With the nice weather seen more bikes out on the road coming and going to work , which is on major roads and often congested
, I've been surprised by the amount of bikes sitting in the traffic , even when the road permits plenty of room and is reasonable safe to filter on, instead of using a bikes advantages, was just wondering if this is something that's being taught on these das courses nowadays
or are they just in car mode
I wasn't taught to filter. My instructor was brill, taught me to ride rather than just to pass, but filtering wasnt in the DAS. Defensive riding keeps you upright. It took me a while to have the confidence to filter (I followed a goldwing...figured if that could get through then I was ok).
So I filter on my commute, but do I like it, hell no, I find it stressful, with too many car drivers locked in their own world which includes no indicators, no mirror usage, too much mobile phone use...not to mention the blokes that shave, women who do makeup, both doing hair fluffing, reading books, files, and playing games on tablets. I've even seen one napping! Then of course there are the drivers that seem to think it's fun to swerve in your filtering path.
I see the ones that do so at speed, and I really don't know how they do it.
Not long after christmas, I was lucky in the fact that I realised that one driver was absolutely determined to stop me filtering, i've got damned good brakes and I don't filter at speed. Combined with my mate's accident, it knocked my confidence somewhat.
There are quite a few bikers I pass who don't filter, and honestly sometimes I don't blame them.
There is nothing illegal about a bike filtering in stationary traffic. There was a case a few years back where a rider was deliberately knocked off his bike while filtering. The moron in the car was not happy about having to sit in a que while this bike had the audacity to make slow, steady progress. He had seen the bike in his mirror and I am unsure as to wether he opened his car door or drove the car into the bikes path. There wasthe inevitable accident and the biker received injuries and of course the bike was damaged. The whole thing went to court and the biker was found guilty and punished accordingly, but, the rider was adamnat he was not in the wrong and put in an appeal. He got himself a better solicitor who actually had a bit of knowledge of road traffic law. In the appeal court, the solicitor proved without any shadow of doubt that the rider had every right to filter through traffic that was standing still, and the driver of the car was in fact guilty of assault. I don't know if he was charged with assault with a deadly weapon or not but the riders conviction was quashed and the verdict went against the car driver, thus setting a legal precedent. The appeal was heard in the appeal courts in 2006. It was Davis v Shrogin. Filtering in stationary traffic. Might be worth remembering that little snippet if you are unfortunate enough to be a victim, that piece of info might just be the deciding factor.
I can understand being cautious round traffic especially as it can be a grey area where fault is concerned , have been purposely blocked many times, seen it all from phones , to a woman getting out with her toddler to pee on the middle lane of the m6, if I'd been going faster than a crawl , they'd be in hospital or worse but when as I saw , with the road being at least 3 lanes wide whilst only a 2 lane, stationary traffic , no junctions around for quite a way, seemed weird to see so many bikes sat there, perhaps your right Jo , might be fresh das riders and still unsure of themselves, surely then as filtering is deemed a legal activity for bikes unlike in some states in the US that safe procedure and hazard awareness of said filtering should be taught
Being an instructor myself I do teach filtering but not to all students, If the student is a weak rider sometimes you have to concentrate on the general riding. But two of the test centers we use, the examiners like students to filter if the opportunity arises, so testing at one of these I would show the student how to filter a what dangers to look up for while pointing out to the student that they don't have to filter on the test and will not fail if they don't, but would show lack of confidence if they don't and they must ask themselves three questions. Is it safe, legal and necessary.
This was the case I was refering to. It was sometime ago that I read about it and so my recollection of the facts were a little hazy.Davis v SchroginThis article was published in The Road issue 7 in December 2006Filtering through traffic has never been against the law and where accidents have occurred the biker has invariably had to bear some of the blame. A new landmark judgment shifts the onus of responsibility in the rider’s favour.‘Filtering/overtaking considered by the Court of Appeal in Davis v Schrogin 27/06/2006’In February 2006, the case of motorcyclist Jamie McColm provided hope for motorcyclists involved in accidents where they had been filtering. Whereas the usual outcome for such incidents was a division of blame between the parties, with the biker often coming off worst, in Mr McColm’s case he was found blameless. Lawyers were still left with some difficulty however, given that Mr McColm’s case only reached the lower County Court and was not formally reported in the legal press, in other words it did not set a precedent for future cases.That situation has now been remedied. In June this year the senior Court of Appeal heard the case of Eric Davis. Mr Davis had been filtering along a straight section of the A40 in Oxfordshire, past a single lane of stationary traffic. His speed was 40-45 mph. He was 2/3rds into the opposite carriageway. His right indicator was flashing and his headlight was on dipped beam. Mr Schrogin was one of the drivers caught up in the stationary traffic, travelling in the same direction as Mr Davis. The opposite carriageway was completely clear and the level of visibility was excellent for Mr Davis to be safely overtaking. Mr Schrogin decided to perform a U-turn with inevitable consequences. The Appeal Court upheld the original trial Judge’s conclusion on the basis that Mr Davis could have done nothing to avoid the accident.Key factsMr Davis had been overtaking for about half a mile, at a speed of about 45 mph. The Appeal Court concluded that even if he had been travelling slower, the accident would not have been avoidable and therefore his speed was not an issue.Mr Schrogin’s lawyers argued that Mr Davis had a higher duty of care because he was overtaking and in the opposite carriageway. Although the positioning of Mr Davis was not commented on in the Judgment, during the hearing it was made very clear that there was no duty of ensure that you can be conveniently seen on the road by other users. The position adopted by Mr Davis was not causative of this accident.Finally, and most notably Mr Davis had provided evidence during the trial that when he was about five car lengths away from Mr Schrogin’s car, he saw the car move towards the left causing “alarm bells” to ring in this mind. Again Mr Schrogin’s lawyer tried to argue that this movement to the left should have caused Mr Davis to act and to have braked. The Judges found that this movement did not equate with an expectation that Mr Schrogin was about to perform a U-turn. In short Mr Davis had too little time or distance to avoid the accident. He was right on top of Mr Schrogin’s vehicle when he emerged from a line of traffic without looking. The fact that he was overtaking at 45 mph did not contribute to the accident circumstances.Mr Davis’ Solicitor, motorcycle claim specialist, Steve Trump, from the Bristol office of Clarke Willmott, made the following comments: “This decision from the second highest civil Court has now set a precedent that can be relied upon by those acting for bikers in the future. Whilst each case will turn on its own facts and upon the availability of independent evidence to corroborate what happened, there are some key points that need to be considered.
