Originally Posted by
UniChris
This is a common misconception.
Where the sign goes up, it's because there isn't room for a safe squeeze pass.
So you should take the lane.
Now, if oncoming traffic is so incessant that there isn't an opportunity to be passed using the opposite lane, then it's prudent to start looking for the best opportunity to let those bottled up behind you safely pass and begin receding into the distance.
But the point is that you get to pick that spot.
"I want you gone - and I'm going to find you the first plausible opportunity to be" is the message we should be sending.
When it's appropriate, like in a roundabout or a narrow street, I do take the lane, but mostly I'm off to the side. I'm thinking of K St., which is a major arterial for us (when I say 'for us', Arcata doesn't have any stoplights; we're that small), and usually has fairly heavy traffic. Two lanes, on-street parking both sides, and sharrows; when there's a gap in the parked cars I scoot over and wave them on. Our drivers are surprisingly polite as drivers go; 99% of our traffic collisions are car on parked car or fender benders.