Originally Posted by
noisebeam
It has always been the case for me, no exaggeration. If it was not the case there would have been a time when I was not able to make a left turn on a road without bike lanes and that has never happened. The logic also supports my statement as when one is in a shared lane motorists already have to respond to the cyclist in front of them.
On bike lanes roads I have had cases where no one would respond in a timely manner to my insistent signalling and looking back. The way I deal with this is by leaving the bike lane, getting a bit left of the stripe and then I have forced lane sharing and I get a response. But I despise being aggressive (forcing motorist to deal with me) like that and prefer the assertive (working cooperatively with motorist) merge instead.
Not too long ago I had a motorist slow down and wave me over just because I was did a quick traffic head check WHILE IN A BIKE LANE... this is not the first time, and it doesn't happen often... on the flip side, I have been totally ignored by motorists that were just behind me in the same lane... so while I understand your reasoning, I do not see those results consistently here.
BTW I tend to ride leftish in BL anyway... so perhaps that variation in our riding styles is what is making the difference.