Originally Posted by
homechicken
I'm sure cyclist harrassment happens in my area, but I've never seen it. My job requires me to drive all over the metro area and while at times I get annoyed by slow cyclists, I have to remind myself they have as much right to the road as I do. I do get perturbed though, when they take the whole lane when there's no reason for them to. It makes me think they're doing it on purpose just to annoy the drivers. Whether that's their reason or not, appearances of such can give them a bad rep. My thinking is this: the cyclist is supposed to follow the same laws as, and is considered the same as a motor vehicle, but because they are by far the smallest and most vulnerable "vehicle" on the road, they should do all they can to safely stay out of the way of motor vehicles. That means staying as far right as is safely possible and giving proper hand signals when turning or stopping. It also means yielding to motor vehicles, even if they are in the wrong. Better to be inconvenienced than dead or injured.
How do you know there's no reason for them to take the lane?
I will move into the center of the lane if the right shoulder is badly paved or has glass and debris strewn about. The right side of the road might be plenty wide, but if it's not rideable, the cyclist can move to the center of the lane.