cycle lanes, although a potential solution, aren’t always the best for these reasons…
- many are badly designed,
- the ones on pavements/alleys cause you to risk crashing into pedestrians
- they “ghettoise” cyclists as drivers then feel they don’t have a right to be on the road
- they also allow youths to intimidate or even rob cyclists who aren’t streetwise about what areas they are going through – many cycle lanes lead through rough estates, and gates needed to keep minimotos out creating a “pinch point” where scum can lurk.
if they are built they need to be sufficiently wide and free from obstructions such as street furniture in the path (signposts, utility poles, telecoms cabinets etc).
Solutions that work in England (being a small country) are managing traffic so some roads have less traffic and are then safe to cycle on. This works to an extent in Ipswich, particularly just out of town where a long stretch of road (Old Norwich Road) is only permitted for use by cyclists, local traffic and the odd delivery vehicle and farm vehicle, whilst the rest of the traffic is diverted to the main A12.
If however the road is well designed, being overtaken by a large vehicle isn’t so frightening when both of you have plenty of room…
As for Denmark, I suspect Danish bus drivers are as aggressive as ours, but the difference is that roads are better laied out.
