Why block filtering motorcycles...?

[Willy Nilly]

V8RX7 said:

As above.

I aid bikers as they don't affect me but bloody cyclists can hold you up time and time again in certain circumstances (eg heavy traffic with lots of traffic lights)

Cycling home tonight and again I get squeezed against the curb opposite a traffic island and again the individual that did it ended up stopping at the mini roundabout about 80 meters further on which held me up.

[Hungrymc]

akirk, no offense but wow.

Defensive driving includes being predictable and not surprising other road users. The road positioning is primarily about making your intention clear and ensuring you have space to complete your maneuvers.

I won't condone bike's undertaking between lane 2 and 3 in fast moving traffic. But for you to try and manage this by showing that the gap that you acknowledge they will think was there, is now closed because you've moved into it is ridiculous.

I would recommend that if you are unsure if the bike has committed to the pass, the least you should do is to maintain a normal position and try to avoid any changes in direction (I personally would create more space if possible - certainly not less). If the bike has committed to the pass, I'd deffinetly recommend allowing more room.

What you are doing is no different to positioning your car awkwardly to try and stop a following car overtaking because you don't consider it good driving - your motive may be well meaning but I'm afraid your driving may be Interpreted by others as quite aggressive.... maybe you don't care and are happy to make your point? But that's doesn't mean it's good driving.

[shost]

I love it when you get three lanes with bikers filtering simultaneously between both. So if I'm in the middle lane trying to make way for one set a muppet will be trying to filter the other side of me and get squeezed!

[Jonesy23]

It looks like some people equate filtering through slow traffic with high speed undertakes or overtaking into oncoming traffic.

Blocking people doing the former is wrong.

People doing the latter might eventually realise that they shouldn't assume that the world will give way to them. One day they might meet someone who isn't expecting them to be there or just doesn't particularly care to yield and will become aware of just how quickly and painfully it can go wrong.

I suspect at least one person on this thread is the sort who regularly rides at 100+ passing between adjacent vehicles without considering that a quick inch or two twitch by one or both drivers will give one side a bit of a dent and potentially turn the other into thinly spread jam.

Personally I prefer to keep myself intact.


As for hitting or damaging cars... yes you are making a point but you are picking an argument with something that could cripple or kill you. Not everyone will react the same way, some will back off, some might decide to hurt you and are well equipped to do so. If you manage to get them prosecuted for it it might not be much comfort.

[vonhoolio]

Best post on this thread.

VeeFource said:

I'd love to see how car drivers with the 'blocking' mentality would cope driving somewhere like say Hanoi in Vietnam. They'd suddenly find their car is seen as a great annoyance what with selfishly taking up virtually an entire lane and delaying the swarms of scooters trying to make progress. I wonder if it would ever occur to them how it would all be at a standstill if those so called 'motorcyclists' were all in cars.

I'd also love to see the reaction of a scooter riding Vietnamese fellow as he sees the minority 'motorcyclist' penalised for not conforming to the queuing regimes of the car driving masses here in the UK. Sure, they're surrounded by 4 empty seats, Radio 4 and air conditioning but what does that matter when these motorcycling savages think they can push in with no regard for British queuing etiquette. Not even the fact the 'motorcyclist' will be long gone from the lights before they even hit second gear matters when they're free demonstrate their point and police them with 1.5 tons of instant roadblock.

Mind numbingly ignorant!

[Pothole]

akirk said:

that I will block for safety reasons, I am not going to be involved in an accident because of some biker's arrogance...

But possibly because of your own. Behave yourself.

[Pothole]

CaptainCosworth said:

RobM77 said:

CaptainCosworth said:

Really? I don't think I've ever seen a car adjust their lane position to allow a motorcyclist to filter on a motorway.

I do this once or twice a day and always have done, provided it won't mislead car drivers (i.e. normally I do it up to the edge of the road, not towards a line when someone might think I'm changing lanes). I see others doing it too. If anything, it just shows a biker that you've seen them, which must be re-assuring to them.

On a motorway??? So you're in lane 1 and happy to have someone come up the white lines between you and another car in lane 2?

Of course. I know from my own experience the biker will be paying more attention than most of the other people on that motorway.

[parabolica]

There was a thread on here not so long ago about how filtering is illegal in a few EU countries (and further abroad) and with London being the hot-pot stew with every known nationality living in it, some aren't going to know that it's perfectly legal in the UK.

Either that, or someone is just being a dick for the sake of being one. That said, this doesn't just happen to motorcycles; I've had plenty of times where someone will block two or more lanes of traffic for no apparent reason.

[BigLion]

I always move over - less keen on those moped things when someone filters to the front then struggles to do 20mph in a 40mph zone because of an incline...

[eliot]

Any biker who slowly filters down the lane and is patient is fine, however as always we get the minority who ride as fast as possible which is plain dangerous.

