Bike Lane Mandate...

This has been showing up everywhere the past couple of days. If you are a cyclist, you have probably seen it already, and even if you are not, it is likely that you have seen it. The video does point out a problem, in dramatic fashion, that I have noted on numerous occasions - blocked bike lanes.

While I still think bike lanes, in general, are a good idea, I find myself wondering at what point they become problematic for the riders who regularly use them and, are too frequently, forced to move outside the lines in order to avoid parked cars, waste and recyclable bins, pedestrians standing in them, etc. I will frequently ride outside a designated bike lane if the lane contains obstructions over a considerable distance, even when the obstructions are staggered, with gaps between them. As we know, weaving in and out between objects is one of the more, seemingly innocuous, yet dangerous things a rider can do. I seem to recall, an incident years and years ago, in which a rider was cited for not riding in the bike lane in the Arroyo Seco, near the Rose Bowl. I probably shrugged it off at the time, and don't know what the outcome was. I probably figured it was just an isolated incident. I can't imagine, that under serious scrutiny, something like this could hold up in court, but I wonder more and more, if some municipalities and agencies, might attempt to use bike lanes as an excuse to quote keep cyclists in their place unquote.