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.

Whoever mentioned the perception of 60mph dual carriageway is so right. I’m in a car, I know it’s 70, tits doing 90mph who slam on down to 50 for the camera force everyone t

Then I'll never know because I don't have a death wish

O break hard

Bikers shouldn't filter at high speed, while oblivious to the fact that cars might be changing lanes in slow moving traffic. I have had bikers ignore the fact that I am indicating and come up from behind going way too fast to be able to react to a manoeuvre which I have already started to do.

Bikes are dangerous and shouldn't even be allowed on the road IMO. Death traps.

^^

I’ve been riding 15years and I’m not dead yet.........

Well what pisses me off about it is that if I’m sitting in my lane doing the speed limit, I might naturally deviate a few CM to the left or right, still within the lines and not performing a manoeuvre so therefore not checking my mirrors.

A good driver checks their mirrors all the time instinctively, not just when about to make a planned manoeuvre. Constantly being aware of what's going on behind you is just as important as knowing what's happening up ahead. Maybe sort yourself out before blaming or criticising others.

Also it's not normal to weave in your lane...and you should be checking your mirrors anyway

Pickleypickles
yes I am aware of that, but the distances between vehicles here are much smaller and so more chance of either the bike or the car wavering a little (even if there is no bad intent) and potentially causing an accident.

I sit in a traffic jam most mornings on the way to work. I drive closer to the kerb than in normal driving to allow motorbikes to overtake me (no push bikes on this section of road).

I also allow space in front of me when sat in a queue of traffic (I make sure I can see the types of the car in front) so I have manoeuvring space in case of motorbikes or emergency services. My instructor taught me to do this when I learnt to drive. Sadly no one else seems to have learnt this...

I’ve been riding 15years and I’m not dead yet.........

You've been lucky thankfully. Doesn't change the numbers that do die so 'death traps' is still an accurate description IMO. Be safe.

Filtering is classed as a hazardous manoeuvre. That said, most filtering accidents happen when the car driver fails to carry out observations, turns without indicating etc. I've dealt with many bike accidents over the years through work. In the majority where an accident happened with a filtering bike, the car was at fault.

Generally most bikers - and by this I mean ones who have passed their test, not teenagers on mopeds and L plates (who round here are pretty awful and dangerous for the most part) are fine. Cyclists are a fucking nuisance however, and should be confined to cycle lanes.

I've only had one issue with a biker, who overtook me as I was turning left. He didn't indicate. Id slowed because his positioning made it clear he wanted to pass, I assumed because he was going straight on. Or not as it turned out. Anyway that's just one pillock. I can think of many more examples of bad car driving.

My main problem with motorbikes is their speed, rather than their position OP. I've never had an accident, but when I have and its been close, its always because a motorbike has sped up out, literally out of nowhere, so I have not seen it because it appeared so fast. I suspect this must a very high contributing factor for accidents.

Drivers are a bigger fucking nuisance and should all be kept to one lane where we can keep an eye in the fuckers.

Bikers (and cyclists) would help themselves and drivers a lot if they would wear hi vis instead of the eternal black. Black is not easy to see.

This isn't strictly true @mountainpika. Often high-vis blends into other road signage and can disappear. During the day, solid colours, like black, can actually be more visible. Obviously riding at night presents different risks.

Oddman, neither do I

Wolves, I think (admittedly I'm not an expert) the theory is that even a small bike can, generally, accelerate much faster than a car so the bike will be able to pull away faster even if they are sitting next to you in the lane.

I always move over slightly for bikers when I see one behind me to make it easier for them to overtake/filter.

I have seen s biker "filtering" down the middle of a dual carriageway of traffic which was going at 50mph once, which I thought was outrageous. It is the dangerous bikers like this that can give bikers a bad rep.

Depends if they’re undertaking or even overtaking at speed.?

I'm a biker too, i've ridden for years and am painfully aware of how vulnerable we are and how every time we throw our leg over a motorcycle, we must ride somewhat defensively.

However.....

'it's legal to do so' should never trump 'is it safe to do so'.

I know they can do it, why wait in stationary traffic if you don't have to, not sure if its always safe as heard a story of a biker that died some weeks back from doing it, clipped the corner of a lorry and was catapulted into traffic. We should all look out for each other.

Knew I shouldn’t have opened this one, slips on past smoothly and gone before you noticed I was here

It’s might be legal here but it’s a pain and IMO dangerous.
That’s why, in other countries, such as France, it’s illegal to do so....

Insomnibrat, that is very true. I am also acutely aware that it is not always safe to do so and therefore I don't.

Some bikers, unfortunately, don't seem to care and just do what they want, it gives us all a bad name. Those of us that do ride responsibly though don't deserve to be blocked like Waitrose does

I saw a biker nearly get himself killed on the roads last week.

Windy country lanes - speed limit is 60mph but nobody really goes much above 35-40 as too many tight corners. No real opportunity to overtake due to this.

I was driving along at about 35mph. Car in front of me doing similar, two bikers behind me trying to overtake. Biker one overtakes, pulls in two cars ahead - no issues. Biker two decides to follow suit, pulls out in front of me (so going into oncoming traffic) and another car comes around the corner and nearly hits him. He had to swerve sharply back in front of me, causing me to slam on my brakes to avoid slamming into the back of him.

Complete idiot. If he'd waited 5-10 seconds, he could have safely overtaken me. He was just so keen to overtake/speed off in front of my old banger that he didn't think to make sure he was safe. If I'd been a learner or going any faster than I was, he'd have been knocked off and badly injured if not killed.

We're not all 'brothers in arms'.
Some of my biker friends riding has actively put me off riding with them altogether, they hoon about like they have a point to prove.
Good riders get sick of that shit too, it gives us a bad name, where most of us are conscientious, highly aware, considerate road users.

we still hoon a bit too