someone up above said about riding in France and how positive the comparison with riding here.... i'll echo that. Same for Spain. The people over there, as a majority, will try to help you along your way.
over here, some will actively try to hamper you, most don't have the faintest idea you're there and mimse on regardless and when they do realise are too damned thick to consider anything other than what they usually do...some will try to help you out e.g. move the electric mirrors if it's narrow at the head of a queue at the lights.
same for most other things here really
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I ride bikes (road pedal cycles & motorcycles) too - being able to filter is one of the joys of having a motorbike! Never ever been in a traffic jam on a motorbike or held up by traffic, last year I rode through 15 miles of jammed up M6 right to the head of the Q. On my former commute of 17 miles through a busy town the pushbike took 60-80 mins, the car 30-50 mins and the motorcycle 20 mins whatever the traffic. On motorbikes you simply do not worry that it is rush-hour. Mine has a rather loud air-horn fitted to warn motorists who 'try to shut the door' on me whilst filtering, one honk on this soon clears the way. Don't get me wrong here - I love cars too, they are much safer and lovely when it is raining /icy/nightime, just think more people ought to give biking a try!
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I have learned to expect anything from people in cars when confronted with a filtering bike. A friend of a friend was deliberately obstructed when filtering on the M25 last year. When she looked at the guy and shook her head, he leaned out of the window and punched her so hard in the ribs it knocked her off the bike. Thankfully a witness in the car behind extracted him from his car and pinned him to the bonnet until the police arrived.
There are some complete nutters on the road today, but thankfully they're in a real minority.
Cheers
DP
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OK, so filtering is perfectly legal, even though not explained or sanctioned in the HC. So it obviously differs from undertaking, which of course would also be legal in slow moving traffic but not if you deliberately change lane in order to pass other traffic. But then again, perhaps creating your own private lane is not changing lane.
Just one final clarification please - can this new biker lane be created on either side of the car that is to be passed, or only on the offside? Can there be a bike filter lane on both sides perhaps? And if a biker rides up to the head of a queue waiting to fill up with petrol, is that called pushing in, or just filtering?
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Cliff,
I do this regularly on my push bike - High Holborn was solid at 16:30 this afternoon. Did nothing the HC prohibits, just kept my eyes skinned and chose the best line. Sometimes kerbside, mostly between the bus and main traffic lanes and finally offside for the last 100metres to the Proctor St junction.
While I can see the problem in the filling station I'm lost to understand what he car driver looses on the road.
Please can you explain?
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Regarding the fuel queue, that's just bad manners, unless he'd nipped up to use one which cars could not access due to congestion. If I do this I always push the bike forward of the pump once I've finished filling up, so that the next user is not impeded.
Mr. Pope, I do hope I'm mistaken but reading between the lines it seems that you resent the fact that someone else is getting home before you are. It's an advantage of riding a motorcycle, just as staying warm and dry is an advantage of travelling by car.
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Mr. Pope I do hope I'm mistaken but reading between the lines it seems that you resent the fact that someone else is getting home before you are. It's an advantage of riding a motorcycle just as staying warm and dry is an advantage of travelling by car.
Don't try and filter between the lines. :)
I don't resent bikers doing it at all. When I lived in London I did it all the time on a pushbike. I simply wanted to know what the legal position is, as there does not appear to be any very clear sanction for the practice, eg in the HC. Obviously bikers' guides encourage it, (with caution) - they would say that, wouldn't they?
It just struck me as curious that with official disapproval of undertaking, even though arguably a safe and sensible practice in other countries, the much more erratic practice of weaving a bike up lanes of traffic, crossing lanes to find the best gaps, should apparently be OK.
BTW cars can filter too in certain circumstances. At the approach to some roundabouts the lanes widen out, and you sometimes get people trying to start new lanes by squeezing the legitimate ones over a bit. This is especially true where there are only two lanes, which tend to get used for left or right, but there is a strong demand to go straight ahead. Drivers often straddle the lane marking, sometimes "booking" the space well before the roundabout. The HC does not say anything about that either, but in principle it would appear similar to bike filtering.
