their Mercedes, but what protection does it provide against a drunk, drugged or distracted driver? If anything the bullards provide a visual distraction keeping drivers from focusing on the cyclist. We still have to worry about driveways the same as we do riding sidewalks. I guess if it makes people feel safer they will use them and with more people on two wheels, the better off we'll be.