Laws on filtering

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crackthepipe999

crackthepipe999

Wannabie Member
Hi guys. So thismorning I rode my bike to college, with my mate, leading up the the large roundabout there's always cues in the morning. I was taking the first exit (an immediate left) so I ,slowly, filterd down the left, between the curb and cars (one of which was a police car). When I get to college, my friend says he didn't follow me because filtering on the left is illegal. Is this true? And can you give me a filtering for dummy's guide? I belive I am as safe as I can make it very slow always wary of cars ect...

Cheers CtP999
 
crackthepipe999 said:
Hi guys. So thismorning I rode my bike to college, with my mate, leading up the the large roundabout there's always cues in the morning. I was taking the first exit (an immediate left) so I ,slowly, filterd down the left, between the curb and cars (one of which was a police car). When I get to college, my friend says he didn't follow me because filtering on the left is illegal. Is this true? And can you give me a filtering for dummy's guide? I belive I am as safe as I can make it very slow always wary of cars ect...

Cheers CtP999
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Filtering on the left (between cars and the curb) is illegal.

Imagine you're on a single carriageway. If you're going to overtake, you do it on the right. Doing it on the left is undertaking and is illegal.
Filtering it basically overtaking in a lot of regards.

Hope that helps.
 
Yeah, it's not only illegal, but extremely dangerous. If you don't think many driver check their right mirror when turning right, you be surprised how little check their left when turning left. Why? Because they're not expecting anything to cone from the left, because they're next to the kerb. I die a little bit inside when I see people do that.
 
I don't think there is anything set in stone, however as friz says... Treat it as an overtake, however there are times where bikes go Inbetween two rows of queuing traffic, so that means they're both overtaking one lane, undertaking an other. So kind of a contradiction.

I don't think I'd go between curb and car, unless its really necessary.

I've also heard that its deemed non sensible to filter at more than 15-20mph above the cars you are filtering past, I think it fairs better for you if you stick to that incase of an accident. Any more could be seen as you doing the manoeuvre quite dangerously.

Again I can't point you to any laws in particular, so I'm going on word of mouth.
 
It's not actually illegal. I've looked into this before. There is no specific law prohibiting it. However, there is a very fine line between undertaking somebody dangerously at speed and filtering safely on the left in slow moving traffic.
I wouldn't recommend it, unless absolutely necessary. And sometimes it is necessary, especially in London.

Oli
 
It definitely ISN'T illegal.

Filtering is filtering. It means you slide through any gaps available to safely make progress. If it was illegal, don't you think the Police would have said something?

That said, Birmingham City centre Police may well see it differently from your local village bobby...

I do it a lot on my commute into the city centre, but there's rarely a reason to do it back out in the sticks.

On a personal level, I wouldn't recommend doing it unless traffic is pretty much stationary. If the worst did happen then you'd probably be looking at a 50/50 claim in most circumstances, from an insurance point of view.
 
Thanks for all your replies guys! The trafic wasn't moving at all it was standstill. Nearer the roundabaout there was a few cars rolling, but I was going very slowly (the speed of a light jog). But needless to at I won't be doing that again!
I appreciate your feedback tho!
 
Whether filtering on the left is legal or not should not be the point, the point should be whether it is safe to or not and most of the time filtering on the left is definitely NOT SAFE.

It's legal to jump off a cliff, but we don't. A society where the attitude is "someone hasn't told me not to, so I will" is not one I want to live in.
 
Thanks for the other comments here. it has kind of clarified further for me too... like I say it was only word of mouth for me and the highway code only mentions filtering here:

88

Manoeuvring. You should be aware of what is behind and to the sides before manoeuvring. Look behind you; use mirrors if they are fitted. When in traffic queues look out for pedestrians crossing between vehicles and vehicles emerging from junctions or changing lanes. Position yourself so that drivers in front can see you in their mirrors. Additionally, when filtering in slow-moving traffic, take care and keep your speed low.

160

be aware of other road users, especially cycles and motorcycles who may be filtering through the traffic. These are more difficult to see than larger vehicles and their riders are particularly vulnerable. Give them plenty of room, especially if you are driving a long vehicle or towing a trailer

167
DO NOT overtake where you might come into conflict with other road users. For example between the kerb and a bus or tram when it is at a stop

182

Use your mirrors and give a left-turn signal well before you turn left. Do not overtake just before you turn left and watch out for traffic coming up on your left before you make the turn, especially if driving a large vehicle. Cyclists, motorcyclists and other road users in particular may be hidden from your view.

source: http://www.gov.uk the highway code.
 
Grandsatsuma said:
I don't care what the law says, until I get a ticket I am still going to do it when it is safe to do so...
Click to expand...

