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.

I suppose because my dad rode bikes all his days I see a bike as a person, someone's world. I always tuck in for them and ve home aware. My dad taught me to drive and my actual instructor was a biker too so safety was instilled in me.

@ThisTimeItsTrue I'm not sure I'm buying the black clothing can be more visible that high vis clothing. hmm. How can wearing something that's tarmac coloured be the safe option ..... that's bonkers!

There are specific studies by the Transport Research Laboratory (formerly part of the DfT)) that demonstrate block colours are as effective as high-vis and sometimes more so. It's about colour contrast. Fluorescent and high-vis also only work in brighter conditions.

The key for bikers and other vulnerable road users is to use lights and to wear clothing with reflective strips. Both work in various different weather conditions and against varying backgrounds.

Most people have OK hearing - you can hear a motorbike (or indeed an ambulance) approaching from behind even if you can't see it.

I agree with frump - too many drivers seem only to be aware of what's directly in front of them.

I was thinking about this yesterday in the context of people on push bikes who cycle up the inside.

Yes it's legal.

But it's a silly thing to do and I never do it when I am on my bike.

On a motorbike you are faster and I see no problem with overtaking, but I'd never go up the inside of anyone or down the middle of two lanes.

Also if someone is indicating, please don't pass them - either on the left or the right. Wait behind until they've turned.

Zampa

I'd have guessed block colors, reflective strips and lights make motorbikes more visible. That's obvious surely. My comment was that block colour of 'tarmac' black won't.

For some weird reason there are loads of MCyclists who dress head to toe in black. It's a bit silly of them not to at least try and be as visible as possible. Car drivers should of course see them even when they are wearing camouflage black but it's not a risk I'd take.

I don't ride Mbikes any more but I always wear something bright and noticeable when I'm on my push bike.

Tarmac isn't necessarily what you need to stand out against though. I'm thinking about a photo I saw as part of a campaign to make drivers look more carefully as they pull out of junctions - it was bright sunlight, leafy hedgerows etc that camouflaged the biker. Obviously I can't find it now

Exactly @ibiscuit. Bikers need to stand out against all the other road furniture, bright signs, advertising etc. Black (as a block colour) is often more visible in a busy streetscape

I’m quite frustrated about how many bikers and moped-ers don’t seem to realise that the advanced stop boxes for cyclists aren’t for them
And the sole purpose of their ‘filtering’ in slow or stationary traffic is to get to the box and therefore be first to burn everyone off at the lights even though it puts cyclists at risk.

Ditto the cycle super highways in London, which are for cyclists and just cyclists, yet bikers see them as an easy shortcut to the front of the queue at traffic lights.

And it isn’t a couple of naive riders. It is the vast, vast majority of them.

So it’s a bit rich for the bikers of the thread to throw their hands up about the ignorance of drivers putting them in risk when as a cohort of road users, they are even more guilty of doing it

Yes yes yes!
I filter when safe... if the traffic is moving at more than 20mph I drop back in to a lane. There's a stretch on my commute where it is dual carriageway and it can be stationary or very slow and I love being able to go straight down the middle! I nod to say thank you to people who actively move to the side.
What really annoys me are those who deliberately try to stop me by gently pulling IN to the lane. (what is this "bikers kick" that I must learn?)
I want to say to them "Look, I'm here on my BIKE today - I am NOT stopping you get to where you need to be. If I was in my CAR I would probably be in front of you and therefore actually holding you up. THINK about it".
Stupid wintery weather at the moment and a bit of a cold (I have yet to discover what happens if you sneeze riding a bike and I do not wish to find out). Car, car, car, car car.

Yes filtering down the middle is fab on a push bike too. On occasion some saddo in a car will move across to try to block.

Well I can't speak for all bikers Spare, obviously, but I certainly don't do that. Nor do any bikers I know or have seen in this area.

I live nowhere near London so have never even seen yet alone inappropriately used the cycle highway. So no I don't believe all or even the vast majority of bikers are 'even more guilty of putting other road users at risk'.

I have to say as well that some cbt courses are woefully inadequate. The first one I ever did was little more than showing me the throttle and the brake and letting me out on the road. Fortunately the next one was much better. I am fairly sure that the vast majority of especially young moped riders don't know all the rules of the road for this reason.

I think that attitude of many is summed up by @WaitrosePigeon who thinks she's somehow clever.

I'm a cyclist, motorcyclist and 4X4 driver (our 4X4s are a Range Rover and a proper lifted pick-up). In that order, I get treated with more courtesy on the roads.

The good thing about riding a bike is you can always catch people up and 'explain' why what they did was cuntish.

StrictlyPannnn

Yet they get really cross when you squeeze past their car or when they move across and you can't brake in time and there's a scratch on all 4 side panels.

I move over to the left for bikers generally but theres a busy road near me and they undertake and overtake at the same time - what the fuck am i meant to do there?!

@Nothingrhymeswithfamily

Drive sensibly. Indicate and check mirrors / blind spot before maneuvering.

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No, New, if you are filtering it is always on the right and is therefore no different to overtaking except it is done in slow moving or stationary traffic. Nothing like undertaking, which is done on the left. There may not even be a car to your right if it is a single lane road. It is perfectly safe if done properly.

No Shakira. I was referring to two (by two) lanes of traffic, which is how it normally happens, and people 'filtering' down the middle - it is an idiot move

By filtering down the middle you are effectively undertaking the cars on your right

Still entirely legal though newLove

I get really pissed off with bikers using the cycle stop boxes too. See it every time I drive in London. Even saw a moped using the cycle lane!😮

Other than that I have a lot of biker friends. Filtering doesn’t bother me and I keep an eye out and make room in slow traffic if I can. I also double check at junctions.

My issue with Mbikes is when they accelerate up into view out of nowhere. I'm not sure it's fair to expect other road users to plan for for instantly appearing M-bikes.

That doesn't happen if you are using your mirrors correctly.

By filtering down the middle you are effectively undertaking the cars on your right

You do know that in slow moving traffic cars are allowed to 'undertake'?

Filtering in the middle is the recommended manner and it makes sense.

Am always amazed at non-biking people 'advising' biking people on how to do it. Even richer when you realise the non-biking people cause the most slaughter.

It's like being 'carsplained'.

Regardless of whether it is legal it is a stupid thing to do...

I know it's legal. Doesn't mean it is not fucking dangerous at times though.

Plenty of things are legal but still dangerous to do....

Doesn’t matter what your opinion is really does it?

It’s legal, we know it happens so as a safe driver we need to be aware of it and accommodate it.

Whenever I see a bike (motorbike or other) in my rear view mirror I can't wait for it to overtake filter past me in traffic. As soon as it's gone I am no longer in danger of it crashing into me. Motorbikes scare me and don't get me started on push bikes going 30+ mph downhill on those skinny wheels 😕