Originally Posted by
RTDub
Not that you were wrong at all, but my philosophy is if I am riding the white line and a car passes me within even six inches, I'm fine with it. I believe that if one rides with confidence, like you're supposed to be there (not that you weren't), this gives the driver a sense that YOU know what you're doing and a close pass isn't that big of a deal. After all, we ballyhoo endlessly about how much of a right we have to be in the road, this is part of it. I do agree though that there can be 'too close' and that you experienced one of these times.
That being said, as a driver I always, always, ALWAYS slow down if I must in order to take the next lane over when passing a cyclist.
That's an interesting take on the subject. I try to actively control my situation on the street. Sometimes I take the lane, sometimes I ride far to the right (usually when the right lane is very wide). The one issue I'll throw in there is that there is some (hopefully very small) portion of the driving public that will think they are giving you enough room to pass, but aren't very good at judging distances and you end up with a mirror in your back or whatever. Do you need 3 feet of space when a car passes? Of course not, but I don't trust that all drivers can judge the positon of the right side mirror to within 6 inches.