Aren't intersections the most dangerous spot for bikes/scooters, though? (car makes right-hand turn into bike going straight)
[Random pet peeve: when a clearly-marked bike lane ends and combines into car lane, and still, bicyclists insist on filtering up the side of the curb up to the stop line. Please, don't)
The first thing you said is the reason cyclists do the second.
The biggest risk is a car turning into you at the junction because you were in a blind spot. It's much safer to be at the front of the queue so you are clearly visible, and can clear the danger zone ahead of the traffic.
Also, in general, things you see cyclists doing that you perceive as dangerous very rarely are - almost every serious bike car crash is because the driver didn't see the cyclist and turned into them. The cyclist behaving most dangerously is timidly hugging the curb trying to stay out of your way!
When no dedicated bike lane is provided, cyclists are governed by the same rules as motorcyclists. That means that they can (and should) take up the full lane just as a car would, but actually doing that tends to evoke negative responses from car drivers. In jurisdictions that allow it, lane splitting is both faster and less likely to trigger road rage, though probably more dangerous.
At least in SF, they protect the bike lanes sometimes - no right on red, at least, when there's a protected bike lane.
Re filtering, is that technically against the rules? It's a single lane at that point, but in CA it's legal to share the lane if there's room. Seems like a cyclist or motorbike has the right to lanesplit and move up.
> Seems like a cyclist or motorbike has the right to lanesplit and move up.
Yes, but in this case you filter on the driver's left. You don't filter up in the 10cm between the curb and the car when the driver is signaling right; it's a dick move and eventually you're going to get hurt.
Fair enough, but honestly this seems like far less of a problem than the large fraction of drivers who don't know how to turn properly in the first place, and just make that right turn without having merged into the bike lane.
I commuted in SF for a year, and I'd guess 75% of cars don't know why the bike lane starts getting dashed before an intersection.
[Random pet peeve: when a clearly-marked bike lane ends and combines into car lane, and still, bicyclists insist on filtering up the side of the curb up to the stop line. Please, don't)