Thoughts on filtering?

[Lost 1,409]

So some of my car friends get angry with me for filtering, they think it shouldnt be legal in the UK, what are your thoughts on filtering on motorcycles?

 

 

Filtering:

Filtering is the act of passing between stationary or moving traffic on a motorcycle, here is a screenshot of me doing some quite honestly reckless filtering so you get some idea of what it is:

(notice i'm passing between cars on left and right)

 

 

 

 

 

Legality:

Filtering is completely legal all across the UK, regardless of if traffic is stationary or not. Some states and parts of Australia have it legalized too, some places only legalize using filtering whilst passing stationary traffic.

 

 

 

 

The way i see it, it helps to keep congestion down in cities and being able to filter without having to worry about breaking the law means that you can get out of dangerous situations much easier, for example there is a video of a motorcyclist who is sat at the back of some traffic because he cant filter past legally, the driver behind doesnt notice him and slams into his back, causing a 4 car pileup. Had that biker been able to filter the crash would have been avoided.

[Troblems 5,609]

It's legal in California, and thank god, because our traffic is awful. I don't think it's legal in the rest of the US, so when people from other states come here, it freaks them the hell out.

 

I've only heard it called lane splitting, though.

[Venomous 18,813]

This sounds like it could be rather dangerous as well

[Blackened 512]

I live in the UK, where traffic is completely awful. Filtering, as OP said, is legal here. I think it's perfectly fine to do if there's a build-up of traffic on a busy road, especially during rush hour.

[Lost 1,409]

It's legal in California, and thank god, because our traffic is awful. I don't think it's legal in the rest of the US, so when people from other states come here, it freaks them the hell out.

 

I've only heard it called lane splitting, though.

 

Its referred to as Filtering and Lane Splitting, i think filtering is the official term for it though, ive seen a few signs in parts of England that refer to it as Filtering.

 

 

This sounds like it could be rather dangerous as well

 

It can be, it definitely shouldn't be attempted by a novice rider. And ideally should only be done on standstill traffic.

[Guest]

As long as it's done safely, I don't' see the problem.

[Lost 1,409]

The majority have voted to state that they dont like it and that it shouldnt be done, i would like to get more votes, ya'll dont need to post a reason, just more votes so that i can see the general opinion would be nice.

 

Being a biker i tend to spend most of my time with other bikers and its nice to know what none bikers think of it

[Celtore 2,769]

I really dont like it, but I don't mind as much when traffic is at a complete standstill. When there's actual traffic movement, it's unsafe and makes me instantly perceive the motorcyclist as a class A <you know> when they zoom down the middle lane.

 

To be fair, cars swerving in and out of traffic are just as bad though and receive a similar response.

[GuyNamedEarl 1,332]

I don't mind ad it helps clear up traffic and I don't ride a motorcycle

[Ochre_Dust 329]

People always creep in my blindspot when they are in their cars. A motorcycle filtering is just giving people an excuse for functional vehicle-assisted suicide. Sorry, but you can be ten minutes late to your meeting, rather than being right on time to get to your hospital room, or the morgue.

 

I am for bicycles being permitted on sidewalks though.

[Lost 1,409]

People always creep in my blindspot when they are in their cars. A motorcycle filtering is just giving people an excuse for functional vehicle-assisted suicide. Sorry, but you can be ten minutes late to your meeting, rather than being right on time to get to your hospital room, or the morgue.

 

I am for bicycles being permitted on sidewalks though.

 

I actually timed how long it would take me to get home in rush hour traffic vs filtering, traffic stood at about 1 hour, filtering took less than 10 mins.

 

I understand the point you're making though, it can be incredibly dangerous, i think the fact that its always been legal in the UK helps to make it a little safer as its something you tend to expect a little more ^^

[Ochre_Dust 329]

I actually timed how long it would take me to get home in rush hour traffic vs filtering, traffic stood at about 1 hour, filtering took less than 10 mins.

 

I understand the point you're making though, it can be incredibly dangerous, i think the fact that its always been legal in the UK helps to make it a little safer as its something you tend to expect a little more ^^

Yeah, same with traffic circles and driving on the left hand side of the road. Let's just say you Brit's greatest deterrent to immigration isn't your foreign ministry. 

[Lost 1,409]

Yeah, same with traffic circles and driving on the left hand side of the road. Let's just say you Brit's greatest deterrent to immigration isn't your foreign ministry. 

Roundabouts, the most idiotic road invention ever, if you ever come here and are confused about them, dont worry, most British people cant seem to use them properly either!

[Magic Rasin 180]

 I think that filtering should only be done through stationary traffic since if you did it through moving traffic people might freak out a bit. Just my 2 cents.

[Lost 1,409]

 I think that filtering should only be done through stationary traffic since if you did it through moving traffic people might freak out a bit. Just my 2 cents.

 

For the most part it is only done though stationary traffic, more experienced riders do sometimes go through moving traffic but it is considerably more dangerous, i have a great example from the other day where a car infront of me stopped suddenly for no reason so being able to filter i just rode around it between the traffic, were i in another country i would have been breaking the law doing so but the alternative was to crash.

[Ochre_Dust 329]

 I think that filtering should only be done through stationary traffic since if you did it through moving traffic people might freak out a bit. Just my 2 cents.

And then you get motorcyclists and people on scooters eventually going, "Ugh! The speed limit is 50, and everybody is just going 40! That's it, I'm filtering." Meanwhile they were moving along in somebody's blind spot and uh... yeah... Oh look, they're dead.

 

Allowing filtering is going to have to be with the recognition that people are going to do it in situations other than in absolute standstill traffic because the legalization is going to grant people the ability to take liberties with interpreting "standstill traffic".

[EpicEnergy 22,082]

Sounds unsafe and unfair, that's my view on it.

[Dreambiscuit 8,024]

It would have to be done safely, otherwise I'd be very much against it. Sometimes though, if there's plenty of room and it presents no immediate threat to others on the road, I see no reason why not. Drivers in cars may not like the fact that someone is getting ahead of them in traffic, but that's just jealousy. I mean, let's just be human about it. If it can be done safely I'm not going to begrudge someone getting to work on time. It's a lot like seeing someone driving on the shoulder during a traffic jam. If it helps and doesn't hurt anyone, go for it.

[Clawdeen 12,110]

So it’s not legal in my state but people do it all the time. I think it looks dangerous and you’d better hope the others on the road are paying attention.