That's a good point, but in my (professional) view it has nothing to do with the speed of traffic on the road. It has everything to do with the size and weight of a motorized vehicle compared to the bike, and the operating configuration where the cyclist has his back to the traffic in which he operates (as opposed to pedestrians, who have a clear view in both directions when crossing a street at a crosswalk).
In professional settings, I usually demonstrate the idiocy of these bike lanes by rattling off a list of all the protective measures that have been added to passenger vehicles over the years: seat belts, air bags, crash-protection technology, rollover protection, etc. Then I point out that the only "protective measures" the cyclist has in a bike lane on a public street are a helmet and a pavement marking. In my humble opinion, no responsible engineer should consider this an adequately safe roadway configuration under any circumstances.
“”In my humble opinion, no responsible engineer should consider this an adequately safe roadway configuration under any circumstances.””
Well we have something in common, mines Petroleum. Back in 94 my partner and I started another company called HWYCOM. Small company that designed and manufactured Break Away and Slip Base sign support assembly’s and the sign mounting hardware needed for both. Needless to say I spent almost 20 years having to deal with engineers in various DOT’s in the south and southwest. Seeing what some of these fresh out of school young engineers come up with and implement sometimes leaves me scratching my head. Sold out in 2014 and was damn glad to get rid of that headache. Now I just stick to oil and gas, an area I’m far more comfortable in. Now my only traffic problems are the damn cows in the road. And they ain’t getting their own damn lane!