Question regarding proper position when stopping at traffic lights.
 

Scenario: When coming up to a red light with no car ahead of me on a two lane road (no bike path on this road)

Should I stop on the far left side of the lane to give drivers behind me room to turn right if necessary?

Or should I stop in the middle of the lane?

Or should I stop at the right side of the lane close to the curb so drivers can go around me?

I generally stop far left, to allow right turn on red. If I don't, I find people start pulling around me to turn right anyway, and when the light turns green it can lead to near right hooks pretty easily.

I position myself in the left tire track. If that leaves from for a right turner, fine. If not, they can wait.... unless they use their right turn blinker; then I'll squeeze a little further left. If they don't have a blinker on, though, I'm not going to try to guess their intentions and give them lane position in the event that the driver is going straight and hanging me out to dry without a lane.

For me that depends on where the road is. If it is in downtown where there's trafic is heavy, I got pinch between two car from both lanes when I was at the far left side, the car in the left lane was hugging his right side and the car in the right lane was offcenter to his left. Drivers sometime don't notice me at the left side of the right lane although I am wearing a bright green cyclist jacket. I'm currently waiting for my arrival of my MS tail light so I can use it during daytime. Otherwise on less crowded street, I do take the left side of the right lane if I knew that the intersection I'm approaching is known for cars making right turns, but generally I hug the right side far back from the crosswalk to give car space to turn right.

I never take the center of the lane since that one time where the car behind me got smacked by the car behind him who was too busy texting or something else. That car behind was pushed foward enough to have bump me if he was right behind me. Worst case, I might have been pushed into the intersection of on comming cars.

on the right I would think

I mostly stop left with enough room for drivers to turn right to my right - about half of them pass and turn, if not and their signal is on I point to the pavement to my right. About 1 in 100 will pull up next to me and go straight on green, no big deal, I go too and tuck in behind them as we get up to speed. If this happens it usually means I am too far left, only give enough room for right turners to get close to curb to turn.

If there are no other vehicles stopped I stop on the center of the quadupole sensor.

Yep. My view is that I am most vulnerable when I'm stopping and starting, clipping and unclipping; that's when the bike is most unstable. I don't want to have to deal with a car attempting to pass me for those 2 seconds that it will take me to get back up on the saddle, my left foot securely attached (right stays clipped in always), and pedaling smoothly. So before stopping at the light, I move to the left enough to let right-turning cars through (if I'm first in line), but not so far to the left that the straight-going guy behind me can get around me. And I stay in that spot until I'm past those few critical seconds -- then I'll move right and get out of the way (if there's room).

Good luck with that. They're only "not noticing you" because it's convenient for them not to. You could be running lights that were so bright that they caught their tires on fire and they'd still manage to "not notice you" if it got them another 4 feet closer to the light.

I'm normally not one for "taking the lane" when commuting, however I do so at traffic lights. If you don't take the lane, inevitably someone will pull to the left of you and then right hook you when the light turns green. Positioning far to the left also makes sense so drivers behind can still make a right turn.

Yes and it also seem like they don't give a rat *ss about how fragile a cyclist can be in that position. It's usually those who are occupied by their cellphone that never are center in their lane when waiting for the light. Those folks are terrible one hand driver.....sigh.

It depends on the intersection for me. If right turns are common, I will try to pull left to allow people to turn right. At many intersections, I'll take the lane, which includes waiting in line if I'm not the first one to the red light.

There are very few circumstances where I'll use the right of the lane. Normally, I'll only do this in wide curb lanes (I consider these to be "implied" bike lanes), and right turns are unusual at that intersection.

I only use the right side of lane if I am turning right.

Yeah, I line up in the left tire track to allow right turners to turn on red - if it's allowed. If there's no turn on red, I just hang out in the middle of the lane so they can't turn (which they're not allowed to do anyway) and they can't try to go around me to do so.

Depends somewhat on lane width - I will generally leave just enough room on my right for a right turning car to turn right - that may place me in the center of the lane, or towards the left side of the lane. I have one intersection on my commute which is a bit strange (northbound monroe, at El Camino Real in Santa Clara, CA) the road is marked as two lanes with a dedicated LTO lane (one lane in each direction plus the LTO), but it widens out at the intersection so that the total width, curb to curb is approximately 80' (look at the satellite view on google maps - there is a 60' articulated bus on ECR to the west of the intersection for scale). In this intersection I tend to position myself about in the middle of the lane, which still leaves plenty of room for a car on each side of me.