Was once sat stationary on the M5 for a very long time - you know when people start getting out their cars.
Biker comes flying down between l2/3 - and you guessed it, a passenger opens the door straight into his path and he goes flying - he didn't get any sympathy from anyone and was left to pick himself up and exchange details.
If he would of been trundling slowly he would of been able to stop or the passenger may of seen them.
When you consider the motorway was clearly closed (no traffic on the other carriageway) - why race to get to the front of a closed motorway?

[V8RX7]

problemchild1976 said:

how long do they feasibly hold you up?

30mins?

or

2mins?

2mins at 15mph is a 1/2 mile! thats quite a distance/time to be unable to overtake

for some reason when we get in a car, seconds become sooooo important

maybe leave the house 5mins early and don't worry about cyclists then you wont have to waste your time and money in court defending yourself when you knock one down

i don't cycle

JJ

Similarly I don't deliberately walk behind old / slow people, I suggest that cyclists regularly hold me up by 5 minutes perhaps 2x a week x 48 weeks = 8hrs / yr. If they were in cars or on motorbikes they wouldn't - there are perhaps 8 I regularly meet.

I'm not on about knocking any off just positioning so they can't easily get ahead at a set of lights to hold me up.

Or to put it another way, I'm not holding them up at all - the lights are, they will hold me up - again !

Why on earth would I aid them ?

[Dr Murdoch]

V8RX7 said:

Similarly I don't deliberately walk behind old / slow people, I suggest that cyclists regularly hold me up by 5 minutes perhaps 2x a week x 48 weeks = 8hrs / yr. If they were in cars or on motorbikes they wouldn't - there are perhaps 8 I regularly meet.

I'm not on about knocking any off just positioning so they can't easily get ahead at a set of lights to hold me up.

Or to put it another way, I'm not holding them up at all - the lights are, they will hold me up - again !

Why on earth would I aid them ?

To be nice? Funny concept eh?

You do hold cyclists up, queuing traffic significantly slows parts of my journey when I cycle. Its a pain in the arse, but it is what it is.

Remember, that cyclist (assuming its a commuter) is one less car in front of you...

Just live and let live and chill out ffs.

[WinstonWolf]

V8RX7 said:

brrapp said:

Renn Sport said:

To balance this out I have motorcyclists who stop me filtering past on my pushbike too.

I filter if on a motorbike and try to help motorbikes to filter if I'm in a car or van, but I have to confess, I'll try to block cyclists from filtering in some circumstances. If I've been in a queue of vehicles stuck behind a bunch of cyclists for a while, I've just got past, then come to a set of lights and the cyclists start filtering past the waiting traffic and I know I'll be stuck behind them for another mile or so then yes, I'll try to block them.

As above.

I aid bikers as they don't affect me but bloody cyclists can hold you up time and time again in certain circumstances (eg heavy traffic with lots of traffic lights)

It's the heavy traffic and the lights that are holding you up, not the cyclists if it's the same one time after time they're as fast as you...

[Pothole]

supercommuter said:

I ride a motorbike, drive a car/van and cycle so I like to think I have a good viewpoint of most road users. However, one thing I cannot get my head around is the car drivers who actively block motorcycles from filtering in traffic.

Having trudged through the arrogant, officious, occasionally dangerous twaddle in this thread, I think the definitive answer is jealous moronitude masquerading as a myriad of other things.

[FazerBoy]

Dog Star said:

I've been riding since 1984 and I've probably come across this less than once a year on average. Whatever it is - it's a very rare thing to happen.

I totally agree with this.

To give some idea of my credentials for that statement I should say that I passed my bike test in 1982 and between then and now have probably owned over forty motorcycles of all shapes and sizes - mostly large capacity sports bikes.I currently have a Triumph Speed Triple R and a BMW F800R and have put an order in for the new Fireblade.

I have always lived in London and have commuted daily to work by motorcycle through some of the heaviest urban traffic in the country. I have also done many tens of thousands of miles of motorway riding, A-road blasts etc etc.

I don't sit in traffic when filtering is possible and yet I can honestly say that in all my experience I can barely recall one or two episodes where somebody might have intentionally prevented me from passing them. On the contrary, I find that many drivers almost go out of their way to give me more space - even though I generally don't need more space and would be happy for them to maintain their course. On some journeys my wrist starts aching due to all the little waves of acknowledgement I've given to drivers pulling over in their lane to allow me past!

My filtering is smooth, unobtrusive and at a safe speed for the circumstances (certainly no more than a 20mph speed differential). My aim is to flow through the traffic without causing any other road user to have to alter his or her course. In most cases I'm past before they even realise it. When I need to ensure I am visible to another road user to ensure my safety (and theirs) then I do so in a manner which says 'I'm here' not 'Get out of my way!'. I am not overtaking or filtering in an aggressive manner nor tailgating etc.

