As someone who bikes to work on a regular basis, I constantly encounter the naked sense of entitlement that motorists have about "their" road. We cyclists are trespassing on their turf.
This was evident in a recent letter published in a "Dr. Gridlock" column in the WaPo. The writer was commenting on the story of a cyclist who complained about a car behind him on the service road along K street who honked her horn at him for five blocks. The letter writer wrote:
"Surely the cyclist must share some of the blame for not yielding the right of way to the motorist who was legally using the service road. The cyclists actions were not only selfish, but even dangerous." Emphasis added.
Did the car have the right of way?
Not necessarily. While the law calls for the cyclist to ride to the right in the lane, there are exceptions when the cyclist can move away from the side, spelled out in DC Municipal Regulations. These exceptions include when the lane is narrow (11 feet wide or less) or when necessary for the cyclists safety.
The service road along K street is narrow, though I don't know whether it is 11 feet wide or less. But I doubt there is enough room for a cyclist to maintain enough distance to protect him from getting "doored" (when someone in a parked car swings his door open in front of an oncoming cyclist) and for a car to safely pass.
There was no "right of way" for the car here. Just a sense of entitlement.
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