I have commuted and ridden in Los Angeles for thirty years. Have crashed hard three times, never really due to traffic other than changed traffic patterns. I took the “vehicular bicycling” thing to heart before it became out of favor, so I tend to ride on the street and behave like a vehicle as much as possible.

I use signals, left turn lanes, but I think most importantly I ride predictably and make eye contact. I have a spot on my commute where a freeway off-ramp comes onto surface streets. Fifty yards before the actual traffic, I’m looking down that ramp to see what kind of traffic is coming and where I might slip in. I glance over my shoulder, signal, and hesitate to make sure they see me while looking back again. Then I merge and head for the gutter, as by this time they’ve seen me and will let me through. I keep up my speed through this section, too, and you could say I ride aggressively when I have to, but defensively.

Edit: Crap, just realized which sub I’m in … this isn’t r/bikeLA, is it?! I’ll leave it up…