I would definitely agree with you on that one. Often a cop is likely to cite as a safety concern, the temperament of drivers around you as an excuse to use the safety clause against you...."son I'm issuing you this ticket for your own good...these cars are crazy (not that I'll try to stop them because there is just so darn many of them that I can't be bothered), so I'm penalizing you little biker".
As much as I dissagree with the cop's rationale in situations like these I do have to acknowledge the attitude of others I share the road with and in the burbs filtering is something I stay away from, despite longer jams, wider lanes, and more predictable traffic lights. Both the drivers and cops west of, well pretty much the 427 have little patience for filtering bikes, and not much more understanding. Every now and then I push my luck though.
Down in the city is a different matter all together. A lot of times at the font of lights friendly smiles or indifferent forward gazes are the norm. Even if I'm in a right lane all to my self, at the front I move well over to the left to let cars making a right turn by. A lot are shy and cant gauge the proportions of their car very well, peering over the wheel guessing at how long their hood really is, so I wave them past like a parking usher.
It's all about higher density and sharing downtown. Milton perhaps is more about pick-up trucks and the belief in one's entitlement to a huge plot (home and road).
One moves out to Milton for space....so the common culture dictates bikers stay well away from car mirrors!
But that 401 jam past the 403 all the way out to Milton is so so so so so tempting isn't it?!?!?!?!
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