On the way home I noticed another situation that can get ugly in a hurry. The car in front of me was waiting to turn left on a 2-lane road with traffic approaching in a 4-way intersection. In that instance, as a motorcyclist you’re left with a decision to make. Do you swerve around him or wait until he turns? Typically I’ll judge whether or not I have a clear view of what’s coming my way. If there’s another car coming toward us with a left turn signal on there’s no way I’m swerving around and entering his path; but if there’s approaching traffic, if I have room and a clear view I’ll slow up, tap the brakes, cover the front brake lever and swerve around him. As usual you have to be concerned with traffic behind you, in front of you and coming from both sides as well as the state of the pavement you’re about to swerve into. Above all controlling the bike is of the utmost importance should you need to react in any way.
In the instance in which I don’t intend to swerve around I generally try to move to the right third of my lane to discourage the driver behind me from trying to pass us both. I’ve been in the situation in which I didn’t move right, the guy behind me swerved around us both; but by the time he re-entered my lane I was beside him because the car in front had completed his turn and I had accelerated. Blocking, in that case, is a wise thing to do in my opinion.
Ride safe.