[_delirium]

I agree the quick light cycles are a big help, also for pedestrians. You rarely wait more than 15-30 seconds on the other side for the light to change, so it's not really much of a delay. I do find the really long light cycles in many American cities annoying as a pedestrian.

Another reason few people in Copenhagen mind the "Copenhagen left" is that since cycle lanes are usually physically separated from the car lanes, it doesn't even occur to anyone that entering the car lanes to turn would be an option. You'd have to physically cross the barrier separating the bike and the car lanes (sometimes a row of parked cars, sometimes a curb, occasionally bollards), which would not be an obvious or convenient thing to do. That part of the arrangement also seems much safer to me. I don't like riding in a bike lane that is essentially just a repainted shoulder, lacking any means to physically exclude cars from the lane.