Originally Posted by
MnHillBilly
if we want cars to see us as cars
I've failed at getting anyone to think my bike is a car. I've settled on being accepted as a driver of a vehicle with all the same rights as drivers of other vehicles.
Originally Posted by
MnHillBilly
Wouldn't have made such an impression on me except there's already been someone killed on this same road this year. Cars aren't looking for people to begin with, and then to see some bikers cutting corners so-to-speak, just makes me cringe when we're still so new into the season yet.
And how was this other cyclist killed? I doubt it had anything to do with stopping in front of stopped traffic.
Personally, I probably would have made the right then a u-turn if I was unable to merge to make a standard left turn. However, I have been on roads where the next available spot for a u-turn was 1/2 mile up the road and required the same merge as the road I was on. If I had to choose between the "straight + 90" or the "right + 1/2 mile + merge then u + 1/2 mile" I might find myself doing exactly what this guy did. I certainly would not have planted myself in the right turn lane nor would I have put myself near the lane line (assuming a typical 10-12 foot lane) as that would make things really awkward as traffic got moving (yet I very often see cyclists do just that).
And who's to say that the cyclist didn't move off to the right (assuming a shoulder/bike lane/wide lane) after crossing the intersection, resulting in a delay of maybe 1-2 second for the other traffic? I think you really blew this one out of proportion.