Etiquette when filtering

Originally Posted by nakedblue650

Cheers Ed

Self employment dictates that risks are minimised!

So go buy the loudest can you can afford so that dozy drivers hear you coming

So go buy the loudest can you can afford so that dozy drivers hear you coming

Ha!Ha! Would love to but I've just spent a lump of my tax money on the SV and 2nd tax payment is due next month!

nb650

It takes a while to get used to filtering and the important thing is to do it at a speed you feel confortable with and not be pushed by anyone. I always move over as soon as I see someone coming behind, I find it distracting to see lights in my mirrors.

Scooter drivers are the worst, IMO, I have seen some truly ridiculous things.

As for the shaking head I am often left doing this because of some c**t of a car driver almost killing me whilst trying to send a text. Which due to the speed I am travelling frequently means I am a couple of hundred yards away from the incident before I stop, so could this be the same?

Bikers can equally be tw*ts though, I was filtering outside a line of traffice last night and one screamed past me on the outside of me......another headshaking and filling the inside of my helmet with blue words moment!

I also have a loud can and can honestly say, that by the time they hear you it is already likely to be too late. Their pre-occupation with everything non-driving related is too much.

Hi krhall

I have to agree with your sentiments. I had always puzzled me, until I started riding, why bikes are predominantly over my right shoulder in the mirror, why their lights are on all the time, etc but it has become clear.

One thing I am very consciencous of is speed around towns - it is amazing that car drivers will still be looking to overtake when I'm doing 33/34 in a 30, 44/45 in a 40 and then when you get to an urestricted single they don't want to do more than 50! I know the couple of mph over is wrong but mostimes it seems necessary to avoid four wheeled ********s! And on that subject do Chelsea tractors make bikes invisble?

nb650

I see people filter down the middle of a single carriage road, and forcing oncoming traffic to move over. I don't like that, it doesn't give us a good reputation. To my mind as long as you aren't forcing people to deviate or avoid you then it's fair play, but caution and patience are two things that will save you from a prang.
Always thank the drivers that are aware enough to see you coming and kind enough to make it easy for you.

To my mind as long as you aren't forcing people to deviate or avoid you then it's fair play,

Good summary! I still won't deviate when in my van to make room for bikes - I see it as counter productive on the basis that it may encouarge bikes to go when not ideally safe. Likewise I hate it when car drivers move over when I'm riding because they then, having bounced themselves off the curb, expect you to go when the reality is that the rider should assess everything before going and not because they don't want upset the car driver for not going!

nb650

When you arrive at the front a queue I belive it is good form to position yourself such that other bikes filtering behind you can get through and level with you. This requires judgement on each occasion though as to do so you'll probably be breaking the highway code etc to do so. This also leads to the potentially dangerous situation of you and one or more other bikes are pulling away at the same time, so you need your wits about you. For the London lot this is all daily fair and I doubt they even think about it. SoulKiss???

My other ettiquette comment is that I belive it's bad form to filter and then 'push' into a queue causing a delay to other road users. (London is something of an exception to this) Ie don't filter up to the front of a queue then pull across a car driver and then sit there waiting for a nice big gap. Again it's hard to judge and sometimes to get the benefit of filtering you have to inconvenience others, that's sort of the perk of being on a bike. But if you don't have to, then I say don't (as in inconvenience others). Observation of the traffic flow and moderation of your speed to match can often mean you arrive at the front ready to take an opportunity a car can't, a fair result for all.

Originally Posted by sinbad

I see people filter down the middle of a single carriage road, and forcing oncoming traffic to move over. I don't like that, it doesn't give us a good reputation. To my mind as long as you aren't forcing people to deviate or avoid you then it's fair play, but caution and patience are two things that will save you from a prang.
Always thank the drivers that are aware enough to see you coming and kind enough to make it easy for you.

IMO if this is done relatively slowly and with a degree of caution (i.e. you are able to squeeze back into your lane if necessary) then it's OK to do.

Maybe in quieter areas you can get away without doing it, but there are a few stretches of my commute where it's this or sit in a traffic queue for 20 mins - and in that situation I know which I'm gonna do! I've never really had a problem with drivers being peed off either, think London drivers are more used to working around eachother.

Oh and i do always make a point of thanking people if they move over, etc

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by 2mths

When you arrive at the front a queue I belive it is good form to position yourself such that other bikes filtering behind you can get through and level with you. This requires judgement on each occasion though as to do so you'll probably be breaking the highway code etc to do so. This also leads to the potentially dangerous situation of you and one or more other bikes are pulling away at the same time, so you need your wits about you. For the London lot this is all daily fair and I doubt they even think about it. SoulKiss???

Hmm tricky one that - its a case by case basis.

If I am riding with someone else and leading then I will, when safe, make sure there is room for them in all cases - I will even block traffic to let them in - ie put the front of my wheel in a gap and wait until the guy I am riding with has gone round the outside of me and into that gap.

If on my own I will usually make a space, unless I have observed that I really dont want someone in front of me then I will move to block them - this generally applies to scooters and cyclists