Shaking My Confidence

[VeloVT]

Trek,
I think you misread my post. I wasn't riding on the sidewalk, I was riding on the road, to the right of and moving somewhat faster than traffic. I was right beside the van when it turned, and probably at that moment I was in his blind spot, but if I were a car he cut off because I was in his blind spot, that would not be an excuse sufficient to justify it.

By mentioning looking for pedestrians, I was trying, perhaps clumsily and at any rate probably unnecessarily, to draw an analogy between the driver's obligation to make sure there was no one on the sidewalk before turning to cross it, and their obligation to make sure there wasn't a bike on the road beside them before turning.