I paid extra attention to my similar intersection the other day. For me, I wouldn't take B. It won't help people turning right because the lane would not be wide enough. I take C because if necessary I can squeeze all the way up against the curb and let the right-turning folks by, but if I don't make an effort, the lane isn't wide enough for them to squeeze around me. If I went with B, I would not be able to let people make their right turn unless I cozied right up next to the car in the left lane, which doesn't sound safe, plus people going straight might be tempted to pass on the right once the light changed.

I keep an eye in my mirror to see if there's someone behind me that wants to turn right, and if we're early enough in the light cycle, I make room for them to pass and wave them by. I have noticed, though, that many people never put on their turn signal, so they end up waiting.

You really seem to have misapplied a lot of your safety lessons. Cars and motorcycles and bikes all have different safety strengths and weaknesses.

Bike has more visibility than a car, so looking both ways before an intersection is fine.

Bike is often right hooked, so waiting on the right is a less safe method for handling red-light runers.

Cars get rear ended. When it happens at a red light, it's usually a pain because the front car can't get out of the way. A bike can. It's maneuverable. More so than a motorcycle.

Instead, your solution is to place yourself in a less safe spot.

If your lane is too narrow for cars to pass you comfortably, what do right turners do when the car ahead of them isn't turning?

Everyone has to do their own thing...
I, for one, will never be the first through a straight intersection.
As far as getting rear ended and a bike being more manurable than a motorcycle, maybe but unless you are looking behind every second, you may never see that car that is about to hit you....
I'd much rather pull up past the cars already there and have a safety cushion...
I've been riding in San Diego for a while now and never even had a close call getting right hooked, why? I think it's because I pull all the forward and make sure the cars see me. Also, if there is a right turn lane (or room to make a turn lane i.e. bike lane), I sit to the left side of the turn lane.
to each their own though...

B if there's room and visibility.

Keep in mind though, you're on a bicycle, not in a car or on a big heavy motorbike, so you also have an option E: hauling your bike up onto the footpath while you're stopped at the light, jazzing the pedestrian crossing button, and switching back over to the bike lane as you cross. If it's a tight or particularly hairy intersection I'll take E every time. It's also a good way to get a green light when there's no traffic around to activate the sensor...

I opt for pos'n C. I always feel most secure on the right. Out in the lane, with cars on my right - as in pos'n A or B, I feel awfully exposed.
But this thread points out one thing - when you're on a bike in traffic, you're in a dangerous situation no matter where you are. At A or B you can get rear-ended - or right hooked for that matter. At C and D you can get left hooked. No matter where you are, you are in danger of being run down if you are not extremely alert at ALL TIMES!
But I'll take C, as it's closest to the sidewalk where I can leap to safety if I have to.

My answer is "B". This nonsense about letting other people go first makes great sense as long as there's a steady supply of the ignorant who aren't waiting for YOU to go first. It's this kind of let everyone else take the risk mentality that has 4-way stops becoming the greatest impediment to traffic we've ever created. Not to mention that in the middle of the day when the roads are full of cotton-tops and blue-hairs who are full of unpredictable acts of kindness, usually in the form of "let the fat guy on the bike go ahead" I'd be there forever waiting for them to go first.

I prefer to look instead. If the cross lanes are full of stopped cars the risk is pretty easy to gauge.

Getting passed on the right by someone who blows off a right turn only lane has happened, but they're in a hurry and are long gone by the time I'm even through the intersection.

Regardless, I thought I'd share an interesting viewpoint:

So my neighbor is an EMT, who works predominantly on the north side of town in sketchier neighborhoods. I asked him once if he dealt with a lot of accidents involving cyclists. "All the time." I asked if it was mostly kids, or adults. "Adults, by far. Almost never kids." I asked what sage advice he had for cyclists. "When you get to the corner, walk your bike across." 8-)

What would happen if everybody took this "driver improvment class" that says they should never be the first one to enter an intersection?

Everyone would think it through and realise that there'll never be anyone in the intersection, so they can run reds whenever they want, and it'd rapidly descend in to chaos!

Positioning to ride to B,


if there's already a car or two occupying B and the line up with right hand signals on before you reach the intersection, and you are filtering up on the line with more space on the other side of the stripe,

"A" IS the most appropriate, most expeditious positioning.

Using a quick directional hand signal to quell any uncertainty as the cross signal turns yellow - you are at the head of the line, moving straight as the motorist lineup turns right.

if a semi truck was in both lanes, prepping up to turn left, or right, I'd be in different road positions at the intersection. if the semi was turning left or the lead motorist in the straight/right lane was signalling they actually wanted to be turning left, I'm in position "C."

Position "D" is often best when a semi truck is turning right. STAY BEHIND THE TRUCK.

D is commonly also the default 'rolling' position as traffic starts up while you are riding up on traffic to a congested intersection...... positioning not directly beside any car, behind one and in front of another, not able to get to position "B" before reaching the intersection.

Lane positioning is VERY traffic dependant. Use of A,B,C, or D are all best.

They all wait. I would say about 2/3 of the people in the lane are turning right, which is why I like to move aside and let them do their right-on-red thing. It gets them out of the way before the light turns green and decreases my chance of being right-hooked. But once a car comes up that is not turning right, everyone is stuck behind them. That's why I don't move to make room if the person behind me has no blinker on. Once you have one person going straight, everyone else has to sit and wait for green. The road I'm on isn't terribly busy, though, but as a result, the light is longish. I am frequently the first vehicle at the intersection, but, depending on the time of day, there can be quite a line-up behind me when the light does change.

Incidentally, taking the intersection from the other direction, the right/straight lane is a little wider, so if I think someone behind me is going to turn right, I take a more leftward position, closer to the B position, so they can pass me on the right and make their turn.

With all the jackholes out there, we'll never have to worry about this. BTW- Nice slam with teh quotes around the words "driver improvment class"...you almost made a bit of slam, almost.

For those of you that still aren't convinced that B is the best choice, here is proof.


That is a bike box. It is a special area for bikes at stop lights that allows cyclists to easily roll up in front of cars precisely to avoid right hooks and improve the overall safety of cyclists by giving them higher visibility. This particular one is what they look like in Portland and there are similar ones being painted in New York City as well.