JoeyBike

+1

I feel much safer elbow to elbow with traffic downtown (New Orleans) where cyclists are generally considered part of the traffic flow than in any suburb where bikes are considered toys. Also, motorists in The Grid at rush hour have places to go, so the inconvenience of actually hitting a cyclist or ped is greater than some blue-hair driving home from the hair salon or coffee shop.

For the OP I have a tip. Many motorists brains compartmentalize objects encountered on the road into two mental files: Moving and Non-moving. Cars, buses, trucks, and motorcycles are considered "moving" objects to a distracted/sleepy brain while fire hydrants, lamp poles, pedestrians, and cyclists are stored in the "non-moving" neuron file drawer. So the dude in the truck glances your way and his brain "sees" a non-moving object and he pulls out. Then you go to pass him and he realized you were actually a moving object so he waves "my-bad" and speeds away. Except for the blinky light up front (day and night) your lane placement can make a difference. At intersections I move far left as possible when a vehicle is waiting to cross. If you are heading straight toward someone your forward speed is harder to judge than if you are moving PAST someone. Motorists get hit by fast passenger trains all the time because even a huge train running 80 MPH does not look like it is moving very fast coming straight at them. If the same train was four sets of tracks farther away, the speed of the train would be more apparent.

So how do I easily move far left every intersection possible? Helmet mounted rear view mirror is the answer. Given your exact same scenario, I would have already been at least one lane over to the left and the turning truck would have been a non-incident.

Glad U R OK!