stu842

Do you ever move out of the way of a car that wants to make a right turn at a red light? I was waiting to go straight across a state highway that had traffic coming from the right, but not from the left. A car came up behind me with its right blinker on, and I figured I could have rolled up onto the wide, empty sidewalk to be courteous and let him turn. The car and I were the only ones at the stop light. The stop light stayed red for quite a while.

For reference, here was the intersection in question. I was stopped on W. Stadium Ave. waiting to go west.

TempeRider

frequently. I hit stop lights every mile. Half the time they are red. I am usually on the right, and many cars feel free to go around me to turn right. In some more risky cases I block the lane, and if there is already a line of cars I generally line up with them.

It's kind of a give and take. I could be a jerk and allways block the right lane, but sometimes a bit of goodwill goes a long ways to get respect.

caloso

I won't move onto the sidewalk, but if the right turn lane/ bike lane / shoulder is wide enough, I'll move to the inside edge of the traffic lane and wave them through.

MijnWraak

Yeah usually if they have their blinker on, it's to tell you they want to turn right on the red that you aren't moving at. I'd be courteous and move a smidge.

hubcap

Assuming it is safe, I just about always pull forward and to the left far enough to let the vehicle make the right turn. The problem is that most of the time I give the driver more than enough room to turn right, but they are fearful of getting too close to me, so I have to give them almost twice the amount of space that they really need before they pull through.

dynodonn 

I have similar intersections on my commute, and I will position myself as far left as practicable as close to the left turning lane as possible, cross the intersection, then move back to the right when I deem it's safe to do so.
This may set you up for a pass on the right, but that's usually a telegraphed maneuver by having a motorist that will sit beside you at the light and does not turn.

StephenH

I try to move over to the right, stop several feet before the corner so I'm not in the way, put a foot on the curb, and wave 'em on around.

Biggest problem is some obstinate drivers refuse to use their turn signals, so they get to just sit back there if they can't figure out there's room to pass.

Luddite

I would never, ever...EVER take the sidewalk for a Cager.

tjspiel

There's one light on my commute that's really long and if I see a car behind me that wants to turn right I move to the left. It's good karma to do stuff like that. I've gotten a thumbs up from drivers as they pass and a woman rolled down her window last week to thank me.

They get to go on there way faster and I feel like I've done a good deed. It's a win-win.

grolby

If I'm going straight and there's a right turn lane, I will of course use the straight-ahead lane. If there's just one lane, or a straight/turn lane on the right, frankly, I could give a rat's ass. They'll wait behind another motorist, and they will wait behind me. It's not a spiteful thing, I just don't see any reason why I need to grant a particular courtesy to a motorist because I happen to be on a bicycle. Gratifyingly, this has never caused a problem. Any why should it? As I said, if another car is in front you, it's impossible to make the turn anyway. Why should it be any different with a bike? I don't think we need to worry so much about pleasing motorists in this situation, since we aren't causing a unique inconvenience. Besides, they'll be on their way in less than 60 seconds. No big deal.

Scarma_69

This happens to me a lot... If no-one is in the left hand lane, or if the lane is wide enough for a bike and a car, I move to the left. If a car is to my left and/or the lane is too narrow, too bad... I try not to hug the curb and I would certainly not jump on the sidewalk. But I will often move the left side of the lane on wider one-lane roads to allow cars to turn right. Even if there aren't any right behind me before I stop.

dynodonn 

That may be true in a large metropolitan area where one may not see the same motorist for months, but in a small town that I live in, I practically see the same motorists on a daily basis, and in my case, a little courtesy goes a long way

dougmc

It's generally easy to move aside and let the motorist turn right, so I do so. I usually move to the left side of the lane so they can pass me to the right. Perhaps I don't have to, but they do appreciate it and it costs me nothing.

tjspiel

The beauty of being on a bike in that situation is that I can extend a courtesy to another human being that if I were in a car I wouldn't be able to. It's not like moving to the left causes me any great difficulty or takes up time that I'd be doing something else with.

So in my mind I'm not this shrinking cyclist giving way to the almighty car. I have the power do to something nice and I do it, -not because I have to, but because I choose to.

And I live in a large metro area, - I may or may not ever see that person again. To me that makes it all the better.

Most of all I'm not burdened with the idea that as cyclist on the street I need to be constantly reminding myself and others that I have a right to be there.

Nerdanel 

A typical intersection in the Valley here in LA has two lanes going straight, maybe a left turn lane, and a curb lane where cars park mid-block but cars can line up to turn right at the intersection. I'm usually traveling at the left edge of the curb lane, but I almost always move out of the curb lane and into the next (right-most straight) lane at a stop light whether there's a car behind me or not. If there's only one lane going straight and it's not wide enough to share I wait in the middle of it. This is pretty much what I would do in a car--it's amazing how few drivers can figure out what I'm up to when I do the same thing on a bike.

xenologer

Don't move to the right/curb to let them pass. Always move to the left edge of the lane instead.
Better yet make it a habit of comming to stop at the left edge of the lane if it is also a right turn lane.

Hugging the curb puts you at risk of getting squished
or right hooked when the light goes green and a driver doesn't notice you.

Driver's can see the left edge of their car much better than the right.





One time I had forgotten to pull left and a guy wanted to turn right. I was considering shifting my bike over a bit and be generous about it; but then he honked, so I decided to stay put.

bhop

Ditto

Double ditto.

Guess i'm a nice guy. Of course, there are times when i'll just let them wait. For example. The street lights in L.A. have a countdown on the walk signal that pretty much tells you how much longer till the light changes. If it's going to change soon, i'll stay where I am. If it'll be a while, I don't mind side stepping a little.

wunderkind

Bike lanes on streets usually lead to the left side of the right turning lane. So I employ the same guidelines when there are no bike lanes on the road. I think it is common courtesy.

umd

I'll usually move left for a car waiting to turn, or I'll just make sure to leave room to the right to turn when I come to an intersection. But if the car doesn't have their signal on and I haven't already positioned myself out of the way I'm not moving.

wheel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dMUE3G8hD8

here is a video just on that subject. Skip to 1:50 to see what I did in your situation.

ItsJustMe

Yes, if they have their turn signal on and I'm still rolling, I'll move far left and let them squeeze by on the right. Otherwise I'm centered in the lane. In Michigan, the turn signal is usually turned on when the car is 1/2 to 3/4 done with the turn, if at all (I have no idea what people think the turn signal is FOR if they turn it on after they've already started turning), so it's common for people to roll up behind me and THEN turn on their turn signal. Usually I'll scooch over, sometimes not.

I would not EVER move right to accommodate a right turner. Move LEFT to let someone by you on the right. Moving right is going to get you squished someday.

BigDaddyPete

+1000

I'll move to the left and let them by me on the right. But if they don't think they're car will fit, there's not much I can do for them. Unfortunately, most people have no clue how big their car is.

Big_e

If it's safe to do so and the lane is wide enough, I'll move over to the left so the driver can make the right turn. Most of the lanes on my route are pretty narrow so the driver has to STFU and wait.
Ernest

NoRacer

+1 - for the sake of promoting "good will".

There's the added benefit that a big truck will not try to squeeze by me to make a right hand turn, which they may try if I lined up on the right by the curb putting me in the position to get hit by the trailer or as the light turns green, getting "right-hooked" by any vehicle turning right.

RedC

+1 move left not right. I encourage the cars to come up beside me frequently so the light will change. If there's no pedestrian button at intersections crossing busy streets I can't change the light without help. So I move to the left and wave them on for me not them