To the editor:

As a long-time bicyclist, I think bicycle lanes are dangerous, because they encourage bicyclists to ride in the street. Every time I have been hit, or nearly hit, by cars while I was riding in the street, and the cars bothered to stop, the drivers all said the same thing: “I didn’t see you.”

When motorists pass a bike in the street, they have to slow down and drive over by the center line. They don’t like this. Scarcely a month passed on my bike without someone yelling, “Get off the road!” Motorists have thrown, and hit me with, rocks, chunks of ice, and cans.

People advocate bike lanes because they think that will encourage motorists to share the road. But this presupposes that a) the motorist will see the bicyclist, and b) is willing to yield the right of way.

By far the safest way to bike around town is on the sidewalk. Except for downtown, or where otherwise posted, riding on sidewalks is legal. Bicyclists will have fewer accidents if they ride on the sidewalks than if they ride in a bike lane, out in the street.