MiniTip 1 [Urban Riding]

When a vehicle approaches from a side street or driveway: immediately check your back. If a vehicle is in your lane behind you, the driveway driver will probably see it and wait. This gives you some cover, but also no room to dodge, so remain vigilant. If there is no vehicle immediately behind you, take the lane by moving yourself into the middle of the lane. This serves two important purposes. It brings you into the attention zone of the driver of the side vehicle, and it gives you more room to react if the side vehicle lurches forward.

A driveway/side street vehicle driver is highly motivated to get past the traffic menace in your street: to merge to his right in your direction of travel, or (more dangerous) to cross the entire street, or (worst of all) to make a left turn. This driver is usually very focussed on traffic in the lanes and looking for a gap to shoot. This driver may have his finger on the trigger and have it almost squeezed off. This driver can easily miss seeing you, especially if you are not out there in the traffic lanes (the attention zone). This is one of the main reasons that riding on the sidewalk is more dangerous than riding on the roadway.

Be careful out there.