Right hook?
I recently moved to Los Angeles after living in rural Sedona, AZ for 20 years. To say that I had to re-learn to drive all over again is an understatement!
I'm adjusting well for the most part but I'm still unclear about how to handle right turns across a bike lane when it is occupied by a bicycle. This happens almost every day. The letter of the law states I must "merge into the bike lane" before turning right.
Turning Across Bicycle Lane-21717. Whenever it is necessary for the driver of a motor vehicle to cross a bicycle lane that is adjacent to his lane of travel to make a turn, the driver shall drive the motor vehicle into the bicycle lane prior to making the turn and shall make the turn pursuant to Section 22100. Added Ch. 751, Stats. 1976. Effective January 1, 1977.
http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc21717.htm
I've noticed even after using my right turn signal and merging on several occasions bicyclists have passed me on the right! I've had two near misses and I'd be apoplectic if I hit someone on a bike not to mention what my 2000 pound car would do to him. The first time was a night on very busy Venice Blvd! I was loudly cussed out by the bicyclist.
Who's got the right of way in this situation? Do I slow behind a bike for hundreds of feet before my turn? I've just made it a habit to check my right side mirror one more time just before I make my turn.
I also have difficulty with all the parallel parking on the road sides. The bikes have to get into the right car lane to get around them. I slow behind the bikes until I can safely pass only to get honked at by the people in cars behind me. I'm supposed to give the bikes three feet of space, right? Better to get honked at than hit my super healthy environmentally conscious fellow commuters.
I just want to do the right thing. Can the DU bicycling group offer some advice for this brand new Angelino?
= new reply since forum marked as read
But if bicycles are passing you on the inside when you are in the bicycle lane why do you complain about having to get behind them for "hundreds of feet" before your turn?
Something you have to remember about riding a bicycle is that they (for the most part) don't have motors, every time you slow down on a bicycle it requires your own human effort to speed back up again and a lot of bicyclists try to maintain momentum as much as possible in order to minimize the effort required to reach their destination. In a hot climate (albeit dry heat) like LA that effort can lead to getting very hot and sweaty (and not a good way 
) .
It might be illuminating to you to try actually riding a bicycle in traffic for at least a little while and you could gain I think a valuable perspective on human powered locomotion. What's as easy to you as just pressing slightly harder on the accelerator pedal requires a great deal of effort on the part of someone riding a bicycle.
That being said, not everyone on a bicycle is a saint and not everyone driving a car is clueless dweeb and I don't mean to imply otherwise.
I appreciate your asking the question and I'm not sure I have a good answer for you that will fit every situation.
The Engineer who has lead the fight against Bike Lanes:
http://www.johnforester.com/
His book on biking: "Effective Cycling":
http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=aBfyXQ8EeLUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=isbn:0262516942&hl=en&sa=X&ei=HQ2UUaLDJOLkiAfwwYHwCA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
Another report on Bike lanes, and why they are BAD:
http://www.tpg1.com/protest/city/nobike/van_bikelanesbad.htm
San Francisco police are telling drivers to enter the BIKE LANE first, then turn right (This appears to be also the position of the Washington DC Police):
http://www.sfbike.org/news/bike-lanes-and-right-turns/
Diagram on how to turn right if a bike lane is between you and the edge of the road:
Notice in such situations, the cyclist is to get into the traffic lane and pass the car on the LEFT.
Paper on Bicycle "Blunders":
http://labreform.org/blunders/index.html
The problem you are facing is that Cyclists ASSUME that since they are in a bike lane, their have exclusive use of that lane. That is NOT true, Cyclists have exclusive use EXCEPT when a car is turning right, then the car MUST enter the bike lane and the cyclist pass the car on the left.
General rule is, except when the vehicle is parked, stopped etc, you pass on the left. This applies to Cyclists as while as drivers.
If you do NOT have the room to cut in front of the cyclists and then enter the bike lane, you travel behind the cyclists. If you do have the room to pass the cyclists and then enter the bike lane, you do so. Distances are hard to judge, for cyclists, like automobiles, often travel at different speeds. If you have a cyclist going at a good clip, you may have to follow the cyclist a couple of hundred feet. If the cyclist is going slow, you may have more then enough room to cut in front of the cyclist before you have to enter the bike lane to turn right. It is something you learn with experience, like anything else.