I need a car on my left to trip the detector for the light :)

I can't believe how many people are accommodating right-hand turners. On the rare occasion that I'm first in line, I'll take the lane but will favor the right side of the lane. I have to worry about getting a good start and clipping in. I also don't want to worry about having to veer over to the right after I get going again. I'd rather be towards the right to begin with.

Right-hand turners can wait, it won't kill 'em.

I do it as it has zero disadvantage for me. In fact even if there are no right turners behind me I prefer to be somewhat left biased. Making some motorists happy is a side benefit and I get lots of thank yous and waves when I do this.

It depends if I'm making a turn at that intersection, or going straight through...

Ride in the right-most lane that's going to wherever you're going. If there's a bike lane running alongside that stretch of road, I will almost always merge into the traffic lane and get in line with the cars. This prevents my getting clocked by a right-turner while I'm in the bike lane.

Mentally divide the lane into thirds (this methods is called the "rule of thirds"); if you plan to turn right, position yourself in the right-hand third of the lane. Stop, check to be sure there's no crossing traffic, then make your right-turn-on-red if the intersection allows that.

If you're going straight through the intersection, then position yourself in the center third of the lane. Stop, wait for the green light (or until crossing traffic has cleared if it's a stop or yield sign), then go ahead on your route.

If you're turning left, place yourself in the left third of the lane. Once you've got a signal to go, yield to any oncoming traffic, make your left turn, and move into the rightmost lane going your way.

If the intersection has a right-turn-only or left-turn-only lane, and that's where you need to go, then use those lanes just like any other driver. If there's multiple turn lanes in the same direction, then use the rightmost to make your turn.

Cyclists are safest when we act, and get treated in return, just like any other driver on the roadway.

If it's empty, I'll stop in the middle of the right lane. If somebody wanting to make a right turn does pull up behind me, I'll move and let them make their turn. I'll even turn around and point sometimes, asking drivers with no signal, whether they're trying to turn, if their car is "pointed" a bit to the right. But it's more often than not, that either somebody won't come up behind me, or, when they do, they'll want to go straight.

Of course, if the intersection is completely empty, with no cross traffic and good visibility, it's a moot question where to stop...

far left of the lane if there's anyone coming behind me. keep an eye on the signals and as the cross traffic's green is coming to an end, move back to the middle of the lane so you can make your getaway safely. I usually cut the end of my red as soon as it's safe just to get out ahead and make my way to a convenient place for both the traffic and myself.

Why? People try to leave room a lot of the time if they're at the front of the line in their cars, too.

Then again, not everyone does it, too. I figure you're the same kind of person, just using a different kind of vehicle.

Mot of the urban roads I ride have traffic-actuated lights. I stop where the inductive loop is in the pavement, or else the light won't change.

By law, in Washington State, the pavement should be marked where the loop is most sensitive for bicycles, unless it's most sensitive in the center of the lane at the stop line. So, if an intersection isn't marked, and if I can't see the pavement cut for the inductive loop, I stop in the center of the lane, just at the stop line.

Really? I'm in WA and I've never noticed such markings. What do they look like?

Around here I haven't found any of these that are sensitive enough to be triggered by a bike, no matter where I position myself on them. In fact, many of them won't trigger even when I'm on my 850 lbs motorcycle.

As far as the OP, if the lane is big enough to accomodate a car to right turn while I'm waiting at the light, then I'll position myself to the left. If it's not, then I'll position myself center.

I've often wondered what would happen if a car pulled up next to me then went straight, but it's never happened to me. In fact, most seem hesitant to pull up next to me and right turn. If I see they have their blinker on, I'll motion them through to let them know it's OK. Even then some seem hesitant.

Oddly enough, this seems to be the only time when I encounter drivers who are timid. As soon as the light turns green and we're through the intersection they have no problem buzzing me with only inches to spare.

I can let them by too, and it won't kill me. Actually, NOT letting them by might easily kill me. If I'm anywhere in the right side of the lane, they'll pull around me on the left and turn right in front of me anyway. By moving far left, I let them by without any hassle to anyone.

If one guy pulls around on my left, then everyone starts doing that, and it's not unusual for one guy to try that after the light turns green and I've started to move.

As far as "veering to the right" - you don't do that. You cross the intersection in the left tire track, then MOVE to the right AFTER you clear the intersection. The cars behind you aren't legally allowed to pass you within the intersection anyway. Being on the far left allows you to control the situation. Being on the right means you're going to just get pushed around.

Accommodating right turners costs me NOTHING and is far safer to me. Not doing so is dangerous to me and is kind of assholish; most people do it even when driving cars.

Very well explained.