Originally Posted by livedarklions

No way, you don't get to shift the burden of proof like that. I never said that you were making a martyr of yourself, I have no idea what riding in Tunisia is like. I was speaking for myself and with my 50+ years of road riding experience in the US, I'm sure that is an awful strategy for me for several reasons. You chose to label your approach "common sense" , that implies you're claiming to speak to the best approach for everyone, and for most of the US, it's complete nonsense and virtually no one rides that way.

What you're describing is actually illegal in most of the US. If I were to ride like that in New Hampshire, where I live, I would be subjecting myself to constant ticketing and possible arrest. That's one form of martyrdom I won't be seeking. If I'm going to commit acts of civil disobedience, I'm going to need a lot better reason than "some people don't like to ride on the right."

I also think riding like that is wayyyyyy more likely to get me killed in the US. I actually find the idea that trucks and buses would wait for me to "let" them pass in the US quite hilarious. I can tell you exactly what would happen if I tried to occupy the lane to prevent them from passing -- they would go almost immediately into the oncoming lane and if I'm lucky, that lane will be clear. If the oncoming lane is clear, that pass is completely legal in the US even if there's a double yellow line ( there may be states where it is not, but I'm sure it's legal in the vast majority). That might be okay if drivers were good about making sure the oncoming lane is actually clear, but in my experience, they generally are not. Being in the center of the lane thus puts me right next to a really high probability head on collision of two motor vehicles or in the probable path of an oncoming vehicle swerving to avoid that head- on. Either way, I'm in a far worse position than if I had been riding FRAP. BTW, I've experienced this scenario several times when someone speeds up to pass me in the oncoming lane when I'm FRAP with resulting near misses between the motor vehicles. From my vantage point, I'm just a spectator hoping nothing bad happens to the drivers.

I hope whatever you've got working for yourself in Tunisia keeps working, but do yourself a favor and stop trying to tell other people how to bike in places you're not familiar with.