How many of you riders filter/lane split?

[Grover]

i dont filter often, but theres two good places on my usual commutes that its really easy to slip by the traffic, and slip back into the traffic (without angering cage-drivers) when it gets a little tight/fast

best practice: follow someone else (slower if you need) in slow/stationary traffic

if you're worried about when you'll get back into the traffic, chill out, almost every driver ive ever come across has left a gap as ive looked left into a possible gap (only one lady didnt notice me do i was sitting in front of an oncoming taxi... oops

[Ryan09]

I always filter, its partly the reason i own a bike. I have only had one incident and that was in a traffic jam when a car stuck decided he didnt want to let me through so closed the gap just as i was about to go past, I naturally swerved a little bit to avoid hitting him and wiped out a brand new bmw m3's mirror. The bmw driver absolutly flipped at the driver that pulled into me and i somehow got away without a claim being put on me.

Other than that iv never had any problems, im not sure what speeds i filter at as i generally focus on other road users trying to anticipate what they might do but i cant imagine i go over 30mph in stationary traffic on a road like the m25. If the traffic is flowing then i probably filter at around 10mph faster than the speed the cars are going.

I also filter for traffic lights, its safer to filter whilst the traffic isnt moving rather than wait for them all to set off again and then filter.

[mike1949]

I'm not very adventurous and will only do what I feel comfortable with.

Very, very wise words Bips.

[neversaydie]

Oh something similar happened to me recently, except I didn't filter down the outside of the lane. Caught it on video too

Looks like an example of the bike being masked by the car turning left. Not particularly good conditions either. filtering is legal, youve got to be aware that youre more than likely in the cars blind spots

[j0hn]

Yea, road surface wasn't too good, slightly wet. I was just surprised that someone would pull out when a car is turning in. I know she would expect any cars following would have had to stop because there wouldn't have been enough space to go around due to oncoming traffic, so she took the chance.

Also, I've started having a closer look at the road surface before I filter. Just the other day I went over some gravel and made my bike wobble a bit, luckily there was enough space for error.

//Edit

...wiped out a brand new bmw m3's mirror. The bmw driver absolutly flipped at the driver that pulled into me and i somehow got away without a claim being put on me.

Damn, that's lucky. Didn't know considerate BMW drivers existed

[Noise]

I do filter quite a bit but the only down side to me filtering is that i have 43" wide handle bars so i need to be very careful when doing so. one tip i could give you to gain a bit of confidence in doing so is to find a quite car park or similar and ride on a line at less that walking pace to gain slow moving control. Just remember to keep your head up, look at where your going and not whats in front of your front wheel (use peripheral vision for that) and use your clutch to move the bike with minimal throttle.

Before filtering be shore to do a life saver, take in to consideration road conditions etc (as stated above) also if the gap is getting really tight then your just have to bite the bullet and stop till the cage drivers start to move again so you can get by. Remember your on a bike so you have less weight to get moving so you can pull away a lot quicker.

All in all stay safe and ride with your head and not with your ego

[Ttaskmaster]

Has no-one actually read The Highway Code, then?

Go check it now, online if you like, and see what that says about filtering - That answers yer question of legality.

Further, cops and insurers often assign an automatic 50/50 blame to you and the other vehicle(s) in the case of an RTA involving filtering. It's more a legal grey area, even with expert witnesses and camera footage as evidence.

There used to be the 20-20 filtering rule, an unofficial guide that every sensible biker stuck by: No faster than 20mph above the speed of the traffic and no filtering when the traffic is going faster than 20mph. That means you're never travelling above 40mph.

Course not all of us stay like that, either. It depends on the road and what people are doing.

As another wide-bar owner, I am more limited, but at the same time seem far more capable of getting through gaps with 3" clearance than tiny bikes can when they have a good foot or two either side...

I have clipped 3 mirrors that I can recall, but that's London rush-hour for you.

[Campaman]

I was the same till i kept meeting this guy who would filter past me, so one day i followed him as he seemed the sensible type and i gained confidence through that,

I did this once and ended up on the wrong side of town to where I was going

Filtering confidence comes with experience, but at the same time you have to remain vigilant.

[clarke]

Have a read of these to give you an idea of blame too.

http://www.access-legal.co.uk/legal-news/accidents-involving-filtering-what-the-law-says-lu-2811.htm

http://www.markthompsonlaw.com/motorcycle-filtering-past-traffic-queue/motorcycle-accident-solicitors/

That said, I always filter when I feel it's safe to do so. I find you also need to watch for other motorbikes coming up fast behind you & move aside when safe to do so.

[Grover]

Oh something similar happened to me recently, except I didn't filter down the outside of the lane. Caught it on video too

thats also happened to me kinda recently, just make sure to be ready for them puling out, coz that driver simply didnt see you (and its a shared blame if you ask me)

just remember, if nobody got hurt, its something to learn from, shake hands and move on, i certainly wont be flying round turning cars any more!

[Will Munsey]

You've just got to use your brain mate. If you're filtering on a dual carriageway you need to be careful of the idiots who indicate, change lanes and don't look in their mirror all at the same time. I've nearly been caught out a couple of times but luckily managed to react quick enough to avoid being hit !

At the end of the day if you don't feel confident, don't do it

[Preload]

Filtering is a dodgy area as the police often frown on it even though bike cops do it. Also don't filter unless you have good machine control and driver awareness as said by others some drivers just do it for fun.

[mike1949]

Although my commute from work to home is only six miles, sometimes I hit traffic coming into Chipp, if it's at a standstill I tend to filter but at this time of year not only is it dark but to be dazzled by headlights is not good. And at the end of it I get home about a minute earlier. I know the city bikers would laugh at me compared to their commute but one thing I can't be arsed is to sit in stop/start traffic.

In the summer I tend to go home through the country lanes where I am moving all the time but takes longer to get home.

[j0hn]

Wooo, my first attempt at filtering through slow moving traffic on the motorway .

[beef]

not alot wrong with the filtering you did there....

just make sure you thumb is covering the horn as you approach the slip road and be ready to stop as the cars come on and instantly want the outside lane.

as the gap was available to slip back into your lane you did and you checked before moving back into you lane.

if you look at 2 mins as you approach the bread van, then the skoda has moved over to allow you through but the car in front and behind didnt. and you got passed safely.

just practice it.

[j0hn]

Thanks for the tips and feedback It's great looking back on it afterwards because at the time, I didn't notice the Skoda moving over but I do remember how tight it was getting through the next set of cars.

[DirtyDT]

I filter a lot quicker than I guess I really should. On the plus side, I occupy a space for a shorter period of time than if I was going slower, on the down side, I would find it hard to stop if I needed to. A throwback from learning to ride in a big city and doing a spell of M/C courier work

The way I see it is that there aren't any real rules however;

I always look for anyone wearing any kind of hat (number 1 rule).

I always keep an eye out if one lane is frequently moving faster than the other(s).

I always take extra care when filtering where a road joins the one I am on.

I always observe as far down the lines of traffic as I can to identify any car that has changed lanes or has attempted to.

I always look out for cyclists because you never know when they are going to sweep out from the curb into the gap between the cars that you are riding into.