antera309 wrote:
As a non-biker, I am fine with it if:
1) It is done safely
2) The biker accepts the risk they're taking and likewise accepts responsibility if something goes wrong.
OK now forgive me a rant here.
I was knocked off my bike last week whilst filtering on the M3. I was not injured, essentially because I was travelling at the "safespeed" even though I was filtering.
At the time the traffic was stationary and one of the benefits of motorcycles to the integrates transport strategy is that we do not add to the congestion as we are able to filter, this is recognised in the Governments strategy document "Mainstream Motorcycling".
I was filtering between lanes 2 + 3 and was travelling at 15 -20 mph, I wear a hi-visibility vest and had my headlights on main beam as well as a pair of 100w driving lamps, yes I know I dazzle so I turn them on only when filtering dead stop traffic and the dazzle is limites to the wing mirrors of the cars etc.
A gap of approximately 1.5 cars had appeared in lane 2 and as I approached it I looked for any sign that anyone would change lanes, there was none, I am not talking about indicators here I am talking head/wheel movement lane positioning etc, with 50,000 motorcycle miles a year you get to know the signs, there were none so I filtered passed the traffic.
A young rep tried to change lanes whilst I was along side him, had he looked in his wing mirror he would have seen me because I was adjacent to it when he decided to move. He hit me a knocked me into the middle lane where I hit a stationary car.
I wasn't injured but my bike suffered £3,500 of damage.
Filtering is legal, common and in congested traffic drivers must understand that between any lane there is likely to be a motorcycle filtering and make sufficient checks and indication before they move.
It used to be the case that insurance companies would find blame on the M/C in all cases of filtering but not anymore, it is an acceptable legal manouver and the courts are finding against the car drivers.
Please note that I am talking about filtering, which is something that is done in very slow moving traffic, ie the traffic is moving below 20 mph, given that the m/c needs to be travelling 15-20 mph faster than the prevailing any manouver carried out above 35 mph is not filtering IMHO.