Riding the white line

[Cret]

I must admit it does annoy me when in the car and you suddenly have bikes on all sides of you when you're stopped. It's the loony ones though that really take the cake, like the local I saw a few months ago who undertook on a cruiser type bike past a stopped line of traffic at the groves road junction, then rode up on the pavement where he couldn't get past a couple of cars.

Down teh pavement past the red light then back down onto the road again before stalling 50 yards further along in the middle of the road.

What a total tw@t.

[ah kid]

well i think i may have my ten penneth please now , having owned both bikes and cars all my life i can safely say that as you get a little older your brain starts to work a little better and you tend to stop (on a bike) pulling up at the front of queuing traffic especially when the car car is trying to turn right, , i think that the highway code states that you can overtake a vehicle if its going slower than the speed limit,turning left and i think they may be another one ,I was not aware that filtering was a new law for the 2 wheelers?????? anyway cars pay a little more tax so surely that should be a deciding factor????????????????????????????????????????

[Cret]

I don't actually do a huge amount of filtering in reality - the odd bit here and there, and as you've said, probably a bit less as I get older and think (see my earlier comments about less experienced riders) more about gain vs risk. There's a risk involved in all driving/riding, and I would say that any overtake or filter increases that risk. The important factors really are doing it while being considerate to others, and doing where the extra risk is negligible rather than considerable. IMHO of course.

The laws have not changed as far as I am aware - filtering has I always been legal (depending on what you do - and not just overtaking slow vehicles as you mentioned), but it's always been a bit of a gray area and seems to be slightly less so now, given that the newer versions of the highway code acknowlege it, and give advice on it (something on the lines of go slow and pay extra attention/observation), along with the fact that legal precedents that change the way bikes involved in accidents while filtering have been set.

I can't really add a lot to that - some people will just hate anyone going past them on a bike whether it makes any difference to them or not. Some people will always think it's cheeky and/or dangerous to filter. I can't change that perception, but as long as it's legal then where it's no inconvenience to other road users and no particular increased risk to myself I'll still do it from time to time. That's it really.

Interesting discussion though.

[QuietOne]

Reading the past few posts, it's good to see that everyone is realising what I was getting at by my initial post.

It's not about the bad bikers or drivers, but more about being more courteous towards other road users, regardles of what they may be driving or riding.

I've been behind some drivers over the past few weeks that will actually go out of their way to give more room to allow me to pass on the bike, and I wish I could give a wave to every one of them, but keeping both hands on the bars if fairly important at times

If you're one of the drivers that do this, please accept this

[Jay_VTR]

see.....I aint getting a bikers cos I love them! But i never move over when driving cos I feel that they will know what they are doing so dont need me to move as they will have thought about how they are getting past without my help. I am talking at speed though tbh, like over the mountain. When we are plodding at 35-40 i shift over a touch.... this mayb just me and feel free to comment!!

EDIT - Basically I move over at slower speeds, when going quick I dont want to do something they aint predicting and move over as they know what they are up to.

[bougourd]

see.....I aint getting a bikers cos I love them!

you love men dressed all in leather?

[Jay_VTR]

shush....not suitable content for a public forum....

[///AMG MERCINATOR]

Well trucks need a little more room than bikes or cars, the same applies to plant and what not?