Sitting In Traffic - Why?

[Vincent]

I see more and more bikes sitting in traffic jams instead of filtering and staying between stationary cars at red traffic lights and I'm completely perplexed Is this what they teach when you do your CBT? I know it can be a bit hairy when just starting to ride, and approaching red traffic lights can be dodgy if they change to green while youre trapped between cars and the pavement, but a lot of these bikes are older folks on big bikes. Surely, not having to sit in traffic is one of the best things about riding in town

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

Some people just aren't confident enough. Shrug.
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[sagalout]

[Finglonga]

[The Goat]

sometimes i just cant be arsed combined with the fact that filtering on my daily commute means i get to work earlier, why on earth would i want to be there quicker when im out on a h00n however thats a diff story but riding everyday i get tired of filtering

[the grim reaper]

I thought the same about the pavement thing, wtf?

As far as not filtering goes, sometimes I don't but only if I've seen a knob in a car that I don't trust to not turn right or something similar. The rest of the time I filter.

Cheers

Grim
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[Kickstart]

Hi

Filter most of the time, but sometimes I just cannot be bothered if the queue is short. Other times I don't regard it as fair (eg, on my old commute there was a T junction where 99% of people were waiting to turn left, and by filtering all you did was jumped a queue and stopped someone getting out who had been waiting).

All the best

Keith
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[map]

As said sometimes lacking confidence, other times too much hassle and then there's spotting the car driver(s) in front being stupid and wanting to hang back.


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[Dappa D]

when riding through bristol.............

more time to check out the hot women

Dappa
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[Shay HTFC]

Coming to summer now, so some creaking riders are coming out and maybe not confident enough just yet to get back into filtering.

And I'll often sit in a queue if the benefits don't outweigh the concentration to navigate through an extremely narrow gap between expensive cars.
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[iooi]

You know life's not always about rushing to get from A 2 B. Sometimes it just nice to sit back and relax.

Could be these folks are going to turn left at the next junction, can't exactly filter in cases like this, as its not always possible to get a gap big enough to allow you to get road position for you turn.
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[Ghost]

I filtered past a 125 on Ls the other day who was stationary in traffic. I don't know what s/he was playing that but I'd already cleared 3 sets of traffic lights before he got past the first so there's obviously something funny going on. I can understand not being confident enough to filter, and if you've just passed your bike test from driving a car it feels all wrong but really you're never gonna learn how to filter if you don't start trying!

[Kal]

I usually filter, however there are some places in Leicester I don't because I don't think they are safe.

I'd rather wait a little while and not have the bike off of the orad for repairs.
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[Bendy]

Do loads of filtering and be early to work. Woo.

[Ghost]

[Vincent]

[Bendy]

[bazza]

[Vincent]

[headlamp]

I was watching some people filter this morning and it made me think - Either I could arrive on time alive somewhere or die trying to arrive 5 minutes early.

I think some bikers have a disease called 'Filtering Obession Disorder' where they have to filter regardless of traffic conditions and other bikers around them. In most cases these people seem to be riding Gilera lookalike bikes with L plates. In the recent hot weather I've noticed that the biking clothing has consisted of a helmet, shorts, flip flops and a vest!

Filtering is a dangerous business in London - with all the dopey drivers, iPod wearing pedestrians, mad cyclists, van drivers etc...there's no point in putting yourself in more risk then neccessary unless that extra 5 minutes saved is life or death!!
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[Vincent]

[DidierD]

[lofty]

It depends, I do filter quite a lot, but if I have lots of time and there isn't much traffic I don't bother, or if, like today I wasn't feeling too good and my front tyre was a tad on the squishy side then I just pootle along!

[The Tot]

People don't expect you to filter up here in edinburgh. I was legally filtering at about 5-10mph, nothing fast, in the middle of the opposite lane for good visibility as instructed by my bikesafe instructor and i pull in the let some oncoming traffic go, but this guy was adamant that what i was doing was illegal - traffic on my lane was fine, he let me in , but this chap beepd his horn at me as if i ran a child over! either way, he got an earful of exhaust when he tried chatting to me from his window...

It was a standstill so fair enough, if the oncoming traffic is virtually absent, then why NOT. And it weren't as if i didn't give sufficient time or space for this guy to drive past me as if i weren't there - maybe he got intimidated by the fact that he thought i was playing chicken with him. And i didn't have my xenons shining straight at him (turned them off). But i guess i've got to accept that these jocks don't know what to do when a guy, used to filtering through london traffic tries to apply similar but safe "progress" in the land of the north. Even the big boys on their big bikes don't filter here?! I cant see the reason not to when the traffic is stationary, you've got plenty of space and you're going along at a relatively slow pace. Must be the fact that most folk only use their bike when the sun comes out - well 60% of the riders i see. Someday, i reckon i'll catch another person out when they're dozing so i'll have to prepare myself for that.
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[pa_broon74]

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't; depends on my mood.

What does annoy me (and this is when these people should probably just sit in traffic) is when you get stuck behind a filtering bike who wont get out of the way.

I tend not to filter if the traffics doing more than 45 or 50 odd mph, but if its crawling along at 20 and there's a bike in front doing 22 its a wee bit annoying.

I once got stuck behind to dutch folk on big BMW's, I was on my 125 sporting L plates. I managed to scoot up a slip road, down the other side and get in front of them with room to spare. They just wouldn't yield, there was plenty opportunity to do so and I was stuck behind them for about 4 miles so they must have been aware of my presence.


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