I have no direct access to Denmark, so I can't report directly on the situation there. Because of the imposssibility of going to Denmark it is possible for anybody to point to anything they have built and say "this is a copenhagen lane".

However I have searched Copenhagen using google maps and street view. I have selected one road as an example of the type of facility the danes build. The example I have chosen is at this location. It looks like a fairly busy shopping area. There is quite a bit of traffic around, including bicycles, motorcycles, cars and trucks. You can zoom in with streetview and move around to get an idea of the environment.

My first observation is that this is not a bicycle lane. It is being used by motorbikes as well as bicycles, and for all I know there may be other exceptions in Danish law. I can't easily measure the width of the two side lanes on this road but they look about three metres wide.

Allowing motorbikes on the copenhagen lanes has several advantages. The lane has to be wider to accomodate higher speeds. This provides more lateral clearance for bicycles and improves safety. Additionally, pedestrians who would think nothing of stepping onto the road in front of a bicycle will not step in front of a motorcycle.

So there is a conflict between the Australian and Danish approaches to bicycle facilities. The Austroads standards specify the absolute maximum width of a bicycle lane as three metres, with narrower lanes being preferred. The stated reason is that the lane needs to be narrow to stop cars from using it. The lanes in this example are easily wider enough for cars but no cars are seen using them. The difference must be legislation and culture.

The lanes in the example I found in Copenhagen have a physical barrier between the parking are and the lanes which are used by bicycles and motorcycles. In searching Copenhagen I was unable to find any examples similar to Albert street in Melbourne where the parking and bicycle lane are part time and no phyical barrier is provided for car drivers to park against.

Lets say you are out bike riding. You are in a bicycle lane. There are cars parked to your left. There is a slower bicycle ahead of you so you merge to the right and overtake. Bicycle riders tend to position themselves to balance the static and dynamic hazards which they face. A slower bicycle rider will position themselves closer to the parked cars to the left because the parked cars are less of a hazard for them than the moving cars to the right. A faster bicycle rider will position themselves further to the right for similar reasons. The parked cars are more of a hazard for them so they will stay closer to the moving cars.

So the faster bike will overtake on the right partly because that is the natural position for them to take up on the road. It is generally true in countries which drive on the left that it is safer to overtake on the right than on the left.

By putting parked cars on the right this situation is now much more complex. Overtaking bicycles have to ride closer to the static hazards on the right hand side.

Vehicles cross paths at intersections. Because of this intersections are dangerous for bicycles. Where a dedicated left turn lane exists bicycles which are not turning left cross paths with left turning vehicles some distance before the intersection, at the start of the left turn lane. This approach is quite safe for bicycles because the vehicle which is turning left will reduce speed to join the left turn lane. This enables bicycles proceeding straight ahead to move at the same speed as bicyles merging left. This type of interaction minimises conflict between vehicles.

If the bicycles approach the intersection in a lane directly on the curb they come into conflict with left turning vehicles right at the intersection. Bicycles may be trapped to the left of a queue of power vehicles waiting to turn left. They may try integrate with this queue of traffic at a point where space between vehicles is limited. This is a more dangerous situation.

If bicycles are traveling in a copenhagen style bicycle lane it may be impossible for the power vehicles turning left and the bicycles moving directly ahead to have visual contact until they pass the end of the parking between the copenhagen lane and the next lane to the right. The limited visual contact is a source of danger. Additionally when the bicycles and power vehicles come into sight of each other they will do so at a line of sight approaching 90 degrees from directly ahead. It is dangerous for either driver to divert their attention to this degree and it may be impossible for some vehicles.

Intersections are safest for bicycles when the bicycles travel close to the other vehicles on the road. Increasing lateral separation by providing copenhagen lanes or shared footpaths parallel to the carriageway increases the risk of collisions at the intersection.