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.

nocake - absolutely!

If I see a bike coming up from behind on my side, I check my left mirror and if it is safe I move over a few inches to allow them to pass safely. I want them away from me as soon as possible for both our sakes. I could not care less if they get ahead of me. Isn't that the point of a bike?

I do get very annoyed by anyone trying to overtake on my left because it is just stupid and dangerous (and illegal) especially when I have a left signal on!

I also get very annoyed by cyclists who are in a cycle lane and when their way is obstructed, move out in front of me without even a glance over their shoulder. Luckily I pay attention and can predict that they are going to pull this dick move but it is so dangerous.

I'm a cyclist and that annoys me too, happy. I always check over my shoulder, wait until a safe gap, then arm signal before pulling out if there's a car behind. I see so many cyclists who never look around them - they're taking no responsibility for their own safety at al.

ys between traffic not when theres hardly any and they filter for no bloody reason!

ooh happy2be i agree.... people overtaking on my left gets my goat as well...

I'm going to say something really out of character now because I really do usually have a, "live and let live" attitude to life.

I'd like to see motorcycles banned apart from those using them for their jobs such as paramedics and delivery people. I live in a quite village near a delightful market town. A market town that sees the influx of hundreds of these wretched machines and their riders all too frequently, especially during the summer months.
I've sat in church and strained to hear a sermon at 0930 because they all think it's such fun to roar out of the town en masse, revving their stupid engines just as loudly as they possibly can just because they can. And before anyone has a go at me for being a, "God botherer", I feel just as bad for those residents trying to get their Sunday lie in and the people who've paid through the nose for a, supposedly, relaxing weekend break in the luxury hotel down the road!
A couple of them actually just sat on the edge of the square and revved their engines during last year's Remembrance Day service on the square. They weren't going anywhere, just revving and watching, and laughing.
Don't even get me started on the damned cycle races that take place on all the country roads around us on Saturdays. No, really, it's fine. You just come from your home towns with your marshalls and your flags and your huge groups taking up the whole width of the road. Don't give a thought to those of us who live and work here and are still trying to go about our lawful means of earning our living while you have fun. It's fine once in a while but from about May to September it's nearly every, damned weekend! Rant over. As you were.

The whole point of filtering is to allow bikes and motorbikes to do exactly that. If you're not going to let them rejoin the flow of traffic then you are the one who is being obstructive; and we might as well just ban filtering.

What's the point of being so sensitive about it anyway? If you're sat in a traffic jam it's hardly delaying and they'll be out of your way much sooner than a car would.

The level of entitlement displayed by some motorists depresses me.

Ifeelsuchafool

I agree with you. I hate, hate, HATE moritbikes purely because of their stupid noise. I hate noise. There are some boy racer types on motorbikes who make an incredible racket near us on summer evenings. They are just so anti-social.

I cannot see the point of motorbikes. I'm always considerate of them when I'm driving and would never be annoyed if they filter at traffic lights etc. But they are ridiculously dangerous. Even without a car driver being a dick, you can easily do yourself some nasty damage just by coming off a motorbike on a bend or similar. They are insane.

Oh dear. I can’t help to join in as I ride a motorbike too.
I do it because it saves me 1.5 hrs commute, allows me to stay more with my son, save money on childcare etc etc etc
I don’t enjoy risking to be killed every day, nor driving in the pouring rain or gushing winds, but had to make a choice somewhere.
I haven’t read all the comments, but some are quite gustly.
I HATE bikers who speed or otherwise put other people’s life in danger on the roads. Is that a good reason to do the same?
So many times I had other motorcycles, bikes, cars putting my life at risk.
Could we just respect each other? We are not on the road for a challenge, are we?
Bikes on the left, cars in the middle and motorcycles on the right when taking over. No zigzagging around. Shouldn’t be difficult and we could all be a bit less stressed.
Sitting in traffic in a car is utterly annoying (do that too...), but every bike or motorbike is a car less in the traffic jam

It doesn't bother me that bikers filter or drive between cars in slow-moving or stationary traffic.
It scares the bejesus out of me and is incredibly dangerous when you are travelling fast on the motorway. I regularly see motorbikes weaving in and out of traffic. The last thing I'm anticipating is a bike to suddenly undertake out of nowhere.

