The more I ride, the more willing I have become to take the lane. My biggest fear is being hit from behind by a distracted driver that doesn't see me. A close second is being 'brushed' by a driver squeezing past when there is another car to their left. Both are far less likely to occur if my blinking tail light is directly in front of the driver. Drivers are used to watching what is right in front of them: it's ingrained. We are far less likely to be aware of that cyclist hugging the curb, ahead and to our right. I, too, hesitate to take the lane in a situation where I will delay the drivers. I want to be considerate, and I don't want to anger the motorists. But when I stay to the right in those situations, I know that I am increasing my own risk. There is a narrow high speed spot where I have to make this decision every day, and I usually opt for taking the extra risk of giving the motorists the lane. Objectively, I know I should be either taking the lane, or reverting to the (Arggghh!) sidewalk, which is available, and unused, for the one block before I turn onto a MUP. But I hate sidewalks, and know how, in my past type A life, it would frustrate me to have a cyclist ahead of me, doing 20mph under the speed limit, even if it was only going to delay me the few seconds it took for me to change lanes.