filtering, right or wrong?

Lum

I personally don't care if a motorbike filters on the motorway, and tend to move over to allow it. I figure it's up to the biker if they want to filter or not, some will, some wont.

If you move over for them, it lets the biker know you have actually seen them, so they might be more likely to filter. Nobody likes being in a queue and I really don't begrudge the fact that bikers can slip through, it's not like they're going to be slowing me down or causing me any inconvenience, and it's hardly an inconvenience to move over for them, so I really can't see any reason not to move over.

In local traffic, I do think it should be an "at your own risk" type affair, since it's basically overtaking, so if the car or van you are overtaking stops to allow someone from a side street to the left to turn right in front of them, it should be the responsibility of the biker to check for this before popping out from alongside it.

mikey72

That's not filtering.

If traffic is stopped for a pedestrian crossing, and you overtake them on the wrong side of the road, you're overtaking.

I guess from what you have said, one of the cars you were overtaking has stopped short of the car in front, to let another motorist turning right from a side road out in front of him, while the traffic had stopped coming the other way?

Probably his fault, but as you're hidden by the line of cars, and no one would expect you to be there, and they're going to be a lot less attentive as as the other traffic on the main road has stopped, and will be coming out quickly before the light changes, it's going to down to you not to be run over.

JQ.

I doubt the courts would agree, but I would place some responsibility with the car driver that stopped short. If I let somebody out in slow moving traffic I'll always check both mirrors before doing so to avoid this exact incident.

Lum

They could just as easily be stopping short to allow people coming from the opposite direction to turn right. This is something I do regularly when in a stop/start queue.

Sometimes when you stop to let someone out, what you did isn't enough on it's own, (e.g. if there's two lanes in the same direction) but you stop anyway in the hope that someone else might do the same. You can't just say "oh she shouldn't have stopped because it wasn't safe for the other car to pull out yet" because if that became a precedent then people would hardly ever be able to stop and let people out.

spiro

Brallaqueen wrote: »

I was on my scooter filtering down a queue of stationary vehicles up to pedestrian crossing. I know that I have to stop behind the first vehicle.

You have to stop as soon as you reach the start of any zig zag lines, if you continue past the start of the lines you are breaking the law. Technically even if some numpty parks on the zig zags you cant pass him but I'm not sure how the courts would view this.

Brallaqueen

Thanks everyone, lots of food for thought

PasturesNew

It's not filtering... it's "overtaking the line of waiting cars, on the outside". If you're doing that you need to first stick a pair of eyes up your bum and on both elbows, then proceed on full alert at a little over walking pace.

arcon5

Got an email this morning linking to this case, might be of interest to some

http://www.casecheck.co.uk/CaseLaw.aspx?EntryID=18812&CaseType=Personal+Injury&CaseTitle=Burton+v+Evitt+%5b2011%5d+EWCA

mkirkby

arcon5 wrote: »

Got an email this morning linking to this case, might be of interest to some

http://www.casecheck.co.uk/CaseLaw.aspx?EntryID=18812&CaseType=Personal+Injury&CaseTitle=Burton+v+Evitt+%5b2011%5d+EWCA

Indeed. A situation that would almost never happen with someone who has had a lot of riding experience.

Lesson is that if you've little experience, just go slow and expect danger everywhere. Once you've got lots of experience, you'll just do what's safe automatically.

lovinituk

Something similar happened to me a few years ago where I was the car driver. I was waiting in a side junction indicating to turn right. The traffic on the main road flowing to the left was busy and stop/starting. A car from the right (moving left) stopped to let me out. I moved out to before the central line and then stopped to check the traffic in the other lane coming from the left.

As it became clear for me to pull out I very slowly started to release the clutch as I moved my head back round and at that split second a moped appeared from the right (had overtaken the stationery traffic) and into my path. I was only just starting to move (not much more than a roll at this point) but hit the brakes hard obviously. The car lurched forward slightly and bumped the rider off the moped.

He was fine, as it was such a slow impact but immediately blamed me. This actually happened 50m from a police station and a police traffic car happened to be coming out at that point so came over.

To cut the story short(er!), the policeman, who told me he also rode police bikes, said to me it was the moped riders fault for overtaking stationery traffic (which the policeman said he shouldn't be doing). The insurance companies agreed and decided in my favour.

I've tried to look up the 'no overtaking stationery traffic' rule in the highway code but I can't see it mentions anything of the sort!