PLEASE tell me this isn't your attitude towards all aspects of riding your bike?
It'd be bad enough if it was just this one thing.
 
Thanks everyone,
Withabitofginger: thanks for the post, very helpful!

So it seems that due to the Highway Code filtering on the left is okay, unless its a public vehicle at a stop.

I won't be filtering flowing traffic on the left, unless it seems safe... Well I won't filter at all unless it seems safe.

I would say it was safe for me to filter on left thismorning due to the. Fact the staffing was standstill and I joined the cue at the front and not just pull out.
 
Personally coming up to a junction or a roundabout I would avoid filtering traffic nearest the kerb. They do often take a lot of the room up when turning and will not check who is on their left.

However if you can get in front I don't see a problem, you've got the acceleration of being on 2 wheels to play with.
 
Grandsatsuma said:
I don't care what the law says, until I get a ticket I am still going to do it when it is safe to do so...
Click to expand...

EEEeeek!

I think this every time I go to the petrol station in my pjs or nip to the co-op in slippers. :lol: :lol:
 
Friz said:
Grandsatsuma said:
I don't care what the law says, until I get a ticket I am still going to do it when it is safe to do so...
Click to expand...

PLEASE tell me this isn't your attitude towards all aspects of riding your bike?
It'd be bad enough if it was just this one thing.
Click to expand...

Only this, All the other time I am very careful :] If I am sat in stationary traffic and there is a gap big enough for two of me I will go through, if the traffic is crawling I will never go to the left because if the reasons stated here. But if I get a ticket for safely (in my eyes) filtering to the left I will have learned my lesson and will stop, I usually take the law very seriously. Even if most of it is utter tripe :P
 
Grandsatsuma said:
Friz said:
Grandsatsuma said:
I don't care what the law says, until I get a ticket I am still going to do it when it is safe to do so...
Click to expand...

PLEASE tell me this isn't your attitude towards all aspects of riding your bike?
It'd be bad enough if it was just this one thing.
Click to expand...

Only this, All the other time I am very careful :] If I am sat in stationary traffic and there is a gap big enough for two of me I will go through, if the traffic is crawling I will never go to the left because if the reasons stated here. But if I get a ticket for safely (in my eyes) filtering to the left I will have learned my lesson and will stop, I usually take the law very seriously. Even if most of it is utter tripe :P
Click to expand...


Is it just me who does the following or am I being a vain tnuc? If I'm not in a hurry and its a nice day, I don't mind sitting and waiting my turn in traffic - it gives the cagers something to look at as they wait.

:lol: :lol:
 
MedicDan said:
Is it just me who does the following or am I being a vain tnuc? If I'm not in a hurry and its a nice day, I don't mind sitting and waiting my turn in traffic - it gives the cagers something to look at as they wait.

:lol: :lol:
Click to expand...

I do this, so long as the sun is not beating down on me, if its really sunny I must keep moving or I slowly start roasting alive. As I am sure you all know xD
 
I don't think I've ever filtered on the left, just for safety reasons. But as has already been mentioned, undertaking is not illegal, and there are certain circumstances where filtering to the left is safe. Not that I've ever deemed it safe myself, but I imagine it happens from time ;-)

Sent from my LG Optimus 4X using Tapatalk 2
 
LeedsRider93 said:
But as has already been mentioned, undertaking is not illegal
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Undertaking in most conditions is illegal, but (apart from in terms of filtering) hasn't been discussed in this thread so far.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undertaking_%28driving%29

United Kingdom - The Highway Code discourages undertaking on motorways with some exceptions (rule 268): "Do not overtake on the left or move to a lane on your left to overtake". Undertaking is permitted in congested conditions when frequent lane changing is not recommended.[4] On other roads, the Code advises drivers "should only overtake on the left if the vehicle in front is signalling to turn right" (rule 163).[5] Rule 163 uses advisory wording and "will not, in itself, cause a person to be prosecuted", but may be used in evidence to establishing liability in any court proceedings.[6] On all roads, undertaking is permitted if the vehicles in the lane to the right are queueing and slow moving. Undertaking in an aggressive or reckless manner could be considered Careless Driving or more seriously Dangerous Driving, both of which are legally enforceable offences.
Click to expand...

This section,

On all roads, undertaking is permitted if the vehicles in the lane to the right are queueing and slow moving.
Click to expand...

quoted from the above paragraph, could be used to discuss filtering on the left.

However - this part is actually referring to slow moving traffic as in a que on a dual carriageway or motorway where you're in a car and can't help but undertake someone in the car to the lane next to you (at ridiculously slow speeds) because you're lane is moving faster.
 
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