Originally Posted by chipcom
Originally Posted by Helmet Head
If i'm being passed by a steady stream of cars, and one or two get too close obviously because they don't want to move out of the lane at all, then I will merge left until that behavior ceases. The close passes are a cue to me that I need to move left. Once my position requires them to cross that double yellow stripe to pass me, and they're resigned to having to do so, they tend to leave me much more room as they pass.
Note for bike lane supporters, who tend to need these types of clarifications: "merge" does not mean "suddenly swerve". It means looking back, making sure that I can safely move left the 1-4 feet that I feel I need to move, move and then maintain my new position.
Please refrain from making assumptions and snide comments about people based on their political or facilities preferences in this thread. Thank you.
Oh, it was a joke, which was practically mandated by your OP. However, you did give it some credibility (which makes it funnier) with this statement: "I would have held a predictable line rather than swerving in and out as you and Serge indicated."
Apparently, neither budster nor I provided enough clarification in our posts to make it clear to at least one bike lane supporter that we were not advocating anything that would be contrary to maintaining a predictable line. How you reached this conclusion, at least regarding my post is partially explained here:
To the rest of your post, first you mention a steady stream of traffic, then you claim you only merge safely. To me a steady stream of traffic means few, if any gaps...so either:
A. You are waiting for a gap to present itself before merging.
B. You are jumping out into oncoming traffic unpredicatably, which is an unsafe practice.
C. You are attempting to modify the behavior of motorists by 'squeezing' them, which is patently unsafe.
If there are truly no gaps sufficient to establish a more assertive line to the left, then negotiation would be used, of course. Standard technique, but I guess I can't assume that's obvious in
this thread. So I'll spell it out:
D. if there is no "natural" gap, looking back over your left shoulder for more than a split-second signals a request to merge left. If that does not work, use a standard arm signal. Either way, when a motorist yields to your request, by slowing down and/or merging left himself, you reestablish a new predictable line, further left, in the space yielded to you.