Motor bikes on the motor way....
 

I don't mind bikes but have a question... There's heavy traffic on the motorway and at a crawl and bikes wizz down the inside of the middle lane. If I'm pulling into the middle lane, don't see them and hit them who's at fault?

This hasn't happened and I'd like to think I'm a safe driver but using the M1& M25 a lot at the minute I see a few bikes getting pretty close.

With the way some people just swerve into a lanes I can't belive no one has been hit yet...

It's quite legal to filter but every situation, if there's been an accident, will be different and they'll look at relative speeds, amount of traffic, etc etc. If you're changing lanes it's up to you to make sure it's safe before doing so, etc etc. So, IMHO, no hard and fast rule.

Dave

Does mirror, signal, manoeuvre not get taught nowadays?

Probably not and neither does indicating on roundabouts!

Filtering speed is a key here.

A rider should only filter at speed that is roughly a jogging pace faster than the surrounding traffic (i.e speed+10mph). Any faster and the rider is asking to be thrown over the handle bars.


Mirror signal manouver doesn't work if the bike is travelling 30mph faster than everything else on the road.
IMHO.

You are kidding right, have you been on the roads lately?

Of course they don't!!

I ride very carefully in those situations as lane changing by drivers is VERY frequent. I do wonder how some bikers survive seeing how they ride on motorways.......

I always look signal look then SLOWLY move.. I was lead to belive a bike zipping up the middle was illegal as its an undertake. ..

I do a lot of driving in a large van and some bikers are a pain in the arse, I'm saying that as a biker too! The amount of times (on the motorway) I've gone to move back to the middle lane and just seen a biker flat out undertaking, coming from behind cars that are behind me in the fast lane! When I ride, I'm just trying to get my head into everything going on ahead of me. I'd say out of ten bikers I see, maybe two look like they are competent and in control. Most just see a gap and head into it flat out, just playing a game of chance.

The thing I hate is this Devine right some bikers seem to think they have to get past everything in sight. Anyone who's done London bound blackwall tunnel run a lot will know what I mean, revving their bikes to the limiter if they have to squeeze between two van wing mirrors, or giving people wanker signs if they happen to hold them up for half a second.

:luxhello:

These are the exact ones I mean... Also isn't under taking illegal? Why don't they over take on the far right near the central reservation....

I travel the M6 daily, the amount of bikers racing between virtually staionary lanes is insane.... 30 mph difference.....and the rest!!!! They must have a death wish.

I ride a bike to work most days (except this time of year), I was taught that filtering between the middle and outside lanes is the safest way, but also to do it at not much above walking pace faster than the surrounding cars, and to be ultra observant.

They still happen, but un-signalled emergency lane changes aren't as prevalent between those lanes as they are between lanes 1 & 2

I find dual carriageways scarier, especially approaching lights, it's amazing how many (usually male) drivers will take a violent swerve across the lane they're in to stop you getting past them :eek:

:cuckoo:

Because the central reservation is usually unpaved and covered in debris, dangerous to drive on in a car, lethal on a bike :nono:

Also using the middle/outside lanes gives more escape options should a manoeuvre go wrong for whatever reason

Nice to hear someone say this, but in my experience it's not how the police look at it. 25+ years ago I was starting to turn around in a stationary queue of traffic (A road, not motorway) and clipped a motorbike who had decided to speed past at 50+ mph. He definitely wasn't visible just before I started the manoeuvre because I was close to the back of the queue and he was hidden behind the handful of cars behind me. I knocked him off, but thankfully he wasn't badly injured. The police were well aware of his speed given where his bike ended up, but they still decided I was partly to blame and took me to court. I was advised to plead guilty but make a mitigating statement which the court did take into account but still fined me.

Filtering well is the same as driving well - perfectly fine.

Flat out undertaking, swerving through traffic is just bad driving and the same as any bad driving really.

I filter all the time and as posted, the amount of people who think because they have to sit in a queue others should too is amazing. It's no wonder the hand gestures come out. What point is there for sitting on the white line? How does that help anyone get tot he front of the queue faster? therefore these people are serial masterbators, probably just with finger and thumb though because if that's what you need to do to get excitement in your life we're probably talking a second belly button type thing.

Also, if this particular bit of road is known for it then keep an eye out. The riders should be watching too (I do) but several recent court cases have gone against the drivers when bikes have been over taking a line of traffic.

5t.

Filtering in very slow traffic is perfectly reasonable, doing it at higher speeds is senseless and dangerous.

As a biker I see no reason why a bike can filter through the slow traffic as long as there is adequate room and the biker takes care of course.

If you decide to change lanes in a car, it is your responsibility to ensure that the road is clear before you do you and that you do not inconvenience anyone else, and that includes bikers. If you are unsure it is clear, then you should not do it.

You may have seen the signs around these days warning drivers to check for bikes! They are there for a reason of course!

Les

I've never been to that part of London before, however i think the best thing to do is to have your window down and listen to bikes coming along ( Not always because of weather ).Also drivers need to do a look over their shoulder occasionally ( called a life saver for bikers ).Before a biker changes to a different lane, this is what they are supposed to do ( mirror, signal, life saver, mirror and manoeuvre ).

Nath.

Had a situation similar to those above.

Turning right in a queue of traffic after mirror signal manouvre and trying to keep an eye on all directions at once. A bike came flying up the road (on an A road) swerving in and out of the traffic, he was going too quick to even see him back there and the next thing I knew, a biker was flying over the back of my car, followed by his bike.

Cops and ambulance turned up, took a look at everything, took statements, realised it was a silly mistake by the biker caning down the road in between traffic and nothing more was done/said.

No problem with bikers and I trained how to ride a motorbike before getting on the roads in a car but some bikers out there seem to have a deathwish!

There are idiot bikers on the road too.I always comment on why most bikers i see never wear all the kit.Is it because you can't afford it, want to look cool what !!!.If you come off for any reason you are pretty much fooked, from the head down.

I live at the bottom of the Cat & Fiddle, so you can imagine how many 'all the gear, no idea' heroes I've seen trying to smear themselves across the scenery :cuckoo:

But just because they do it, doesn't mean we all do. It's exactly the same with the 100mph filtering heroes, I hate them basically because every car driver they piss off then judges me by that standard :mad:

I ride and filter in stationary traffic. On the flip side I have seen and experienced car and truck drivers closing the gap to stop a motorcyclist from getting through. This has to be a very sad driver who wants to try injure, possibly kill another road user, just because they are stuk in traffic.

Yes you are quite right of course. I am amazed to see bikers in bare arms or shorts and shudder to think of the gravel rash and worse of course that they are risking. Just not worth the candle and it does not even look clever either.

Les