noisebeam

I always line up

fietsbob

Option: go to right* side of right lane of cross street, turn yourself facing the direction that lane is going,

So w hen the light turns green, you go with that direction..

*or left in Japan UK , Ireland , Australia, NZ, etc

Darth Lefty 

... you know they’re letting you win, right?

Elbeinlaw

Chinghis: In Atlanta, if you "cheat a little bit" at a light, you are guaranteed to be flattened by someone running the light. Even in my truck, if I'm the first one at a lighted intersection, when my light turns green, I always pause long enough to look right and left, because at every single light, at every time of the day and night, there's at least one car coming from at least one direction that will run the RED. The RED! Not the yellow! And in Midtown, it will be cars, pedestrians, scooters, cyclists … So I no longer cheat unless I can see in all directions and there's absolutely nobody else around.

Chinghis

Hah, I'm constantly yelling at people in my car as I slow for a yellow light turned red, and some jerk blows through from 50 yards behind me.

That's why I stressed visibility.

Darth Lefty 

Roughly, you + bike = 150 lb/hp, or 13 hp/ton. An average car has about 100 hp/ton. Sprint if you like.

Gresp15C

I tend to "take the lane" when turning left at a light. Drivers know there's only one reason for a cyclist to be in that lane, so it's the most predictable. It doesn't take me all that long to get out of the way, especially if there's a bike lane on the street that I'm turning onto. But it's always situation dependent, and every intersection is its own beast.

caloso

You know that they're looking at their phones and not paying attention to the light change, right?

Darth Lefty 

Word to that

Helldorado

I get in line with the other cars or mover to the front on the right side if there's enough room. Depends on my mood. Either way, most car drivers are oblivious - checking their Twitter feed or yakking away on their phones.

Gresp15C

The worst case I've seen is somebody is in the left turn lane but has decided that they actually plan on going straight through, so they gun it when the light changes to get ahead of the other cars. I've seen it often enough for it to be a "thing" to watch out for, like the possibility of a right hook.

Archwhorides 

Whatever feels safer. M*sshole

Bassmanbob

I've done both, but more often move to the right of the front car now. I used to line up, but if I'm more than four or five cars back, I can't go fast enough to keep up with the drivers. Then cars behind me are racing to go around me to make the light, and that scares the hell out of me. So now I line up to the right of the front car and make the widest left turn. It looks like I'm cheating, but I've found it to be much safer. I'll also get the driver's attention, like what Papa Tom said, and left them know what I'm doing.

Sometimes, if I'm the first or second vehicle, I'll line up and make the wide turn as soon as possible. The third or fourth vehicle that is immediately behind me is not worried about making the light and is less likely to try to shoot around me.

cyccommute 

I disagree. First, where is it “documented”? Please provide the documentation. I’ve been in the bicycling game for a very long time and try to keep informed but I’ve never seen anyone suggest filtering forward on a left turn. From a road user standpoint, filtering forward on a left turn puts the cyclists in a very dangerous situation. They are between lanes of moving cars and, when the turn starts, they are in a place where the driver doesn’t expect them.

As to what motorists are focused on, it would take a particularly inattentive (close to brain dead) motorist to not notice a bicycle in front of them on a left turn...especially if the left turn is at a light. Motorists are not just “focused on the license plate and tail lights of the car in front of [them]” at a light to the point where they won’t see a bicycle in front of them. At a light controlled intersection, there is usually sufficient time for the motorist to look at other things than just the “license plate and tail light” of other cars.

I agree that bicyclist should “get... in the way of the cars" but the best way to do that is to be right behind the last car in line. Being next to the first car in line is not “in the way”. It’s about as far out of the “way” as possible. If a cyclist is between the “license plate and tail lights of the car in front of [them]”, the chances of being seen are far greater than if the cyclist is out of the driver’s line of sight.

On a left turn, no. Don’t put yourself in a situation where the drivers can’t see you or don’t expect to see you. As I stated above, it takes a particularly brain dead driver not to see a cyclist right in front of them on a left turn at a light. Stay in line behind the last car and go when the light turns green. Turn wide to clear the lane but don’t go near the car in front of you just in case they are turning wide as well.

Frankly, I don’t filter when going straight. If a line of cars has passed me, I don’t want to give them the chance to pass me again. I can also control the flow of traffic behind when the light turns green so that I can clear the intersection before moving off the the right. And, since I don’t filter, I don’t have to worry about motorists turning right in front of me if the light turns green.

wolfchild

I do whatever I feel is the safest thing to do, and I don't let other people dictate to me how I should ride in traffic...OPs question is impossible to answer because there are too many variables out in the real world...My advice is to develop your own riding style and forget what others are doing.

ShannonM

It's been demonstrated that being behind a stopped car is quite dangerous. Target focus is the primary reason... you're not the target, the car in front of you is, so instead of getting seen you get sandwiched. Source was MSF. Applies even more so to bicyclists, cuz we're even smaller, so even more likely to get edited out of view by target focus.

It's also one of the worst ways to get hit, in terms of injury.

Yeah, it annoys drivers cuz it's unfair. S'ok. My life is more important to me than the momentary feelings of strangers.

--Shannon

cyccommute 

Demonstrated where? How about more than just “source was MSF”...assuming that MSF is the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. I can’t find any reference in numerous papers they have posted about “target awareness” or, for that matter, “left turn”. How about a specific study?

If “target awareness” is so important that a motorist misses a bicycle (or motorcycle) sitting in front of them at a light, how aware of the target do you think a motorist is going to be if the cyclist is out of their line of sight and in a place where they don’t expect another vehicle to be? Motorcycles aren’t encouraged to go around motorist at green arrows to avoid being between two automobiles. That makes no sense from a traffic point of view.

Finally, while some individuals may be as focused on the car in front of them as you say, I doubt it is a large proportion of drivers. Anyone that focused is going to cause lots and lots of accidents and won’t be driving.

Notso_fastLane

Roughly 5% of motorcycle accidents are from the motorcycle being rear-ended while stopped:
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclope...ses-30330.html

I couldn't find accurate statistics on bicycles that line up in traffic.

Like I said above, sometimes I line up, sometimes I wait in line. It just depends on the situation, and I have been riding bicycles and motorcycles long enough that I have a pretty good judgement about these things. There is no single right answer to any situation. I've even illegally split up between cars on my motorcycle to avoid being rear ended once. The car managed to stop before hitting the car, but would have sandwiched me had I not moved.

cyccommute 

You are reading that wrong. It’s 5% of motorcycle accidents accidents are from motorcycles being rear-ended. It says nothing about “while stopped”

This study has some breakdown but they list overtaking crashes with head-on and right hooks with the total being 13% of crashes between bicycle and vehicles. I’ve seen other statistics that say that highest percentage of motorcycle and bicycle accidents (about 42% of all accidents for both) are from left turns. However, that is a left turn of a vehicle across the motorcycle and bicycle line of travel, not from both getting rear ended at a stoplight. A fair amount of bicycle/car accidents resulting from overtaking accidents (of that 13% above) is due to lane changes by the cyclist.

wphamilton

Yep. If there's any traffic that I'm nervous about this is how I do it. Às a bonus it automatically puts me at the front of the line.

Koyote

I line up at left turn lanes. And in response to ShannonM ’s claim that a following motorist won’t see me, well, that seems implausible given the rather bright red flashing light that is always on the back of my bike. And like cyccommute , I prefer evidence over unsupported claims.