All we need is another idiot spouting crap. Let me put it in caps so you don't miss it: THE SAFEST PLACE FOR A CYCLIST IS IN THE STREET CYCLING WITH THE FLOW OF TRAFFIC. I'm not making that up. The statistics backing up that statement may be found on the late Sheldon Brown's website (RIP). Sorry, but I've long since lost the link. But put "Sheldon Brown" into google and that will take you to his website. Ferret out the stats for yourself. Compared to cycling in the street with the flow of traffic, cycling on a bicycle path leaves you between 1.4 and 1.8 times more likely (depending on the study) to have an accident. Cycling on the sidewalk with the traffic raises your accident probability to around 2. On the sidewalk against the traffic, you're around 4 times more likely to have an accident.

You might ask yourself "why this counterintuitive statistic?" Well, first you have to understand that "strike from behind" accidents almost never happen. The stats. show that only 8% of car-bicycle accidents are the "strike from behind" variety. However, 80+% of car-bicycle accidents happen at intersections. (BTW, I'm quoting police-reported accident stats here.) Obviously you don't ride a bicycle regularly because every serious bicycle commuter knows this intuitively: The more visible you are, the less likely you are going to be struck by a car. Hence the safest place is IN THE ROAD in the traffic. Cycling on the sidewalk, or on a bicycle path that is not officially part of the road, simply removes you physically from the road and psychologically from the motorists' awareness. As I mentioned, most accidents happen at intersections. If the motorist hasn't seen you, you are more likely to be struck.

So please stop spreading unsubstantiated lies which will result in more bicycle accidents and cyclist deaths. The best sort of bike lane is in fact, a painted lane in the street with NO CURB OR BARRIER separating you from the cars. It forces motorists to be aware of your presence, which in turn, lowers the chance that you are going to get into an accident. If you haven't heard the cognitive mechanism that underpins this, search for "inattention blindness," or type '"Daniel Simons" gorilla video' into google and check it out.