Quote:
Originally Posted by getbak
Here's a good example in the aerial view: https://goo.gl/maps/do4z2F3wQQJHDEkX9
The red car has left the flow of traffic on 6th St and is making a right turn onto 13th Ave. The white car on 6th St is still in the flow of traffic and can continue moving south without concern. If a cyclist was also travelling south behind the red car, they could see the red car was occupying the curb lane and pass on the vehicle's left with the flow of traffic. If the cyclist tried to pass the red car on the right, the cyclist would be the idiot in this case.
On the other hand, if the red car was directly in front of the white car to make a right turn from the traffic lane, the curb lane would be open and a cyclist would have no reason to expect the driver to make a right turn in front of it. In that case, the driver would be in the wrong.
If you don't have a dedicated right turn lane, you should be as close as safely possible to the curb when making the turn (turning from one curb lane into the other before re-entering the flow of traffic after making the turn). If there are vehicles parked in the curb lane, they should be well back from the intersection itself, so you should move over to be as close to the curb as you can once you've passed the last parked car (of course, making sure there are no bikes on your right before doing so). This is one of many reasons why you shouldn't ever park too close to an intersection. |
Using that image, the near incident would have happened when I was moving into the red car’s position after the parked cars (which were in marked spots so I assume they’re fine). As I went into the turning position, out of the straight line, the cyclist and I almost collided.
Maybe I’m just the jerk for not shoulder checking properly (I did signal, not an idiot) it it seems bizarre that a cyclist would attempt to pass vehicles on the right approach and intersection where vehicles are turning right and they’re going straight.