Originally Posted by
AlmostTrick
Right. It's random to drivers because it's contrary to the rules of the road. Common cyclist behavior truly leaves motorists wondering what the heck they are doing / going to do. When in the lane acting like any other vehicle our intention becomes quite clear.
I notice a HUGE difference with how I'm treated while stopped in line at a light. When in my car, I often see drivers behind fly up at speed, brake late and hard, stopping very close to my rear. On the bike it's the complete opposite. The sight of a cyclist causes them to use MORE caution, come up slower and stay farther back. Being rear ended in a stopped car is much more likely in my experience. Especially considering that while on the bike you can move out of the way if necessary... something you CAN"T usually do in a car.
Or, the motorist would have taken notice of something much more unusual than just another car, and slowed earlier. Or, since you wisely monitor your mirror while stopped, you'd have seen it in time and been able to move out of line and avoided a collision.
If this 'unusual' thing were actually a thing then cyclists would only die when we run red-lights or misjudge a left hand turn in front of oncoming traffic. I think we can agree those are not the only ways cyclists are killed, so to say that a cyclist stopped behind a car is unusual and therefore won't get hit is a complete straw-man argument. I agree that we are unusual, but that doesn't make me any more or less of a sitting duck to any motorists that could potentially hit me. To rear-end someone who was stopped at a light means that person was distracted in any one of one million ways. Maybe more people are attentive when a cyclist is present, I might agree with you there, but to essentially say 100% of people are attentive to stopped cyclists and we cannot be rear ended is impossible.
And your argument about being 100% attentive to what's coming up behind me, then jumping out of the way to safety should they show now signs of stopping is completely laughable (almost troll-ish). When I need to I'll ask the rear-ending car to wait while I unclip from my bike and find another traffic lane that's safe for me to jump into.