Originally Posted by
Milton Keynes
He means ride as if they can't see you. Yes, make yourself look conspicuous with lights & brightly colored clothing, but don't assume that every driver will be paying attention to you and be ready to take evasive action if needed. Like, when you're getting ready to go across a 4 way stop, don't assume the car which just pulled up on your right is going to see you and not pull ahead while you're halfway through the intersection.
All of that is fine, but he actually went beyond that in his later post, and I don't agree with things like "
Give the cars the right of way even if you should have it." I find I get in a lot less trouble when I'm assertive and clear about my intentions than when the drivers can't figure out if I'm going or not. I'm not just wearing clothes and lights to make myself conspicuous, I ride in a manner that makes me conspicuous. For example, I don't care what the law is, I will shoal at an intersection (especially if there are cars to my right) because it's the only way I know of that assures the drivers CAN see me. If they choose not to, there's not much I can do about that other than ride through the intersection fast enough that overtaking me is difficult. Depending on how well I can visualize the cross street, that may mean jumping before the green.