Let me see if I can clarify the "fully in the lane" thing. When you get to an intersection on a bike you can either act like a car and stop at a light just like you are a car or you can pull on on the corner and act like a pedestrian and cross the intersection on the cross walk. I was in a position that was sort of between the two. I wasn't on the crosswalk but I wasn't taking up a lane like a car would. It is just a peculiarity of how the bike path dumps you out at that intersection.

My theory is that cars only look for other cars and I was in a spot that you wouldn't look for another car. So drivers who are distracted and glance up don't really check the whole intersection, they just look to see if there are cars where they would expect them. I regret not being exactly where you expect to see another car because I think it would have helped my visibility.