Lane Filtering Comes To Arizona. I Have Mixed Feelings. How About You?

There are so many varied reactions to filtering. On some roads it seems drivers have become accustomed to bikes filtering and many drivers do make additional room within their lanes to let you through. I always try to give a wave or put a foot out to thank those that have been aware and moved over. Some don’t…
I’ve educated my wife to be bike aware and she gets a real buzz when she has shuffled over to allow a bike to pass and then got a thumbs up or a wave.
What does tick me off is when I’m coming back from a bike meeting and bikes filter at speed between lanes 1&2 whilst all the other riders are filtering between lanes 2&3…

 

I used to commute into London from Slough on the M4 in the 80's.
There were a lot more bikes and despatch riders then, so the car drivers were more used to bikes coming past, I would be doing anywhere between 30-50mph between the more or less stationary traffic and still get passed by the despatch riders.
Scariest journey was doing the same route in the evening rush hour on one occasion, when we were late to an Iron Maiden concert at the Hammy Odeon.
Sat at 70+ most of the way through the traffic, only incident was my mate's pillion scraping the arm of her jacket on a HGV trailer on the elevated section where it was a bit tighter on space
Managed to get there in time to see the support act as well.
The ride home was a lot more sedate...

It's definitely a bit more dodgy filtering these days, with the lack of awareness of a lot of car drivers, thankfully I rarely have to do it now.

 

It has to be a good thing to my mind, Sandi, and of course you can choose whether you want to do it or not. There are lots of tips and tricks and I'm sure you'll do your research, but one thing I've learnt is to keep at least half an eye out for the front wheels of cars beginning to turn (whether or not they're indicating). That's the best indication (see what I did there?) that they're about to do something that will put you at risk.

Give it a go, take it slowly, and see how you get on. I'm sure it'll soon be second nature to you.

 

For getting the attention of car drivers I think loud pipes are probably overrated. They would have to be very loud for me to hear them in my car and they're not at their loudest when the pipes are facing away, such as when you're approaching a T-junction where a car may pull out unexpectedly. I can't agree about dazzling people, either. I'm not the only person on the road and I don't want to distract a driver from seeing other hazards, like cyclists. As you say, hi-viz vests, at least in the daytime, aren't the panacea some people assume. What's been shown is that lateral movement is the key to being noticed. Humans are better at seeing objects moving laterally across their line of sight than things coming towards them. If I have a concern about a car I move across my lane as that's more likely to be noticed.

 

Of the few bikes I've owned that I've never been pulled out on, VMax with super trapps, harley with straight through drag pipes, my Tuono with arrow titanium race pipes and my current T100 with open pea shooters. My laverda had jota pipes which were only loud at high revs and was constantly not seen/heard riding that.

 

As for high beam, most new cars seem to have these bright almost blue blinding lights so honestly, I really don't care if I blind them too.

 

Im sure most or you remember, the button to flash the lights on a bike used to be labled "pass"

 

The secret to filtering is to do it SLOWLY!, you’ve already got a huge advantage in that you can pass stationary cars, this morning I filtered past at least 30 cars in one go on a jammed up dual carriageway, but at no point did I exceed 15mph, if someone pulled across or opened a door I would probably be able to stop but even if I couldn’t the chances of a serious injury would be greatly lowered due to my low speed, I cringe when I see bikers filtering at 30mph (or more).
Last year I was filtering and a car driver in the RH lane saw me coming and pulled across to block my way, I simply rode behind him, along his RH side then back into the middle of the lanes and continued on my way, no shaking of fist’s or having a hissy fit about his stupid behaviour, just carried on my way without drama , anyway filtering is great but do it SLOW, real SLOOOOW!!!!

 

So you wouldn't filter in moving traffic?

 

That’s hard to answer, a lot of the time it would be more of an overtaking manoeuvre I think, passing the car in the left lane then dropping back into the left lane and repeating on the next car in front, if you mean there are 2 streams of traffic on a dual carriageway doing say 50mph, and the motorcyclist rides straight down the middle at say 60mph , then no I wouldn’t do that, as I say hard to answer without seeing the road in question but in the above example I would consider the risk of cars swapping lanes just as I got alongside too great.

 

I have found stopped traffic to be the worst, when cars stop moving the drivers stop driving (ie stop checking their mirrors, their awareness of other road users) the sweets come out, the fags come out the windows go down and fag ends fly out, and occasionally some twat opens their door for a leg stretch. I'd rather filter in moving traffic.

 

Well we all have our own styles of riding Pat, my point being that if you’re filtering in stationary traffic do it slowly, I would certainly never assume that a car driver is using his mirrors or concentrating on what he’s doing in any driving situation though

 

Never assume anything!

 

Hi @Sandi T , filtering has always taken place in Australia , as there's a loop hole in traffic rules/law's here ! It's been legalised here in the last few years ! But the Law's now restrict how / when you Can or Cannot filter !
The loophole was .. you may pass traffic on the left or right hand side ! Unlike England / UK , where on major road's or highways, the left lane must not overtake (undertake) .
The bit that made filtering possibly legal , You could be in either lane to pass left lane traffic , and should be in left lane to 'undertake' right lane ! So as most of the time Police Officers couldn't 'see' directly which lane you were in you got away with it ! Stationery traffic was always fair game ! Strangely using the left shoulder , beyond the line's marked was 'Illegal' go figure ???

 

Here in the Nanny State of New Jersey, it's not permitted. I used to be a member of the motorcycle rights advocacy group, ABATE. I was on the committee that lobbied for lane splitting. Also, low speed utilization the right shoulder in stopped traffic (traffic jams), allowing two bikes to occupy metered parking spaces and repeal of the helmet law. We got the metered parking space law passed, but the state legislature would not budge on the other three issues. So, I'm in favor of lane splitting, if done safely at slow speed. Also, although I'll always wear a helmet, I believe it should be the rider's choice. The state should not be in the business of regulating risk-taking. Their reasoning is that motorcycle injuries cost everyone money because there is no personal injury insurance protection for motorcyclists like there is for autos. If that were the case, they should ban sky diving and bungee jumping. Two dangerous activities the serve no purpose other than an adrenaline rush (unless your plane is in a nosedive).

 

I must be a Bad Motorcyclist, but I don't support lane splitting. Don't get me wrong, sitting in traffic SUCKS, but I wouldn't do it if were legal in my state. I certainly don't trust drivers and I'm not sure I trust me.