I ride like I'm a car and obey the 'rules of the road' whenever I can. I try not to hold drivers up but take the right of way when it is the safest and correct thing to do. Drivers seem to understand my intentions better when I am not tentative about where I'm going and what I intend to do. More than once I've completed my standing-start left turn before the car behind me has even started to move. I try to be courteous & acknowledge others deference to my slower pace with a wave.

In the three years I've been car-free, there have been several instances of personal danger from distracted drivers, but --- I keep my head on a swivel and remember that a small but significant percentage of drivers are incompetent, arrogant, distracted or dumb and sometimes all of these.

Only had one road rager threaten me. When I pulled over to the curb to get away from him, he screeched his old Mercedes to a stop in the street, got out and came at me --- pepper spray, hard-toed bicycle shoes, 911 and a couple witnesses are your friend ;o)

Ride free,
Joe