Wow! First Ever Real Road Rage Incident

I did once exchange hand gestures with a van driver who cut me up on the M1. We went through the whole range of fcuk-you, wanker, swivel on that, dick-head and some new to me, all the way down the M1 from about J10 onto the M25 and on until I turned off near Heathrow. It was rush hour so we were quite often stationary - we weren't doing this at speed. I like to think we'd almost become friends and he missed my company after we parted. But...

I'd now leave well alone. I know only too well now that it can very easily end in tragedy.

 

The world has gone mad. Whilst I can get mad at idiots on the road, it does lead to getting out of my car or getting off my bike. The people that are doing this need serious help and if they are brandishing a weapon locking up..

 

And very dangerous and extreme imho....

 

I guess someone to give a wide berth then.....

 

I’m sure we’ll all be happier when we are constrained to self driving vehicles with computer guided traffic flow!
The world will be a much happier place!

 

Lane splitting is not legal where I live, so maybe I don’t know the laws. But this is exactly why I will never lane split, even when riding in locations where it is legal. I’m amazed you were able to argue 100% fault for the other party. Looks 50/50 to me....never put your bike/self places others aren’t expecting.

 

I think that’s the point. They should have expected a motorcycle to be there and should have looked, indicated and looked again.

Still, I agree that we need to drive as though everyone else is a total numpty...

They so often are.

 

People take risks and people make mistakes. Most times, those two things don't coincide, but if your guardian angel looks away for a second, they will coincide and you're inconvenienced (at best) with paperwork, a bent machine, and aches and pains.

If you're depending, for your safety, on others not making a mistake (diving for a space in the lane moving slightly faster - they've done it many times before and nothing's ever happened), then some day it's going to bite.

I hate filtering (lane sharing/splitting), but if I have to do it, I make very sure I can stop if the car I'm approaching makes a bid for a space. They won't look - it's the space that's in the forefront of the driver's mind - not you.

So, while I agree that the driver was in the wrong, my vote is with the "I don't want to be in the right from a hospital bed" principle.

 

I'm a biker and I've been caught out when in my car, check mirrors - clear, check ahead - good to go, ready to go, one last check of mirrors - BIKE, where the fuck did he come from? I hadn't pulled out but I was about to, he/she was travelling way too fast. I filter myself but at a very sedate pace. I think RT was filtering at too great a speed to allow enough reaction time and the Audi was unsighted by the van behind, you've got to half expect it at all times.

 

Totally agree with this! Maybe I shouldn’t have said 50/50 fault, but if your going to lane split you gotta expect/anticipate someone is going to pull out in front of you. Most motorists are morons, and don’t ride bikes. So double or triple checking to see if a motorcycle is cruising up between lanes of stopped traffic would hardly be a thought to most. And I am by no means says the rider was doing wrong, completely in his right. But there is inherent risk in riding a bike, and added risk when lane splitting.

 

‘. There's always an accident on my route which blocks a lane out. ’

There’s a clue in there.......

 

There continues to be a lot of controversy regarding lane splitting and lane filtering in the U.S. As far as I know, CA is still the only state where lane splitting is legal. Utah recently passed a law allowing lane filtering--but not lane splitting. There are organizations in Arizona that are working hard to get lane splitting legalized here. I have mixed feelings about that and personally would probably not lane split even it it were legal here. There are too many texting-while-driving drivers and snowbirds who should have aged out of driving some years back on our roads here. But that doesn't mean that I should make the decision for others.

Here's a good RideApart article I read recently on the distinctions between lane splitting and lane filtering--at least as it's differentiated in the United States.

https://www.rideapart.com/articles/315449/lane-splitting-filtering-difference-explanation/

 

Going down the M1 on Thursday, all lanes full but moving along nicely at 50, although gantry signs showing 60 limit. I like to keep a safe gap in front (only a fool breaks the two-second rule), but I had a huge artic hard up against my rear bumper, which meant that, in order to keep me and the missus safe, I had to leave a bigger gap than I would normally, so I had time to slow if the traffic in front stopped.

There was no where for him to go, we were going at the same speed as all the surrounding traffic. Why do these idiots have to endanger my life (and worse, my wife's) for no purpose at all?

If I'd closed the gap in front, and the lorry in front had slowed suddenly, we'd have been mush.

 

Totally agree. We all know there is risk, and we accept that risk every time we throw a leg over our bikes. And I understand filtering is a perk in your area, I just don’t trust other motorist enough to feel comfortable doing it. But again that could just be me being naive to filtering, having never lived anywhere where it is legal.