I had a new experience yesterday. I was stopped at a red light and taking the lane on a major road (55 mph speed limit) when I noticed something moving slowly alongside me on my right (I was in the right lane). I looked over and it was one of NC's huge yellow DOT maintenance trucks with 4 or 5 guys in the cab. The driver had his window open. As I looked over at him he said, "It's safer not to be in the middle of the road." I was surprised, but I managed to get out, "Yes it is, because there's a merge lane to the right..." but at that point the light changed and we both moved off.

I've posted my situation to another thread here on Commuting to ask folks their opinion about where they'd ride on this road.