Just slow down, be patient, and there won't be an accident.
If you slow down to change lanes, then you only make the matter worse, and that much more difficult to safely merge.
Who said anything about changing lanes? If the cyclist in front of you is signaling a left, you wait behind them until it is safe to proceed.
Bear in mind that legally speaking, merging requires that you are already moving with the flow of traffic in the target lane, and that other vehicles will not need to slow down to accommodate you because of your speed
No, and no. As long as there is sufficient space between you and following traffic to move left and take the lane, that traffic is absolutely required to slow to accommodate your speed. Why is it so fucking hard to understand that vehicles are not obligated to travel at the speed limit just because you're too muck of a dick to slow down for thirty seconds or so?