Just like to point out filtering is not illegal on the outside of traffic because it is overtaking, but filtering between two lanes for traffic on a dual carriageway or motorway, stationary traffic or not is illegal because now you would be undertaking the traffic on your right.
After reading the article I posted I learned all the facts of the case, when I read about it, I remember seeing any mention of it being single line traffic. Reading my post above clarified the legal aspect somewhat.
Just had a google Ragnar, say's filtering between carriageways /cars on m/ways , express ways is not illegal if the traffic is stationary or at a slow speed
You are right about the speed part and it is done with due care and attention, and is not dangerous, but to non riding car drivers, a motorcycle filtering is always doing at least 150MPH and that never looks good on a claims form.
I tend to keep m/way filtering to about 15-20mph depending on the gap, keep to lane if traffic is above 30mph, don't think I've ever filtered on an m/way without someone changing lanes without looking or purposely closing the gap, so always pays to expect it, it's not my favourite pass time that's for sure, as Jo said , always tense and paranoid whilst filtering but far better than being stuck if I have to use an m/way which is always a necessary evil now and then
Filtering on a motorway or duel carriage is legal.
The highway code and RTA clearly states you may pass vehicles on the left if the lane to your right is filing. It dose not state how ever at what speed filing becomes normal driving. So in the eyes of the law this becomes what would be considered dangerous or reckless under the current conditions.
I have tested this an won in court in the past after a collision when I was a courier.
Last year I took some training to become a down trained instructor up in Leeds. They do not train riders to filter up here in this area although instructors from the sunny south do. Its not correct. We need to train riders to ride and reclaim the safe space on the road as many cagers up her in Yorkshire wrongly believe filtering isn't legal. They believe this as many bikers just simply refuse to do it, so there fore it cant be legal can it?
Stuie, You hit the nail on the head with the comment about people up north wrongly believing filtering isn't legal because they don't see bikers doing it, Where in the south bikers do it much more.
I've done a few CBT's where I've had to stop students in London who have only been on a bike for a few hours from riding on the yellow line going up the inside of cars and the pavement to get to the front at lights and when asked why, the reply being "That's what they have seen bikers do". I've then had to park them up by the junction and watch bikes coming up to the lights and point out that it's mainly the scooters with L plates and not riders on bigger bikes. So who would be the best to copy.
So up north more bikers need to filter more and car drivers will become more a where of bikes overtaking and bikers in the south doing it bit less and not in some of the Dangerous places that I've seen.
If the riders aren't taught the basics and talked to about basic skills and where and when not to filter they will just sit in the traffic jams with the cagers.
There are far to many riders up here who refuse to overtake ANYTHING. Don't know how to overtake, refuse to filter etc. I would say it's about 70% Compaired to the 80% of riders down south who do make progress when possible.
As a result car drivers take action against the bikes who do filter up here as they wrongly believe the riders are wrong ,resulting in accidents and/or confrontation.
Personaly I lay the blame squarely on the shoulders of the schools who refuse to instruct the riders about the art of making progress.
I have taken quiet a few northern riders round London where the status quo is much happier between cars and bikes and so far not one has said London is more dangerous as a result. In fact it's the complete opposite. Leeds and Huddersfield scares the shite out of me.
Non filtering bikes round North Wales /Cheshire is something I've only noticed last couple of years , more so recently, hence the original question , 'Are they teaching riders not to', glad it's not the case as Ragnar pointed out,must get my 1986 highway code replaced with a new one lol, Ragnar gave me a scare saying filtering between lanes was illegal, done it passed many a cop car
At end of the day, tis a personal choice for each rider to make. Depends on experience, experiences gone through, confidence, as well as sometimes state of the roads. There is a part of Princess Parkway which has huge deep gaps down the middle, I choose not to filter there, but others do. If you wish to filter then go for it, if you dont, well you know what, good for you, I don't judge. Everybody's ride is their own.
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