DiabloScott

I would have positioned myself the same way you did. Yeah the driver either didn't know he was in a turn only lane or he knew he was violating the turn only and figured he was faster than you.

Some intersections you just have to suck it up and accept that people will do ****ty things. I've seen quite a few people getting tickets for this, so the cops know about it and they'd be on your side.

no motor?

I had something slightly different happen to me a few weeks ago. I was approaching an intersection with traffic stopped for the light in my direction. There were 2 lanes going forward that squeeze down into 1 about half a block on the other side of the intersection, and I usually stay in the right lane and turn off into a parking lot before this happens. I was positioned there waiting for the light to change when a semi approached from the rear with his right turn signal blinking. I moved over into the other lane for him to turn, and then the light changed putting me in the danger zone of a line of cars behind me. I was able to get out of the way of both the cars and the turning truck, but it sure would have been better if I hadn't had to wait just long enough for the light to change before the truck got there. ,

HardyWeinberg

Glad you survived, Rube. Those are the kind of rigs that can tangle cyclists up into their wheels and the drivers maintain plausible deniability for miles...

vol

That bike lane sandwiched between vehicle lanes are pretty risky, leaving you no escape should a long truck being dangerously close to you.. I don't think I've seen such bike lanes in Manhattan (in fact the absence of such bike lanes sometimes did make me be unsure which lane to take when I am heading straight through the intersection). If I am stopped next to a big vehicle in the OP's situation, I think I'd walk backward, while waiting for green light, to be completely out of the reach of the vehicle's wheels should any unpredictable movement of it happens.

Thanks for sharing it with a picture. Something to keep in mind in future.

DiabloScott

Semi-related (HA!)... I recently saw a double trailer truck take a right turn too fast pushing the yellow light, and he just about took out a telephone pole and the rear trailer almost tipped over when it hit the curb. I'm sure his boss would've loved that.

ptempel

Archwhorides 

RubeRad

Actually a third lane develops past the intersection, he just headed there. He drove through the big zebra-striped block in the picture.

RubeRad

OK I'll bite, what's SMIDGAF?

RubeRad

I think it's the right setup, actually, for dealing with right-turn-only lanes for cars. As a thru-going bike every right-going car is a potential right hook, I'd rather have my 'own' lane to their left.

RubeRad

No I got what you meant originally, and I disagree. The right turn lanes are very busy funnelling traffic onto the freeway, it is much safer to use the bike lane to the left. I bet only a handful of vehicles per week find themselves accidentally stuck in the right turn lane and illegally go straight, and almost all of those occasions drivers would act with caution, at least in case there might be a cop around!

Trying to cross from the curb and get through the freeway-bound traffic would be a nightmare!

SHBR

I hate being passed on the right, and try to avoid any road that allows such behavior.

I sometimes use this alternate left turn method, to avoid collisions, from the right side.

KD5NRH

Another thing I've seen done with those no-man's-land areas is a bright yellow (or red, or even red/yellow striped) ~6" very square cornered curb. Low enough a vehicle (emergency vehicle) can get over it slowly if absolutely necessary, but guaranteed to be extremely painful if not damaging at >5mph.

ptempel

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=SMIDGAF

Actually first read about its use here of BF.

ptempel

This is what I also do (without the little sidewalk loop) with heavy intersections like Winant/Sylvan Ave (Rt 46) to turn left onto Bergen Tpke. I just slow down and/or stop if needed before the intersection. Look for cars turning right behind me. Cross with the bike on the ped walkway to the other side. Stop and turn 90 degrees to face the way I want to go. But this doesn't really help in the OPs case. Its an unusual intersection with the two turn lanes on the right with the bike lane on the left (in the middle). In the OP's intersection, I would also just stay in the bike lane and stop as needed for cars and trucks breaking the law to cross into a lane on the left. I really haven't come across an intersection like the one above in my NJ/NYC area.

Bug Shield

I'm surprised you were still anywhere near the truck as it merged. I always try to be to the first to the other side of the intersection if I'm in the queue when the light turns green and trucks normally start very slow. This seems to me to be the kind of conflict that bike boxes can help with -- that way you get a head start and better visibility as a bonus.

vol

Even if the truck did not get lefter and lefter, I would try my best to avoid being next to a large truck especially when it's moving (in whatever direction).

SHBR

As for the OP, that road sucks.

The only way it could be improved is with a physical divider of some sort.

In China there is almost always a curb, or a barrier of some kind that usually prevents this kind of stupidity on high traffic roads.

I'm also not a fan of fences and walls on narrow roads that don't have enough room for a proper bike lane.

The best bike lanes with dividers are more than 3 meters wide, if there is less than that, dividers often cause more problems than they solve.