To feel really frustrated that so many drivers don't know this?

[SharkiraSharkira]

I am a biker (as in motorcycle).

I'm a member of a few biking related pages on fb and recently my feed is inundated with videos and articles about bikers being assaulted by car drivers or run over/knocked off their bikes due to car drivers not looking or seeing them or even intentionally. Some of them have been really shocking!

One thing that seems to be coming up time and time again is drivers bemoaning bikers 'illegally overtaking' or 'pushing in' or 'riding between the lanes'. All of these things are perfectly legal for bikers and it is called filtering - it is used to make progress through traffic and some believe it is actually safer for bikers, being vulnerable road users. And yet 90% of the drivers comments on these videos are basically saying it is the bikers fault they got run over/maimed/attacked because they 'shouldn't have been between the lanes'. We are allowed to be!

Aibu to find it very frustrating that SO many drivers don't seem to know that this is legal?

Obviously there are always idiots that ride unsafely and I'm not referring to these people, rather those who follow the rules and filter legally and safely and still get abuse for it.

piffle I totally agree that lots of car drivers are utter idiots. Not disputing that. But I teach my kids road safety by telling them to assume all car drivers are idiots and to act accordingly (I.e. don’t cross the minute the green man appears but wait and see if cars stop) and I think motorcyclists would be very wise to approach safe riding in the same way. No point getting cross if a car driver does something stupid- assume that they will and drive accordingly.

We usually do Never, that's the point! As I said before, you couldn't ride anywhere safely if you didn't.

No matter what gallant thing he does he is still a massive bell end for trying to police the world from his steering wheel. It's the sort of thing that makes he want to boot a car. Not praise the over entitled wanker.

You are riding around between heavy metal object moving at speed with nothing but a helmet and a bit of leather for protection. Do you really think that it's a good idea regardless of whether it is legal or not?

I 100% agree with this. Bikers don’t seem to realise how vulnerable they are at times.

Filtering and undertaking traffic o a push bike remains legal in the UK. If you wish to have such things not part of your life then fuck off back to the US. Or emigrate to France.

You just can't resist, can you? You were born to be a biker.

You might sharkira but round here I see motorcyclists take stupid risks every day

So your husband should worry about his driving & check his blind spots.....

He doesn't need to he drives so close to the kerb that a bike can't get in there. If they are too stupid to look out for themselves someone has to. But only there, only on that stretch of road - where there have been so many similar accidents.

That suits me ‘DressedCrab’
I’m a cyclist that overtakes on the outside

Oh I can resist - I just choose not to.

Well quite. Dressed's hubby is just another prick to have to deal with one way or another.

Bikers don’t seem to realise how vulnerable they are at times.

Oh we know, believe me - we know......

He doesn't need to he drives so close to the kerb that a bike can't get in there. If they are too stupid to look out for themselves someone has to. But only there, only on that stretch of road - where there have been so many similar accidents.

But do the cyclists not then go past him on the right & squeeze back through to get on the left? That's what they do in London - they don't just stick in one lane, they walk their bikes all over the place.

Seems to be a pointless exercise - does he stand in the garden & shake his fist at clouds too??

Seems to be a pointless exercise - does he stand in the garden & shake his fist at clouds too??

Maybe it is pointless. But he was traumatised by the accident he saw and never wants to see so much blood again. He isn't the only one who does it on that stretch of road, most car drivers do now, it's happened so often.

If they cycle up the outside them going straight on isn't a problem, it's only the dimwits who try to cycle up the left hand side despite the fact that most cars turn left there.

I'm out now. I should have remembered that debating with cyclists is pointless. They think they know better until they are spread over the road.

I think most people who ride both moto and push bike find it a challenge to take advice from a breed of road user which is responsible for so much carnage.
We know how vulnerable we are- we don't need the group of people creating that vulnerability to inform us. Stick to being the best driver you can be and that will be enough. No need to police every other road user.

I don't get why some of you are having a go at Dressed Crab's husband.

