Originally Posted by Leisesturm

This! And only this. Not only do you "risk falling behind", you absolutely will fall behind. At least two more cars could get through the arrow if you weren't in the way. Talk about rage? I'm not sure why any cyclist would want to put themselves in that kind of situation regularly. I have to assume that the people advocating a placement in the center of the left turn lanes do not live in high traffic areas where these lanes can have close to a dozen cars. And yes, cars, are supposed to turn into the left-most of multiple lanes in the receiving road but no one expect a bicycle to do that. But it really doesn't matter, no one else will be in the right hand lane yet, so a cyclist can do whatever makes sense for the situation at hand.

I don't have to tell you, but it appears that I have to point out to others, again, that a bicycle is NOT a vehicle. What drivers expect of other vehicles is IRRELEVANT. A car cannot split lanes, a motorcycle can, but probably should not, split lanes, but bicycles should always split lanes, unless they have their own dedicated bike lane. FRAP. Its the law everywhere, except in the minds of VC advocates that do not speak for the majority of sane and defensive cyclists. The only time I would be in the center of a left turn lane is if I was the first to arrive at the light. Also if it was a single lane for everything. I also might stay in the center, or even to the left of a lane behind the car in front. I would turn when s/he does using their vehicle to protect my right side. As soon as I get through the turn I would be dropping back and heading to my usual position of FRAP. That's really the way to do it.