My guess is that riders who are frequently being blocked are riding in a manner precisely the opposite of that detailed in the previous paragraph.

[BigLion]

FazerBoy said:

Dog Star said:

I've been riding since 1984 and I've probably come across this less than once a year on average. Whatever it is - it's a very rare thing to happen.

I totally agree with this.

To give some idea of my credentials for that statement I should say that I passed my bike test in 1982 and between then and now have probably owned over forty motorcycles of all shapes and sizes - mostly large capacity sports bikes.I currently have a Triumph Speed Triple R and a BMW F800R and have put an order in for the new Fireblade.

I have always lived in London and have commuted daily to work by motorcycle through some of the heaviest urban traffic in the country. I have also done many tens of thousands of miles of motorway riding, A-road blasts etc etc.

I don't sit in traffic when filtering is possible and yet I can honestly say that in all my experience I can barely recall one or two episodes where somebody might have intentionally prevented me from passing them. On the contrary, I find that many drivers almost go out of their way to give me more space - even though I generally don't need more space and would be happy for them to maintain their course. On some journeys my wrist starts aching due to all the little waves of acknowledgement I've given to drivers pulling over in their lane to allow me past!

My filtering is smooth, unobtrusive and at a safe speed for the circumstances (certainly no more than a 20mph speed differential). My aim is to flow through the traffic without causing any other road user to have to alter his or her course. In most cases I'm past before they even realise it. When I need to ensure I am visible to another road user to ensure my safety (and theirs) then I do so in a manner which says 'I'm here' not 'Get out of my way!'. I am not overtaking or filtering in an aggressive manner nor tailgating etc.

My guess is that riders who are frequently being blocked are riding in a manner precisely the opposite of that detailed in the previous paragraph.

Speed of filtering is key in standstill traffic - I nearly saw two school kids get knocked over by a motorbike which had split the 2 lanes and was motoring so quickly it took me by surprise too...the kids saw no cars moving so started crossing and them the motorcycle came flying up the middle

[VeeFource]

V8RX7 said:

Similarly I don't deliberately walk behind old / slow people, I suggest that cyclists regularly hold me up by 5 minutes perhaps 2x a week x 48 weeks = 8hrs / yr. If they were in cars or on motorbikes they wouldn't - there are perhaps 8 I regularly meet.

I'm not on about knocking any off just positioning so they can't easily get ahead at a set of lights to hold me up.

Or to put it another way, I'm not holding them up at all - the lights are, they will hold me up - again !

Why on earth would I aid them ?

Rubbish! Are you telling me that once you're past the cyclist that you don't catch up to the car you were originally behind again? 19 times out of 20 you will and in which case the cyclist hasn't held you up at all. In fact due to him not being in a car which you'd find much harder to overtake you've actually saved yourself some precious few seconds.

And as others have said, yes you do hold up the cyclist as a lot of cars do in queuing traffic, especially when lanes are narrow. Does that mean they should ride in the middle of the road to stop you slowing them down in future? By your logic they should.

[Mave]

V8RX7 said:

Or to put it another way, I'm not holding them up at all - the lights are, they will hold me up - again !

Why on earth would I aid them ?

And when you are queuing behind THEM at traffic lights, what exactly do you think is holding you up? Them or the traffic lights?

If you overtook them previously and yet they managed to filter to the front of the traffic lights you were waiting at, then your average speed is no greater than theirs is it?

[Carlson W6]

Very loud pipes stop this nonsense.

[RobM77]

Pothole said:

CaptainCosworth said:

RobM77 said:

CaptainCosworth said:

Really? I don't think I've ever seen a car adjust their lane position to allow a motorcyclist to filter on a motorway.

I do this once or twice a day and always have done, provided it won't mislead car drivers (i.e. normally I do it up to the edge of the road, not towards a line when someone might think I'm changing lanes). I see others doing it too. If anything, it just shows a biker that you've seen them, which must be re-assuring to them.

On a motorway??? So you're in lane 1 and happy to have someone come up the white lines between you and another car in lane 2?

Of course. I know from my own experience the biker will be paying more attention than most of the other people on that motorway.

Why ever not? If I'm not indicating to move out, then I've no problem at all with it - why would I?! (genuine question - why would it worry me?). As I said, I see this practically every day on my 36 mile commute, most of which is dual carriageway and motorway, and have never seen a single scary moment caused by it. I pay attention when I drive and usually see such a biker coming from a fair way back, so I'm ready for it - he passes with no issues, and all throughout I'm doing a steady speed in lane 1 happy as Larry. Why would that be a problem for either of us? Sure, it's not 100% safe, but given that about 99.9999999% of people don't signal before they move, around a third of people don't signal at all, and a fair number of people tailgate, filtering bikers is the least of my worries. As CC says, at least they're paying attention!