That's why some cyclists are adamant about not using a shoulder. It invites a squeeze play like the dumbass motor home driver attempted. Far be it for them to slow until they could safely pass.
Come on Paul. Seriously, you have to admit that there is blatant disregard among cyclists for running stop signs, traffic lights, and not staying over to the side so cars can safely get by them. Many cyclists seem to think the rules of the road don't apply to them, and that's wrong. Explain to me what's going on with the dumbazzed idiots who continually ride on the wrong side of the road. This is your brethren, buddy. Bikes are supposed to obey the same rules as cars, not make up their own rules of the road as they go. As for staying over to the side of the road, doesn't it pizz you off when you're in a car and a much slower vehicle gets in your way and refuses to move over so you can safely get around? Sure it does, but bicyclists often refuse to stay to the side to the right side where they should be. It's no wonder people get fed up with them THEY BRING IT ON THEM SELVES!
Every road user I know takes regular liberties with the law. Be it slow rolling stops and right turns on red, going over the speed limit, not using turn signals, etc. The difference is that cyclists pose almost no thereat to the safety of others when they screw up. Certainly far less of a threat than a motor vehicle. When I break the law bicycling it often serves to enhance the overall flow of traffic.
Most of the wrong way cyclists I see are people who aren't qualified to have a drivers license. I certainly advocate strongly against wrong way cycling.
It pisses me off if a slower vehicle gets in front of me an I am stuck behind them for a while. I have never been stuck behind a cyclist for more than 30 seconds though. Most often it's much less than that. They take up a small space and travel slowly. Very easy to pass! When I have had frank conversations with motorists, most of them admit that they get held up by motorists more on their average trip than they have been held up by cyclists cumulatively over the whole of their lives. On the ride my most recent photo captures, some drivers slowed. None had to. I worked all of them around me immediately. I pulled off at one point to take a pic. A motorhome came by. It had about a dozen vehicles stacked up behind it. The same thing happened with a semi. Put in the proper perspective, cyclists are a non-issue.
Sometimes it's unsafe to hug the right. Bicycle safety experts have written volumes about it and that's why laws rarely strictly relegate a cyclist to the far right. The link someone posted about a motorhome clipping a rider and killing him is an example of the hazards of hugging the right.
