Anyone who has ever directed traffic knows or should know that they should attempt not to impede the flow of traffic. Too often a crossing guard will stop a line of cars and make them wait until a pedestrian crosses the street. They'll stop the vehicle traffic before the pedestrian even gets to the crosswalk. Common sense says that the guard should allow a large block of vehicles to pass before stopping traffic for the pedestrian simply because the pedestrian has the right of way.
Our elected city leaders have adopted the crossing guard mentality when it comes to bicycles. Maybe it's a concern for safety, or maybe it's an effort to encourage people to use bicycles in a misguided attempt to diminish car exhaust. In any event, it is giving rights to a minority over the needs of the majority.
Cities all over the country are doing it. And they're doing it right here in Midland, Texas, smack dab in the middle of oil producing country. See City will be installing downtown bike lanes. The number of people commuting by bicycle has been trending downward. So Midland's leaders are way behind the curve.
Here's a sample of a four lane street converted into a two lane street by the addition of two lane bicycle lanes. Don't strain looking for bicycles. I've never seen a bicycle on this road.
What a waste.
I used to ride a bicycle back when bicyclists assumed every vehicle had the right of way. That was common sense at the time, and it still should be.
There's a least one opinion writer who agrees that we don't need so many bicycle lanes. See Is the bike-lane fever breaking?. Excerpt:
So maybe it’s time for public officials and policy makers to turn their backs on the militant, self-righteous bike lobby and its fantasy of a world in which drivers defer to cyclists as the rightful kings of the road. Bicycles — nimble, healthful, nonpolluting, cheap — have many advantages. But they don’t belong in crowded urban traffic.
Ain't that truth?!
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2:15 PM 1/19/2019
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