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by ronyeh 2323 days ago
I've mostly given up on unprotected left turns onto huge streets (El Camino Real in my part of the Bay Area).

I'd rather turn right and then take the next U-turn to get back to where I want to go.

It reduces my social anxiety of people piling up behind me as I want to turn left, and it reduces my perception (right or wrong) of risk. When I turn left, I need to alternate looking left and right. When I turn right, I mostly only need to look to my left (unless there is a biker going opposite traffic, which has happened to me!).

1 comments

In many legislations you are supposed to cycle against the motortraffic, especially if there is a bikepath.
Per this list of US state bicycle laws [0] (I don't have easy access to bicycle laws in other countries, so I can't attest to them), I don't see a single state that requires cyclists to ride against traffic. To the contrary, every single state (barring Illinois, which suggests that bicycles be treated as traffic but leaves direct enforcement up to individual municipalities) appears to require that cycles travel with traffic (see all references to "as far to the right as possible" in the "Where To Ride" sections).

[0] https://bikeleague.org/StateBikeLaws