It's a short green light and this dude is texting. This is a job for my 115 decibel AirZound Airhorn!

Sounds like a vuvuzela. Poor guy was probably trying to figure out where the soccer game was.

It doesn't sound like I expected. If you could get Airzounds tuned to different notes, you could make it sound like a freight train:

I woulda never waited behind him in the first place, I would have split up into the crosswalk while the light was red, and then I go on green, he can sit still and text all day long if he wants.

what kind of camera you use [MENTION=151366]BobbyG[/MENTION] ?

I just bought a Contour Roam 3 to replace my old Contour Roam. I mount it on top of my helmet.

Why not just go around?

That's completely outstanding in every way imaginable.

Exactly.

Never wait behind a car; too easy to get rear ended.

Move up to the beginning of the crosswalk to the right of the intersection and make sure the driver sees you...

Oh, I could have sooo much fun with that!!![evil grin]

Sorry, I disagree. Splitting lanes is always a bad idea in my opinion. It's a good way to get drivers pissed at you and to me, it seems like you're giving them permission to pass you at the same distance when you're moving. I always take the lane at stoplights. Although the issue is split in the commuting section. Half take your idea, half take mine, so we probably shouldn't discuss it here. Although I will say that your idea is the one adopted in the UK, with specific bike markings where bikes sit at the front of a stoplight.

I love the train horn, although it's probably dangerous. I'd imagine it's pretty easy to blow an eardrum out with that thing. (Train horns hurt my ears when they go past.) The airzound sounds pitiful in comparison hahaha.

In the situation in the OP, I probably would have just sat there until he moved, I'm generally not in a hurry.

Whenever I split, I do it between stopped cars, if traffic is moving slowly enough I would probably take the lane, if it's moving quickly, I would go up to the intersection and wait for the red light, then walk my bike in front of stopped cars to position myself in the crosswalk, forwards of the lane line.

I see your point about inviting cars to pass that closely, but I'm not sure they would get that impression if a bike filters past when they're stopped at a light as much as, say, if you split by at 15mph when they're stuck in stop&go traffic averaging 5mph (which I would never do, but motorcycles do it around here all the time)

DO WANT!!!

It's not splitting lanes, it's moving to the front of a line of stopped cars. When the light changes you are able to move to the safest part of the road without having to worry about cars turning right.

Just think if you'd sat behind the car after the light turned green and that car got rear-ended (a very real possibility).

In 45 years of riding in traffic I have never once had a driver give the slightest indication of annoyance...

I actually found this in the ordinances of one the the towns around here.
At the moment, I don't recall which one.

Found what, that it was allowed? prohibited? recommended?

That's interesting, and I trust your experience, however the reason I pull behind drivers is because I'm afraid of getting right hooked. I also like to let drivers make a right hand turn on red. If you're in the crosswalk, you block them from doing that.

I don't really worry about getting rear ended. Cars don't generally pull within 5-6 feet of each other around here. Have you seen many people get rear ended at a stoplight in your time commuting?

In the end, I think it's different strokes for different folks. (I got that saying right... correct?)

Are you confusing the crosswalk with the shoulder? No one should be making a right hand turn from the left lane. In the situation shown in the OP, where both the car and I are in the left turn lane, I'd pull up to the stop line, just to the right of the car, up by their bumper where they can easily see me. I also use hand signals all the time, though I'd put my arm down before or when the light turns green; I'm just trying to signal my turn, not block the car next to me.

Frankly, though, if the car gets rear-ended, you might still be in harm's way even if you're next to the car, but your chances are probably better than if you were between two cars.

Well neither of those concerns apply to cars in a left turn lane (at least they shouldn't!) For cars in a right lane next to the bike lane, I stay in the bike lane, carefully observing cars for signs of right turn/hook. At the light I still pull to the front of the crosswalk, and AFLAP (not quite taking the lane), to give room behind me for right-turning cars. If I hang out in the bike lane behind the crosswalk, I would block right-turning cars, where I would rather send the message "bikers are not annoying obstructions to my driving"

If there is room for cars to turn right and you are in the crosswalk just to the right of the car going straight there will be room for right turns.

Read this and then tell me how much it matters if I have seen anyone getting rear-ended:

Avoid This Killer Sales Strategy at All Costs


It's the one you don't see that you have to worry about...

It was not only permitted, but recommended.

That is what one would expect, but one of the regulars here (I don't recall who) has been rear-ended three times!

Apologies, I was extrapolating to more general intersections without turning lanes.

You can't spend your entire life worrying about the surprise thing that you'll never see coming that will kill you. Everything is a calculated risk. If you were sitting in the crosswalk and the car beside (and slightly behind you) got hit, you're getting hit too. I don't think a biker would be crushed if he were sitting behind a car when it gets rear ended. More likely he'll get thrown over top of one car or the other. (My opinion.) Although helmet testing seems to support that. (Video below) Where as getting sideswiped and dragged is... well... very bad. How often do drivers pull up to an intersection wanting to turn right. They don't look right, they look left. Once they see an opening they go for it. I catch myself doing this occasionally, so I know other, less attentive drivers do it as well. That's what I'm afraid of (in a normal intersection, not the turning lane in the OP.) But, in reality, I do not worry about getting rear ended at a stoplight. I simply don't.


As for the URL you posted. People get rear ended at stoplights every day. This one was particularly nasty, since it involved a pedestrian getting killed, but it's nothing new. I think if, in 45 years, you've never seen someone get rear ended at an intersection then you're safe to pull your bike wherever you want. I simply prefer to be behind the car as I never have to worry about being in anyone's way and I do the same thing regardless of the lane I pull into.

Because he has an Airhorn and not enough opportunities to use it offensively present themselves...

It may be called bike "forums", but sometimes I feel as if I had just thrown myself to the lions at the Colesium!