>>2037346
wtf does that mean? Do they put down the phone or not slam 5 beers before hopping in the car if I ride across driveway thresholds waiting to be clipped by someone rather than in the travel lane? The fact of the matter is for anyone who's done vehicular cycling for even a single day realizes that behaving more like a car is the most effective way to increase safety margin.

Cars are stupidly big and you are not visible behind them if you try to squeeze through gaps or shove yourself into the gutter. A person isn't expected to be there. Look how drivers treat sidewalk crossings with bad visibility - they blow right through them almost as a rule. Riding deep into the shoulder may work if there are no adjacent roads or streets on that segment. In car oriented urban environments this is just a terrible idea.

Take your lane as much as possible whenever possible. I ride with a mirror integrated into my sunglasses and will give additional room if safe to do so when I'm aware a car is closing and will likely want to pass.

I always used to ride as much in the gutter as possible early into my cycling. Being hit by vehicle made me reconsider that default. No significant injury besides a sprained wrist but with a larger vehicle I wouldn't have flipped over the hood/front bumper of that may have been different. There were two lanes in each direction and the road rarely gets busy, including the time of the incident. Traveling downhill I was carrying considerable speed (30mph before last minute braking) and could have easily taken the right lane but out of misguided respect for drivers fee-fees I did not. As cars passed this almost certainly reduced my visibility for the driver who was turning across traffic from the opposing travel lanes.

Lights (high power daytime flashers) and a bright colored helmet are helpful but not a magical bullet, just improve the odds in a bad situation.

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Commuting by bike - dangerous?