Only for bicycles

Where I live in a rural part of the U.S., everyone and everything has to share the same road (cars, trucks, trailers, motorcycles, bicycles, walkers, joggers, horseback riders - a bit too dangerous for anyone pushing a stroller). My older and mostly blind dog and I zig-zag back and forth across the lanes trying to avoid approaching traffic coming towards us or from behind us because, lacking shoulders not covered by weeds or thorns, there's no decent place to step off the road to let the vehicles go by.

A short, dirt path follows alongside a creek that runs through my small town, but walkers, with or without dogs, have to share it with bicycles and it can be scary when a bicycle comes tearing around a blind corner or over a hill. Again, there's hardly any place to get off the path because there's huge boulders on one side of the path and the roaring creek on the other. High school students built some beautiful benches that were placed along the path, and my first thought was that they wouldn't last long. Needless to say, within a month or two they were all either vandalized or completely ripped off their cement pads and hauled away. We have lots of large irrigation ditches in our towns and cities, with nice dirt roads alongside them; but they're private roads for ditch riders only, and it's against the law for anyone else to use them.

City bike lanes are rarely used because they're usually covered in gravel, broken glass, or whatever else gets swept off the car lanes. They don't sweep off the bike lanes.

I am always so envious of the many places in European cities that cater to people on foot, those out for a stroll or those who just want to sit and relax and watch the world go by. Those who are fortunate to live in such places should really be appreciative of their people-friendly cities.

P.S. Your country is beautiful, and I always love looking at your photos!