[jyl]

As posted above, and as I've verified by researching the budget sources in my city, gas taxes and vehicle fees pay only a part of the cost of building and maintaining roads. In the case of local (city) streets, often much less than half. The bulk of funding comes from general taxes that everyone pays. So the argument that only car drivers pay for roads and thus only only drivers have the right to use roads, is ignorant B.S..

This sort of bike lane is an example of a road situation where drivers have to look and proceed only when safe. There are many other examples - indeed, every driveway and every uncontrolled intersection is such a situation. The driver who turns without checking mirrors is at fault.

That said, bike riders should ride more defensively than I often see them do. This was not a Lotus that suddenly whipped left without slowing, it was a delivery truck and as such it certainly braked and slowed sharply before making the 90 degree left turn. The cyclist should have been watching for those danger signs.

My personal practice on a bike is that I do not allow a car to be next to me when I'm passing a driveway or entering an intersection. I hit the brakes if necessary. It sucks to lose momentum, but that's part of defensive riding. I've been riding bicycles in city traffic since I was 7 or 8. I've never hit or been hit by a car or pedestrian. Never been doored, or right hooked. It is possible to ride safely in the city. You have to adopt a motorcycle-like paranoia. Just as many drivers float along in inattentively, some cyclists ride that way too.