Actually, rarely is it the case that the police automatically assume the motorist was in the wrong. In fact, it's usually the opposite, especially when there is a fatality involved. Then the motorist invariably states that the bicyclist, pedestrian or little kid came out of nowhere with no possibility of stopping, and gets off without so much as a ticket.
The difference is that I added to the list of recent crashes on major streets, and, yes, digressed to note that speed (which was already a topic in the thread) held even more risk for bicyclists and pedestrians. I was just emphasizing the risk of speed. That's not quite the same as flipping the topic from cyclist hit by car, motorist presumably at fault, to bicyclist does stupid thing and almost causes a crash. That reeks of the bike bashing that is so common here.
But, yes, it always makes me feel a little better to know that the distracted drivers occasionally get their due.
Well, maybe I owe you and fatfender an apology if you took it as bashing.
I'm kind of with Old Soldier on my personal choice to avoid bike lanes. I've seen too many drivers in town and elsewhere that seem to think they are an extra lane on the road or weave into them.
I was running up Blue Ravine about two weeks ago and some women were riding down the sidewalk. I hopped off into the bike lane so they could continue without trying to jump a curb. One of them apologized for making me get off the sidewalk, but I told her it was not a problem because that's exactly where I would feel safer riding. I've done that many times for kids, riding bikes, too. I figure I'm only in the bike lane for a few seconds and I can see oncoming traffic.
You riders who brave the bike lanes on a regular basis have more mettle than I.
Heal quicky, fatfender.