Filtering dangers

Sewinman

Nearly got knocked off/crushed this morning by a big white van on the New Kings Road. I was filtering along the cycle lane just past the Imperial Arms heading East. As I passed said van something must have forced him to swerve left into the cycle lane. I slammed on the anchors and hugged the curb and thankfully he stopped coming my way. I looked at his passenger who sheepishly said sorry.

Funny thing about all this was i didn't feel that angry/worried about it and sort of wondered if this is an occupational hazard of filtering past slow traffic in bike lanes. The other day I saw a guy slap a bonnet of a car that moved forward as he filtered up the left, no bike lane in that instance. Thoughts on left filtering and risks?

sketchley

Often happens to me, no indicator striaght in to cycling lane. Two most frequent are to get round someone turning right, or if an emergancy vechical is coming. Dirvers often don't expect someone to be there, particuarly someone they have just passed and got ahead of..... I just expect everyone to do to it....

veronese68

I hate passing on the left. Admittedly I'm not riding into central London so the roads on my commute are generally quieter but I tend to ride as if I were on a motorbike and pass on the right or split the lanes it there are two lanes . I find I can see more which enables me to anticipate what is happening better. Obviously having been doored by a girl getting out of a car from the right hand lane I realise this method is not foolproof.

bails87

Like Veronese I don't pass on the left unless I can see that the vehicle can't move. And I'd only do it past a car. anything van or bigger I'd just wait behind/pass on the right when the other lane is empty.

Kieran_Burns

This is how i filter when I need to on a busy A road (A60 towards Nottingham)

http://youtu.be/8xMY4K1M0bk

I will overtake all the way up this road if there is standing traffic, and only cut in when the traffic speed builds up or I am over the last hill before I turn left. I have several other vids of the same stretch, my early ones show me struggling to pass on the inside and after conversations on here I started over-taking instead.

I find it much safer and get much more consideration from the other road users

greg66_tri_v2.0

Simple rule for filtering (either side): unless you have an "escape zone", go at a speed that means you can stop dead without a collision if someone opens the passenger door in front of you, or veers towards you.

AKA the rule that stipulates yo are safest when your own speed is closest to that of the traffic around you.

kelsen

Sewinman wrote:

Funny thing about all this was i didn't feel that angry/worried about it

Congratulations! You have attained Zen Cyclist© Level 25!

itboffin

Greg66 Tri v2.0 wrote:

Simple rule for filtering (either side): unless you have an "escape zone", go at a speed that means you can stop dead without a collision if someone opens the passenger door in front of you, or veers towards you.

AKA the rule that stipulates yo are safest when your own speed is closest to that of the traffic around you.

Yep what he ^ said

roger_merriman

itboffin wrote:

Greg66 Tri v2.0 wrote:

Simple rule for filtering (either side): unless you have an "escape zone", go at a speed that means you can stop dead without a collision if someone opens the passenger door in front of you, or veers towards you.

AKA the rule that stipulates yo are safest when your own speed is closest to that of the traffic around you.

Yep what he ^ said

indeed maybe because I do drive biggish van's can loose a car directly behind one of them as it's big lump. I'm alway rather careful filtering and tend to give my self time, and if need be wait.

does mean most will out filter me so I may end up overtaking on the open bits for them to overtake in traffic and so on.

rolf_f

bails87 wrote:

Like Veronese I don't pass on the left unless I can see that the vehicle can't move.

Though, counter to this is that I often feel safer if the traffic is moving a bit - that ensures no pedestrians (unless at ultra lemming level) are likely to appear suddenly from between the cars.

Ideally, the best approach is to eliminate the problem at source and find a different route. There is one part of my inbound commute where, if I suspect stationary traffic ahead, I'll turn left into a more residential area and inflict a short but irritating climb on myself just to avoid awkward left then right then left filtering.

Greg66 Tri v2.0 wrote:

AKA the rule that stipulates yo are safest when your own speed is closest to that of the traffic around you.

Or, that you are safest when your speed is closest to that of the traffic around you or an amount slower that the car driver expects you to be. I have one descent, again on my way in to work, where I normally reach about 35 mph and feel happiest if there is a car about 50 yards ahead of me or just behind me to effectively act as protection. If I'm on my own at that speed, I can expect people to pull out right infront of me.

itboffin

I've started cycling the masshoof 1 mile each way again in London and once again can not believe how many scaffolding truck seem to drive up and down the strand every morning, where the hell are they coming from / going too?

I've also given up trying to tell people not to squeeze between these trucks and the buses in the bus lane.

Sewinman

I tend to feel more exposed on the right, you have to judge it right and have a gap to pull back into. I will just put this incident down to experience, thankfully I was going at a speed that allowed me to stop and 'escape'.

rubertoe

Remeber; Its not a race...

t4tomo

i was going up the cycel lane last night - steady away not bombing it or anything, stationary traffic to the right of me, and almost collided with a bike cutting back into the cycle lane from in front of bus - zero visibility. had it been juust cars I'd have clocked him but by coming back in by the bus he was effectively invisible.

I made a "fwurrr" noise as swerved as left as i could he said "sorry". Its an occupational hazard of cycling in london as are lemming pedestrians on mobile phones or ipods.

brooksby

I will sometimes go down the left, sometimes the right, depending on what the traffic is doing.

Right side can be bad if you know you need to get back into the lane and aren't sure if the traffic is going to start moving, cos you can be sure none of them will let you back in!

I hate it when I go down a cycle lane toward an ASL when the lights are red, and all the pedestrians think that because the cars aren't moving they don't need to look, and start flinging themselves between the stationery cars like urban lemmings...

Initialised

kelsen wrote:

Sewinman wrote:

Funny thing about all this was i didn't feel that angry/worried about it

Congratulations! You have attained Zen Cyclist© Level 25!

That happened to me yesterday. Taking a right hand turn, a MG ZR/Body Kitted Rover 25 comes belting around the corner pretty fast, hits the anchor, tyres squealing as they do an emergency stop, split second descision safer to commit to the bend or pull out? I brake and pull back across to the left. I should have been scared, angry, upset, but whatever we're both just out enjoying the country lanes and do one got hurt. Hopefully it scared the driver into slowing a bit for blind bends before junctions for a while. It cost me a PR on that segment, I matched my previous best despite the evasive action, but it took me all year to KOM it. I guess the being glad to be alive counteracted the indignation at missing out on what (now that I've looked at the data) would have been a PR on my only current KOM.

On the overtaking thing, right unless there's a bike lane or an escape.