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Just one final clarification please - can this new biker lane be created on either side of the car that is to be passed or only on the offside? Can there be a bike filter lane on both sides perhaps?
It's wherever possible - however, IMO, it's down to the rider to "do the right thing". If he causes a crash, or any inconvenience to others himself, then he's beyond the pale. If someone he's passing causes the problem, the same applies to them. "Caution" is the word (as well as politeness). Consider - if someone on a motor cycle gets ahead of you in traffic, and they're riding something capable of the legal limit (and a bit) for that road, you will probably never see them again!
And if a biker rides up to the head of a queue waiting to fill up with petrol is that called pushing in or just filtering?
That's downright rude, contrary to good form, and the same sanctions ought to be applied to that person as to any other cheat.
Somewhere like level crossing gates is interesting - at these, if I'm first in th queue in my car, I leave a bit of space in front - either people on motorbikes will use the space - OK - or if not, I will use it to get a "rolling advantage" when the barriers rise. V. useful in multi-lane approaches to level crossings!
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In the interests of balance, re bike vs. car filtering. I was stationary in the car at the front of a temporary traffic light, left a sensible gap before the 'please wait here' sign to allow for large vehicles oncoming etc. - anyway, matey boy in old Mondeo overtakes (sorry, filters) line of traffic up to me & plonks himself in front me & of 'please wait here' sign. I was genuinely speechless.
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Sorry WB but cars can't really filter so the monduno was merely being typically car driverish putting himself first.
Thanks to all car drivers who adjust their position to allow good progress to be made, I do try to acknowledge this. I have been known to -nod the head, wave a hand, wave a foot, lift fingers -which I use depends on circumstances.
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Please wait here signs are nearly always in the wrong place. They don't really mean "here", they mean somewhere further back. So they are invitations to the selfish or pedantic to do exactly what the sign says.
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At our local Tesco filling station I'll queue if there's solid line of cars, but if the front pump is empty and the rear one is still filling up I'll jump the queue. I only ever need 10 litres so I'll be filled up and paid before the other car has finished filling. Effectively I've not slowed the queue at all, and made it shorter by not taking a wasted space.
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All comes down to three fundamental aspects of driving which are, sadly, being eroded over time: courtesy, discipline and safety. In a queue or traffic jam I always stop far enough behind the car in front to see "tyres and tarmac": this allows me to pass the car if it stalls, and I can move left or right to make space for a motorbike or emergency vehicle. The action of moving left or right usually alerts other drivers, too.
A motorbike uses less fuel, occupies less space and makes better progress, and I am happy to let a biker through - the almost universal wave or shake of the foot or pip of the horn as a thankyou always raises a smile. Cyclists are less predictable and far less disciplined but are usually in and out and on their way in seconds.
The class "system" is ever present in driving in Britain and far too many drivers feel innately superior to others, especially those on two wheels. Remember the Two Ronnies sketch "I'm upper class, and I look down on him..." ?
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Bilboman - whilst I would agree with most of your post, the 'class sketch' pre-dates The Two Ronnies and appeared on That Was The Week That Was (or was it The Frost Report??) :-)
"I know my place"
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I always check for filtering motorbikes, especially during the rush hour on dual carriageways. I also do what ever I can to assist them by giving a bit more room or leaving a big enough space so they can pull in front of me if needed.
I generally find that bikers have much better manners than car drivers, more often than not you get some sort of acknowledgement to say thank you.
I'm all for having more bikes on the road and see no problem with them filtering or pulling in front of me at traffic lights. They dont hold me up, so there's no reason to get up tight about it.
I think what many people fail to realise is that if those bikers drove cars instead we would have more congestion, for the obvious reason of there being more cars on the road.
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Thanks for the correction, OldSock. Placed the faces, but couldn't quite place the series (In my defence, I was but a babe in arms when Geoff Hurst popped that third goal in...)
Curiously enough, the name of the sketch says it all - "I know my place!". No one seems to know their place any more; everyone wants to get in front at any cost; and, if everyone gets to thee front, we all end up where we were at the start!
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