Where, exactly, should you be situated on the road? Whenever the road has intersections, parked cars, cross traffic or other variables, you belong slightly to the left of the rightmost path you could possibly follow. You're sharing a lane with overtaking traffic. In most situations, overtaking motorists will have to veer slightly to their left to pass you. That's okay. You're entitled to use the road, too. You are not, however, entitled to block traffic, and you should always avoid doing so.

When you're cycling on roads with no intersections or parked cars, you should cycle slightly more to the right, so that overtaking motorists will have an easier time passing you. The key difference is that your position on the road influences the intersection behavior of other road users and, in cases such as those cited above, reduces your exposure to road hazards. Any overtaking motorists on the verge of making a right turn may ignore you if you're on the shoulder. But if you're more directly in front of them, they're more likely to notice that your forward speed is something they have to deal with when they execute their turn. Similarly, motorists entering from a side street are more likely to notice you if you're in a real traffic lane.

Lane sharing does have ambiguous moments, and you should be ready for them. The two biggest factors determining the practicality of lane sharing are the width of the road and the overtaking speed of motorists.

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