Comment by analog31
4 years ago
You deserve your own lane, although the rules vary from state to state. Some states have FRAP (as far right as practicable), others (such as mine) say that a cyclist should take the lane. As a motorist, and cyclist, I cringe when I see a cyclist half-in and half-out of traffic. As a cyclist, I avoid streets with fast, congested car traffic altogether. Fortunately, my locale has a lot of alternatives for bikes, including some bike paths plus neighborhood streets.
When getting your motorcycle license here in Belgium they teach you to always take the lane. Ride 3/4 of the way in. If you give the car some space, they'll drive closer to you, try to pass and then get impatient & aggressive when they can't. If you take up all the space they'll usually just accept it.
Obviously rules for bicycles may be slightly different but more and more inner city roads here in EU are now clearly marked as bicycle friendly.
In the US, we have something called "sharrows" which are a picture of a bike, and an arrow, painted on the street. The arrow is supposed to show drivers the "line" that a cyclist can occupy. Coincident with sharrows, my locale has designated "bike boulevards," that are considered to be preferred for cyclists. I live on such a street, that is a favorite route for riding from a large residential area towards the center of town. So I get to eat my breakfast and watch the bikes go by every morning.
They exist here as well. As a cyclist they don't make me feel very safe - when driving a car I've noticed that cyclists are often hidden from view by the cars in front of you and only "appear" two cars ahead of you.
Every day I see drivers playing with their phone and that two car distance is short enough for them not to look up and read end the cyclist.
When my kids reach the age when they can cycle by themselves it will worry me even more.