Originally Posted by bkrownd
Getting run over on these two streets would NOT be a "highly unlikely" event, IMO. (I even had a car TRY to force me off the road on one of the feeder streets 1.5 blocks off of it)
Why does stuff like this (getting run off the road) only happen to those who fear it might happen? Hmm...
All I can tell you is that if you really believe you have the same right to the road as do motorists, and ride accordingly, they will treat you with respect. Human nature is human nature. No one is going to recognize a right that is not asserted. You clearly do not believe you have these rights, or at least do not believe that it is safe to assert them, and so you must ride accordingly. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. You ride without asserting your rights, and, so, motorists act like you don't have them. But I doubt you understand what I'm saying.
Where did you locate statistics for THIS specific situation on THESE two particular streets? "Statistics" don't mean much unless they apply very specifically to the situation and conditions in question. (if that...) It boggles the mind how I'd be more likely to get hit by a car riding where there are NO cars, rather than where there are a LOT of cars. Since there is no traffic on the shoulder, I'm not "riding against" any.
The problem with riding against traffic is rarely the oncoming traffic
per se, it's the intersections (including intersections with driveways), and the fact that you're coming from an unexpected direction at an unexpected velocity (anything faster than a pedestrian), attached to a device that prevents you from making sudden lateral movements (from which a pedestrian is not constrained).
I'm going to recommend that you read
Effective Cycling by John Forester one more time (ask Santa). I don't think you'll "get it" any other way. I, for one, did not "get it" until I read the book.
Serge