Texas?
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You: Lady riding down Pennsylvania Ave trying to turn left onto L-Street. You got honked at for not signaling your turn when you were in the straight/left turn lane and the vehicle behind you was going straight. I really wish you had thought about that before yelling at the driver. This will happen to anybody who does this, whether in a car or on a bike.
Me: In a taxi telling the driver to watch out for you because you were not in the proper lane and will probably be swerving in front of us to get to the bike lane shortly. I really wish you had checked over your shoulder or signaled before making those ill-advised lane changes. I’m not in every car around here.
On another note, let’s get some sharrows in the far left turn lane on Pennsylvania so riders like this will have better direction on how to execute this turn safely.
You're talking about this intersection? http://goo.gl/maps/iwdnc
Agreed that its not fun to be on a bike there (especially since you've just slogged uphill from the bridge over RCP). However, if the lane is clearly marked as both straight and turning (which, if we're talking about the same one, it is) then the driver had no right to honk at a bike (or car) waiting to make a left turn there. Left turns from that lane are controlled by a left turn arrow which has a delayed start compared to the straight-on-Penn arrow - if you want to go straight and are in a lane that is open to people who are waiting to turn, then that's your tough luck (not specifically yours, UrbanEng. - anyone using the road). I can't speak to the cyclists erratic behavior, but the way you describe it, I'm struggling to see how she was wrong to yell at the motorist.
The lane furthest to the left is for turns onto L St. and northbound onto 25th and the next lane over (straight+left) is for getting onto L. St only.
As a cyclist, you're best off in the furthest left lane because that dumps you into the cycletrack on the far left side of L St., but its not always possible to get all the way into the left lane on Penn - I know, occasionally, I'll get stuck in that mixed lane and have to work my way across the two lanes of vehicle traffic on L to get into the cycletrack.
Anybody, whether in a car or bike, who is turning from a left/straight lane, and does not signal so, is in the wrong. The vehicle behind them was given no indication of them turning. Is this worthy of a honk? Maybe, maybe not. Do I think she should have yelled at the driver for honking? Definitely not. I think an apology for not signaling would've been more appropriate.
I bet when you work your way across two lanes of vehicle traffic, you wouldn't recommend doing so blindly without signaling.
I find that the middle lane is more safe than the far left for this move. In the far left lane, you are at risk of a left hook from those drivers going to 25th. If in the mixed lane, you can turn onto L and merge left into the bike lane when safe. As far as signalling, it is difficult to signal while trying to maintain speed up the hill. I generally choose to keep my speed up rather than signal, not that I would move left without plenty of room. If a cyclist is in the middle lane, if I were driving, I would assume that they are turning left. There is no other reason a cyclist would be in that lane.