kickstart

Where there's a high volume of traffic moving at speeds substantially higher than my own, and the lane to the left isn't a right turn only lane. With a modest amount of situational awareness, and self control, its very easy and safe to do.

fietsbob

one approach (left hand drive countries) go all the way across the cross street to the far right side of It .

stop.. wait for the light to change, then go , on the right side of that street.

Trevtassie

Japan (although it's on the left there since they drive on that side) Even if you are on the footpath they will yield. You might have to watch for older drivers, but they are easy to pick out since they voluntarily put a special symbol on their car to let everybody know their reactions might be a bit slower than normal.
The rest of the world, yep you're right, those buggers will squash you without blinking.
I like the pedestrian crossings in Japan. They are everywhere, and when you press the button the lights start changing immediately so there's no waiting! I reckon the traffic engineers in the west hate pedestrians and cyclists so much they punish them by making them wait a minute or so just to train them that crossing lights suck so try and cross without them....

scoatw

I second the mirror suggestion. If your riding in traffic, it really helps. I wouldn't ride without one.

rmfnla

Lots of good suggestions here.

Cannot agree enough about using lights.

If you ride in the dark you want a headlight that will illuminate the road and a blinky on the front (or your helmet) to make you more noticeable.

For daylight riding just the blinky will do it, but get a really bright one.

Red blinky on the rear for day or night.

I have had several people in cars tell me how much easier it was to see me because of my blinkys; I will never ride without them...

PatrickGSR94

Well sure if it's not a turning lane. I was referring more specifically to a RTO lane, with a bike lane to the right of that, which in my opinion should be criminally negligent to design and install such a setup.

noglider 

I highly recommend the SMIDSY weave for your safety. It's a way to communicate to MV drivers. It works for me. I think my headlight helps, so I run a headlight in the day when I'm on a bike equipped with dynamo lights.

CliffordK

Did people mention signalling. At least around here, drivers will give me some space when I stick my left arm out for the intention to cross. In fact, I don't use a mirror, so cars often will slow down when they see me looking behind myself a dozen times with a worried look on my face.

I only signal when I'm actually ready to make my move across traffic.

PLAN AHEAD.

At times in heavy traffic, I will do the square crossing as fietsbob suggests.

If it is a 2-way street with a turn lane, I'll often start trying to cross (SIGNALLING) a block or so ahead and move into the the left lane, and into the turn lane. Usually "taking the lane", or positioning myself in the middle of the turn lane. Lane position and how you approach the turn will also depend on whether you wish to end up on the right side or left side of the road once around the corner. I don't cut corners, moving left, when I expect to end up on the right.

On a one-way road, sometimes I'll move over to the left side of the road, and hug the left shoulder before turning, just as I would do on the right.

I have a 2-lane one-way road with a left exit that I regularly hit. If I do it right, I'll be on the left side of the left lane, and usually can get into the right side of the exit lane (that lane has a stop light 100 feet ahead).

At times, I'll just see too many cars behind me, and can't safely get across. In those cases, I just pull off the road to the right and wait for the pulse of traffic to pass, then proceed across the road. My safety is worth an extra 30 seconds of waiting for the traffic to clear.

Consider your speed, as well as car's speed and reaction times. If I'm moving at 15 MPH, and cars at 20 MPH, then I can usually cut in. If I'm moving at 10 MPH and cars at 50 MPH, then one needs a much bigger HOLE in traffic. Don't just signal 10 feet in front of a car and expect them to be able to yield.

kickstart

Ok, that's different, but in reality the speed and volume of traffic is a much bigger consideration. There are some like that in my area which see very little use, and aren't a problem.
I will agree with you if they were on a major intersection of high volume arterials. I don't recall any like that, but they may have simply not registered because I'm paying attention to whats actually happening around me rather than some lines on the road, and act appropriately.

brianinc-ville

This:
Also, you really should take a traffic skills course, either from the League of American Bicyclists or Cycling Savvy. They're genuinely really helpful (full disclosure: I teach the LAB course).