The bike lane exit that took me 3 years to use correctly

I used to swing wide into the right-turn lane instead of merging early, and it took a delivery driver honking at me in Portland to realize I was treating the lane like a car, so which is the safer move, staying in the bike lane until the last second or taking the car position a block before the turn?

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paulmitchell1mo ago

The bit about "treating the lane like a car" got me. I used to do the exact same thing, swing wide at the last second like I was driving a semi. It felt safer because I didn't have to look over my shoulder as much. But getting yelled at by a truck driver made me realize I was just blocking traffic and being unpredictable. Now I take the car position a full block early, hold the lane, and signal my turn. It feels weird at first but drivers actually respect it more because they can see what you're doing.