Thank you all for your replies to the original post.

A cyclist must consider multiple conditions to determine his/her optimal lateral position on the roadway: their destination (turning left, going straight, turning right), speed differential with other vehicles, traffic density, lane width/sharability, sightlines to other vehicles whose paths may conflict, vehicles parked on the side of the road, and surface hazards that accumulate along the edge of the roadway.

Only one individual possesses the requisite knowledge of all these conditions to decide what is “as far right as practicable”. That individual is the cyclist.

Observers such as overtaking motorists or law enforcement officers cannot possibly have all this information, and are therefore incapable of determining if the statute has been violated. If the state cannot objectively determine if a law has been broken, what is the justification for having that law on the books?

Do some of you truly believe that the existence of this irrational law is the only thing preventing cyclists being banned from public roadways?