This is an old thread but the issues are still current so here goes...
macca33 wrote: ↑Sun Oct 28, 2012 10:28 pm
It is definitive - whomever is positioned behind the other must give way in these circumstances.
If the car is in front, then it is entitled to move into the bicycle lane (after Giving Way to the bicycle - and when it is within 50 metres of the intersection), in order to complete a turn and in this case, the cyclist must yield.
I seems that you are implying that the driver must move to the bike lane on his left in order to have this right of way. If so then, going on the equivalent regs in WA, then AFAIU there is no obligation to turn left only from the left most lane if it is a bike lane. Personally I, as do most other drivers, stay out of the lane at traffic lights, so giving the cyclist a chance to take the controlling position while waiting on lights which makes for safer cycling (cleats setc).
Note that In the WA regs a bike lane is not quite just a lane, it is a "special purpose lane".
PARKING IN A BIKE LANE:
As an aside, there is a popular gripe in this forum that it is illegal for cars to park in bike lanes. Not so in WA and, based on the general uniformity of traffic laws around the country, I'd guess the same elsewhere. Indeed, 132 (2) in the WA Road Traffic Code indicates otherwise unless someone can demonstrate that a place not signed as clearway, no parking, etc is treated any differently for a bike lane than for anywhere else.