Originally Posted by
HardyWeinberg
I had this big intersection toward the end of my commute, one 7 lane road (2 bike lanes, 4 car lanes, one turn lane) crossing another. I was bombing up to the queue of cars stopped at the light I was going to stop at, when a car started pushing out in front of me from a gas station. It couldn't get into the car lane, couldn't get out of the bike lane. So I swung out to the left edge of the car lane, plenty of room to get between it and the car at the end of the car lane queue, and went on up to the light that had turned by then. By the time I got up to the light, the 3rd car in the queue was turning right and I was next to it so I wound up going right with him, braking, and he stopped before I fully stopped or had to hop up onto the curb of the right turn so then I just went back to where I was going in front of him and through the intersection. I feel bad about not stopping sooner and waiting for him to turn in front of me. I am still annoyed at that other car that camped in the bike lane though.
Motorists are supposed to merge into the bike lane when turning right, unless there is a physical barrier separation, to help prevent hook turns. This is true in 49 states, all except Oregon. If there was a physical separation, then you have witnessed first-hand the huge conflict issue with separated bike lanes at intersections. If going straight, the savvy cyclist merges out of the bike lane and into the
travel lane to prevent the possibility of being hooked by a turning vehicle. If you decide to stay in the bike lane when going straight, and the bike lane continues on the other side, you must always be vigilant to watch for turning traffic.
Of course, if there is a physical separation other than those bendy post thingies, you can't really merge out of the bike lane/track into the travel lane. So you're forced to go straight to the right side of right-turning traffic.
And thus illustrates why I hate separated infrastructure.