I'm a cyclist (yes, lycra and all that road cyclist) and a car driver. It is simply idiotic for any cyclist to pull up on the inside of a car waiting at lights who is signalling left. If they see you (seeing is a two way activity remember, you have to make yourself visible to be seen), you're holding up all the traffic as they have to wait for you (and all the cars behind them) to slowly cycle past before they make their left turn. If they don't see you - either because they haven't looked or you are in their blind spot despite all the visual checks, or has happened to me a cyclist dressed in dark clothing at night pulled up alongside me as I was indicating left with a tiny light on that was not visible even when I made my visual checks or for whatever reason there is - you are putting yourself in danger. It's a downright stupid thing to do.

DressedCrab and her DH are defensively driving, not only protecting cyclists from their own stupidity but also protecting themselves and other road users (pedestrians, drivers, cyclists, bikers) from any side effects of evasive action they may be forced to take to avoid running over a cyclist who has chosen to pull up on the left of a left-turning vehicle. Makes perfect sense.

I think the left hand sides of lorres should be covered in 3 foot spike personally. I've sat behind lorries that are indicating left at lights & watched cyclists literally squeezing up the side with their shoulders brushing the lorry

This.

I wouldn't ever stop on the inside of a car indicating left - that is ludicrous - but I think it's worth pointing out that many cycle lanes direct you up the inside to get to the ASL box. If I know the traffic light sequence (and therefore know if I'll have time to get to the front) I'll go up that way if the traffic is at a halt and if there's ample room. If it looks safer to go down the middle of two lanes, or down the outside, I'll do that instead.

The ASL box is there because it's the safest place for a cyclist at lights. But it's a judgement call.

Go up the left of a vehicle signalling left, or up the right of a vehicle signalling right and you are an idiot. It is crappy for cyclists and motorcyclists that they are the ones likely to come of the worse but that doesn't mean drivers of larger vehicles are always to blame.

As for filtering, I can't say I've ever considered whether it is legal or not (I'm not a police officer so it isn't my job) but I do think is shows awfully poor judgement in a lot of cases. I'm more than happy to let them through though - I'd rather have a biker ahead where I can easily see them than behind where I'm relying on various mirrors.

I don't get why some of you are having a go at Dressed Crab's husband.

Because it's not his place to apply what he thinks is the law.

It's not different to one of those idiots that sits in the outside lane of the motorway at 70 "because that's the limit".

Plod is there to catch lawbreakers - butt out!

Because it's not his place to apply what he thinks is the law.

Well you win the prize for utter stupidity today. Nowhere have I said it's the law or that he thinks it's the law. Get a grip on your fevered imagination you're making a fool of yourself, Piffle. You're very well named.

He is driving defensively to keep himself and idiot cyclists safe on a notorious stretch of road. Maybe he should just let them get splatted.

Less stupid people on the road then. I'll tell him you suggested it. You're living proof some cyclists are stupid.

PiffleandWiffle
I don't get why some of you are having a go at Dressed Crab's husband.
Because it's not his place to apply what he thinks is the law.

How exactly is he applying what he thinks is the law (to others, I presume you meant)? Which law?

Well because dh of Dressed is being a bit of a knob. It would be nice to hear from himself instead of his proxy.

As a bike rider one does not rely on car drivers to keep one safe. Quite the opposite. So please tell dh to fuck off and stand down from his police role. It benefits no-one other than him.

I'll type very slowly for the hard of understanding. He isn't taking a police role. He is driving perfectly legally closer to the kerb than usual in a stop start stream of traffic. He doesn't see himself in a police role as I've said repeatedly.

He's ruined one suit with a cyclist's blood and doesn't want it to happen to a second. Neither does he want to have to phone a wife and tell her her husband is badly injured and waiting for an ambulance again. Of course it benefits him, you silly person.

Yet again your prove how deeply dim some cyclists are.

Look in the mirror - there's the knob. Give your head a wobble.

He really doesn't want to join MN just to tell a fuckwit to piss off.

The only people inconvenienced are cyclists too stupid to think about self preservation.

Fantasist? Of course, dear. If your argument is pathetic throw accusations about. Junior school debating skills.

I would not do it but I would entirely empathise if a person on a bike chose to hoof a panel of his car or scratched with an implement as they went by.

So criminal damage is acceptable but defensive driving isn't? What a strange planet you live on.

Bye then.