Originally Posted by tarwheel

The most simple description of my commuting technique is that I ride defensively. I assume that drivers do not see me and/or are likely to misjudge my speed or closeness. I wear bright neon-color jerseys and jackets most of the time and use multiple lights front and back all the time. My commute route follows lightly traveled neighborhood streets as much as possible and avoids heavily traveled roads that I consider dangerous.

I am polite to drivers and do not block lanes unless necessary to insure my safety, such as when going through intersections or going around obstructions. I signal my turns. I obey traffic signals -- to a point. Most of the traffic lights along my route will not change from red to green unless a car or truck trips the sensor. Most of them do not detect bikes. So, after coming to a stop, I will run those red lights when the traffic is clear. I also will make rolling stops at stop signs if there are no other vehicles present at the intersection. I will sometimes filter past cars on the right when traffic backs up at red lights, but only when it's clear that I would have to sit through multiple light cycles.

I rarely ever respond to drivers who honk or yell at me. Sometimes I will wave. On rare occasions when someone is extremely rude, I lose my cool and shoot them a bird but I've only done that a couple of times in 10 years of bike commuting. On one occasion I banged on a truck's window after the driver ran a red light and almost hit me. That was a stupid thing to do on my part, and I reacted impulsively.