Originally Posted by
cogdriven
I used to think that everyone who whizzed by me too close was doing it deliberately. Then I noticed that, when I rode to the left of the fog line, I had far fewer close calls and a lot more drivers giving me lots of room. I have since learned that, due to the way our not-designed-to travel-at-highway-speed brains work, a lot of people actually won't see you unless you are right out there in the travel lane. I'm not saying this explains all of the bad driving we see, but if you want to reduce your ratio of close calls, try this experiment. Ride 6-12 inches to the left of the white line whenever possible.
I'm not shy about taking the lane, if there's no bike lane. Often I'm dead center in the right lane; that's where I was when I got buzzed, and there was a whole other lane for the guy to use. That's what makes me think he did it on purpose. And his behavior when I confronted him confirmed it.
I agree, taking the lane reduces close passes. I've also found that a blinky rear light helps a lot - most cars actually change lanes when I have the light on, not so much when I don't. So now I have it on all the time, even on sunny days.