On Sat, 27 Dec 2014 23:03:03 -0400, Joy Beeson
wrote:


A beginning cyclist often forgets that every driver on the road is
trying to avoid running over pedestrians and bike riders.

The vast majority of drivers are nice people who get in your way only
when they try to help, and the vast majority of the people who want
cyclists off the road want them off because they want to "protect"
them.

Yes, there are psychopaths out there -- with around two hundred
million drivers in the same nation I'm in, some of them *have* to be
psychopaths. But even people who hate bicycles and fantasize about
seeing the blood of the riders splashed over the pavement are keenly
aware that the driver who splashes the blood is going to have a lot of
paperwork to fill out. The psychopath will settle for hoping someone
else kills you.

So everyone except the guy who probably wrapped himself around a tree
ten miles back is trying to avoid killing you.

MAKE IT EASY FOR THEM! Ride where you can be seen, signal your
turns, follow the rules of the road, and generally be predictable and
visible.

Generally true, except for the invention of texting. Get a mirror and
keep an eye out for the car drifting out of their lane behind you.