Tempting but increasingly tight for a GoldWing?

I have referred to a helpful internet article written by Biker/Solicitor John Measures of Barratts Solicitors previously and this Article was provoked by another one of his.  Filtering past or through standing or slow moving traffic is common practice in UK but is it safe and is it legal?

With our busy and often traffic-clogged roads, the option to filter through standing or slow moving traffic is a potentially valuable aspect of life on two wheels, providing you have the confidence to do it and the perceptiveness to appreciate when it’s a bit too risky.

Not all GoldWing riders are confident enough to take their big bike into the relatively narrow gaps which filtering often involves but plenty are.  When I get the chance to make progress while cars and trucks are stuck in traffic I do so, with contentment which sometimes verges on smugness at my good fortune at being a motorcyclist.  Not only am I riding my wonderful bike but I’m not stuck in traffic like the drivers I’m riding past either – so aren’t I the luc

An inviting gap, but always check for obstructive lane dividers across the junction

ky one?

So eat your hearts out you unfortunate German and US riders, in your Countries (or at least in many US States) it’s illegal to filter.  But in UK we may do so if we wish, or at least it’s not something which UK bikers will ordinarily get pulled up by the police for doing.

Nor is it particularly likely to provoke, at least not so far in UK, angry or obstructive reactions from other road users, although occasionally a car or van driver will try to manoeuvre to obstruct a filtering motorcyclist.  On the relatively rare occasions when I have seen this happen for some reason it’s usually been someone driving a fairly old car that is behaving selfishly in this way and I wondered why?

I once spoke to a driver of an old Volvo who had tried to deliberately pull out on me in a dangerous way and he eventually admitted it was because he was envious of my grand and expensive bike.  Another driver who objected very strongly after I had overtaken him into a gap behind the lorry he was following (by undertaking me and then deliberately forcing me out into the path of oncoming traffic until I dropped back behind him again,which of course I did in order to stay alive) was a shaven headed thug (again in an old car) who would clearly stop at nothing to keep his place at the head of the queue to overtake that lorry, even though he was extremely unlikely (on that road) to get an opportunity.

It's illegal to cross or straddle solid white line lane dividers on motorway slip roads

However that sort of thing really is very rare and indeed was a complete one-off in my experience but it does illustrate that filtering needs to be done with alertness to the responses which other roads users may make.  In that particular case I did probably take Mr Skull a bit by surprise by overtaking him when he was fairly close behind that lorry, causing him to have to back off a little initially, and I could probably have picked a better and less surprising moment to put myself in front of him.  Keeping yourself out of trouble on a motorcycle nearly always boils down to good observation, so that you have time to make sensible decisions, indeed that’s what advanced motorcycling is all based on.

But taken as a whole in UK, I have found filtering both on motorways and in towns to be safe and worthwhile as long as it’s done carefully and with reasonable consideration to other road users.  Indeed I rather enjoy it as a way of exercising motorcycling skill.  I very rarely encounter adverse reaction of any kind from other road users and it allows me to make progress through congested traffic which would otherwise involve considerable delay.

But don’t try filtering, especially between lanes of traffic, when you’re on holiday in Florida.  You will get pulled by the Sheriff or the State Trooper if he sees you and you might very well have a car door deliberately opened in your path or even a gun pulled on you by an angry driver who disapproves of you jumping the queue he’s stuck in.  In Florida motorcyclists are expected to wait their turn in traffic the same as everyone else.

Filtering is not without its hazards in UK either, including attempts by other road users to be deliberately obstructive, and it should therefore be done with due care or not at all.  In order to filter between lanes of standing traffic on a UK motorway, which is unfortunately all too common these days, you require confident slow speed handling of the bike, including coping with riding along rows of cat’s eyes or along banding of the tarmac.

It takes a bit of getting used to, especially for pillion passengers, for whom it may sometimes hold particular terrors.  But once you have got the hang of it you will find you can relax into steady control of the bike’s line and you will gain confidence to keep rolling even through narrow gaps; a GoldWing is only 1 metre wide between the mirrors and gaps between traffic lanes are not usually narrower than unless the lanes have been narrowed, for example within road works.

Gaps in lines of standing traffic mean potential danger - look carefully for emerging cross traffic

Likewise filtering past standing traffic in towns can be very productive and satisfying – and all it takes is decent forward observation, to spot where you can safely overtake without getting marooned on the wrong side of the road in the face of oncoming traffic.

But is filtering risky in the legal sense – or for that matter in the insurance sense?  Where do you stand if a collision occurs?

John Measures answers these questions very helpfully in his article on the subject and he seems to be pretty confident as well as clear about what he says.  John is a biker who likes to filter through traffic himself when the need arises but he’s also a lawyer, and lawyers don’t offer assurances on the legality of things lightly.  Happily John thinks it is legal to filter past and through traffic and his Article explains why.  There is nothing illegal per se about taking advantage of the relatively modest width of a motorcycle to make progress when other road users cannot do so because of traffic congestion.

