Quote Originally Posted by fidlfreek View Post

2) I thought that at an intersection you're supposed to put your bike in a place so you never have someone turning right in front of you. At intersections (even with a bike lane) I aggressively take up the middle of the car lane so that these Texans in their huge trucks don't miss the little lady in the funny hat and shoes. It means that the cars going straight along with me have to wait, but it also means that I'm not in a position to be hit. Does this sound reasonable to anyone else? I don't remember where I heard this.....Does this sound more dangerous than the alternative?
This is usually the safest thing to do- at an intersection where you are going straight, take the lane and act like a car to get through the dangerous part....then you can get back to the right hand side of the lane after you are through the intersection and safe.
However, this situation was a bit odd since Suzie was in a bike lane on the ride side, and the 'intersection' was apparently an exit/entrance to a store/mall or something, as far as I can tell. That would make it amore like a busy right hand driveway rather than an intersection. I suggested she get off the bike and temporarily become a pedestrian when she crosses over that entrance road rather than breeze through the trouble spot in the bike lane. It's hard to know what to advise when we can't see the actual traffic layout there.