I think this is another case of the few ruining it for the many. I know it's legal and have no problem but I do regularly see mopeds, motorbikes and cycles pushing through traffic. And when I say pushing through traffic I mean coming up to junctions/roundabouts that are narrow and also congested on both sides of the road. They walk their bikes slowly along having to tilt their handle bars around wing mirrors. And when they get to the junction where cars are edging to the side they are turning, the riders then try to push past going behind, on pavements around islands on the other side of the road etc to get ahead.
I am still shocked by some people's actions especially when I have moved over to allow room for filtering and they then get abusive because they can't undertake you and become stuck in position because they were weaving around stationary cars in traffic.
Another dangerous thing is over taking stationary cars stopped at crossings.

However I would never try to stop or cause problems for another road user deliberately. If an accident happens I wouldn't want that on me. As road users all we can do is be aware of our surroundings and drive safely, as long as you are doing that you cannot do anything else.

Definitely should only be done when traffic is stationery or crawling. The danger is when cyclists drive up between lanes of traffic and the outside lane driver can't see them coming up on the inside. So dangerous as the outside lane car can easily move in a hit the cyclist. It's like motorists who overtake on the inside - nightmare.

Why wouldn't the outside lane driver not be able to see the person on a bike filtering betwèen lanes?

I'm shocked at all these bikers kicking cars and breaking wing mirrors off. Firstly thats incredibly dangerous to you, secondly it's criminal damage. I can see why so many people have dash cams now! I'd like to think of a few of that sort landed with points and a hefty bill. There is no excuse for it what ever the behavior of the car driver.

Pannn,
The car in the right hand lane has obscured vision to their left rear due to the structure of the car. That's why undertaking is illegal filtering assumes a lower speed where there will be less Lane changing and more time to respond.

But God, here in the form of car manufacturers, gave drivers mirrors so they can see other road users not directly in front of them. I understand they are even fitted to Audis and BMWs.
So why would it be dangerous to filter between lanes?

I'm sure mirror indicate manoeuvre is recommended. So why not in heavy traffic?

Why would a driver turn into a space they have obscured vision of? Seems v dangerous and stupid of them.

Have just seen a 4x4 vehicle with side mirrors fitted too.

Bikers and their divinely ordained right to filter!

Somehow it's been reimagined as bikers having the right of way, in all cases. I think that's why drivers are a bit tetchy about filtering.

I moved to the right to allow a cyclist pass on my left at a point of congestion Sunday afternoon, with five young boys in my car on the way to a birthday party. Some seconds later a hive of bikers came by on my right, gesticulating wildly through my window that I could suck their dicks, since they couldn't pass on my right.

Delightful.

Well it isn't divinely ordained is it? It's quite legal and nothing unusual. It just challenges the notion that drivers are ordained as rulers of the road and can do what they want including risking other's lives whilst doing I.

Driver are 'tetchy' otherwise known as 'wrong', as it expects them to be thinking of others I steady of only their self interests which what driving appears to lead people to do.

I don’t like bikes overtaking me in slow moving traffic causing me to slow down to leave a full cars distance in the new gap they’ve made me create - they ARE pushing in and it’s no different than a car doing it

It’s not pushing in and this annoys me as it’s the same mentality people have about cyclists ‘holding them up’.

It’s cars that cause the jams and hold ups.

It's quite legal and nothing unusual.

It's not legal everywhere, mind you, which implies that there's some disagreement about the wisdom of filtering.

It just challenges the notion that drivers are ordained as rulers of the road and can do what they want including risking other's lives whilst doing I.

Bikers have the right of way in all cases; once they insert themselves, anywhere, drivers must yield. Isn't this what filtering really means?