Painted pictures on the road of bicycles are confusing road users and creating a "false sense of security" because they are not actually bike lanes, the state's top bicycle police officer has said.

Sergeant Arty Lavos, state bicycle operations coordinator, was answering questions about the road rules and bicycles after a taxi passenger was filmed on camera opening a car door into the path of a cyclist travelling down the kerb side of the lane. Known as dooring, the incident occurred on Collins Street, Melbourne on Monday.

Sergeant Lavos said lanes with bicycles drawn on them were not technically bicycle lanes. He pointed out a "classic example" in front of the Victoria Police Centre in Flinders Street.

"That's a painted bicycle symbol in that lane there, but it is not a bike lane because it has no signage," Sergeant Lavos said.