A bike lane is not a parking lane

Why is it, I ask you, that it is perfectly legal for every delivery truck on god's green earth to park in the bike lane? Why not, frequent stoppers, put on your flashers or live park in a driveway for your quick dropoff or pickup? They're just sitting there most of the time, unoccupied... unlike the bike lane you just parked in. Again.

Should I assume driveway blocking -- even for live parking purposes -- is categorically illegal? It's the only way I can explain this frequent and highly obnoxious (and somewhat dangerous) habit of cars and trucks parking in bike lanes. The only other explanation I can think of is that the vast majority of DC drivers are simply jerks.

I have been contemplating this quite often as the holiday season gets into full swing and everyone seems to be getting packages from UPS, FedEx, and all kinds of unmarked white vans that are parked right smack in the middle of the bike lane. And it's not just delivery trucks. Construction vehicles. Cadillacs. Taxis. What gives??

By my count -- and I've had plenty of time to gather data in recent weeks -- it's averaged out to two vehicles parked in a bike lane for every five blocks along my regular weekday commute from my place to Eastern Market, or once weekly trips up to Van Ness, or Sunday farmers' market shopping runs to Dupont, or, you know what, they are parking in bike lanes EVERYWHERE... and it's starting to make me a little cranky. At not even 36 (yet), I am too young to be getting this cantankerous.

So, if you're an automobile driver, please: I don't park in the car lanes, so I ask that you don't park in the bike lane. Scoot into a driveway or hug up next to the corner for a few minutes and let us chilled-to-the-bone cyclists get to where we're going (which is hopefully somewhere indoors) and not get hit on DC's narrow streets by aggressive drivers as we try to scoot around your double-parked self. Thanks!