Originally Posted by
corrado33
I'm the opposite. I always pull behind cars. I'd much rather be BUMPED by a car coming to a stop at 5 mph, than right hooked and dragged by a car who is completely oblivious. Plus, I don't like passing cars on the right while they're stopped, and drivers hate it when you do that. Sure, I could stop beside the car instead of passing it, which is what I do sometimes if I don't have time to pull behind the car, but I don't like stopping at seemingly random (to drivers) places.
Of course, if there is a bike lane, I'll just follow that all of the way up to the light. Which is exactly opposite to what I said above.
I've been rear ended in my car three times in the past two years, and each time I was rear ended I was stopped in traffic at a red light and was hit at significantly higher speeds than 5 mph. So I've been going through that whole 'checking the rear view mirror each time I'm at a light' thing, and its especially unnerving now that I'm on a bicycle and I think about how each of those three rear end collisions probably would've killed me if I was on a bike. Absolutely there's no perfectly safe place for us out on the roads, but for me personally I feel much better either directly beside a car or off the edge of the right side of their rear bumper (this way if there is a rear end collision I have better odds of not getting sandwiched between cars). I don't try and beat the car I'm beside through the intersection when the light goes green...I wait for that car to go then I start rolling, so there's no risk of a right hook. I also don't pass every car at the light: I take my place in line, albeit next to a car rather than behind it. This avoids pissing everyone off that I'm passing them on the right, and also limits the risk of getting right hooked.