Originally Posted by
VARider54
I don't know what video you watched, so I can't comment on that. Perhaps we all have a different perspective on "reasonable". I don't think it's reasonable to be forced to ride on a debris strewn shoulder with rumble strips on my left, rough tarmac, and a hard curb and gravel on my right. I don't think it's reasonable to give up my right-of-way because I'm afraid I might be hit. I know the world is a dangerous place, and I respect that. I know people aren't perfect, and I accept that. What I won't accept is allowing fear of the unknown and things uncertain to influence my reasoning, or give up my privileges because fate is uncertain.
But hey, you be you. And don't let anybody tell you you're wrong.
+1
Life's too short to live on the margins.
I'm anxious on 4 lane roads, but it stands to reason that I should be more concerned about two lane roads with similar or slightly higher speed differentials. When I'm on a 4 lane, I take my lane, and traffic goes around me in the other lane. It's the same to the driver as it would be behind a garbage truck or 80-year-old Olga going home from the potluck. If a driver has no ambiguity about whether they can get around you in the lane, they'll move. I've been trying hard to find a video I watched with a guy experimenting on an arterial in CA ( I want to say LA, but I'm not sure). He kept right, and was buzzed by traffic, including a 26" box truck
. He rode the same route again and occupied the lane, and traffic behind him slowed and passed in the next lane with plenty of space.
I was much more concerned about moving over for drivers when a double yellow is present until I learned that passing in a double yellow zone is legal in Ohio while double yellow lines are present if you are overtaking a vehicle traveling at half the speed limit, you don't exceed the speed limit for the pass, and it is safe (no vehicles in oncoming lane, adequate clear distance, etc.). I use this more frequently for oblivious drivers than cyclists
.