Being on the wrong side of double white lines can be an offence of course and so can riding the wrong way along a designated one-way street, but there is nothing illegal per se about riding on the off side half of the road or between lanes of traffic.  A motorcyclist can often overtake standing traffic by using the off-side carriageway when it is clear because he can make use of smaller spaces in or alongside standing traffic than four wheel vehicles require.

It’s a curiosity of English Law that there is no specific legal requirement to drive on the left – although it doesn’t follow that riding unnecessarily or persistently on the right hand side of the road to the alarm of other road users wouldn’t attract police attention.  And of course a motorcyclist can be considered by a police officer to be riding without dangerously or due without due care or due consideration for other road users (depending on the way the motorcyclist goes about his riding) no matter which side of the road he is on and whether or not he is passing other traffic.

Hatched dividing zones can be used unless they are marked for use by turning traffic

So while filtering past standing traffic is not illegal per se, there are plenty of ways of going about it which could be considered illegal.  So it needs to be done sensibly and considerately, that’s the thing.

And if other road users don’t want to move over to let you squeeze through gaps when you are filtering between lines of traffic on motorways you have to accept that and wait patiently until there is room to do so; kicking at the side of a car or at its door mirrors might be tempting if a driver is deliberately being a pain but if you really wind him up he might retaliate physically with his car or van or lorry and at the end of the day he’s inside a steel protective cage and you’re not.

So as long as you are not see by a police officer (or a video camera) to be riding dangerously or carelessly or inconsiderately, and as long as you don’t end up colliding with anything, filtering is not illegal and you are unlikely to be taken to task.  The worst thing that is likely to happen is a toot of the horn or a gesture of frustration from a road user who can’t follow you but if that happens you’ll already be past him (or her) and on your way.

But what if you collide with another vehicle, then what’s the insurance and legal position?  As with any road traffic collision, the police might get involved and might consider whether any offence has been committed and if so deal with it.  Apart from that it will be a matter of how the insurance companies view what has happened and if it comes to it, what the civil Courts decide about whose is to blame.

Tempting but tight

Therein lies the risk to motorcyclists of being hard done by because there is a tendency for both insurance companies and the Courts to think that whenever a motorcycle is involved in a collision it will be at least partly the motorcyclist’s fault.   Rightly or wrongly, and of course we would say wrongly, motorcyclists are regarded as prone to riding faster that is entirely safe and to overtake riskily.  Civil cases are decided on the balance of probability and blame is often apportioned, so even when a motorcyclist is the injured party, it is not uncommon for damage awards to be reduced to reflect the extent to which the motorcyclist is considered to have brought the situation upon himself.

For example collisions often happen at junctions.  A motorcycle is overtaking standing or very slow moving traffic along a main road towards a junction on the left from which a vehicle is trying to exit and turn right.  A considerate car or lorry driver on the main road stops to create a gap and maybe also waves the vehicle out, just as the motorcycle is approaching.  The rider may not have seen the hazard sign for the junction (because the standing traffic has obscured it) and may therefore, unless road markings give a clue, that there is a junction.  The rider doesn’t see the vehicle either creeping or  accelerating briskly out of the gap in the line of traffic until too late and a collision occurs, maybe quite a nasty one.

Courts have been known in such circumstances to regard the biker as partly or even entirely to blame for this type of collision, depending on the particular circumstances – to the extent that persuading the Court that a rider is entirely blameless is quite a challenge of advocacy for even a skilled and experienced lawyer.  This is when bikers need lawyers like John Measures representing them; it can make a big difference.

Approaching a roundabout often presents opportunities but take extra care if you plan to turn left

Better of course to have avoided the collision in the first place and there will nearly always have been indications of a hazard to which the biker could have reacted, if only a hint, if he was looking for it, that there was a potentially hazardous gap in the line of standing traffic coming up.  An observant rider would be alert to the hazards of left side junctions with minor roads and will be looking out for them as he overtakes standing traffic, likewise any gap in the line of traffic which might indicate that a vehicle is about to emerge from an unmarked junction such as a driveway or a gateway from a field.

Even this sort of vigilance while filtering isn’t foolproof because there a possibility that pedestrians or bicycles or motorcycles will suddenly emerge from the smallest of gaps between standing traffic.  Overtaking standing traffic on both urban and country roads requires continuing vigilance and considerable caution.  Any rider who overtakes standing traffic at speed or without due caution at marked junctions and when approaching conspicuous gaps in the line of traffic is likely to to be held substantially at fault if a collision occurs.

Filtering between lines of standing or slow moving traffic on motorways is potentially less hazardous because the risk of vehicles emerging from the left to turn right (i.e. against the traffic flow) is not there, but there are still risks of vehicles on either side suddenly swapping lanes across the bike’s path or, especially when traffic has been stopped for a while, suddenly opening a door.

In my experience only a tiny minority of motorists pay enough attention to their door mirrors, especially their left side door mirror, to be likely top see an approaching motorcycle before it’s upon them.  Safety requires that the motorcyclist assumes that all drivers will not see him and might wander or lurch or even swerve suddenly into his path unless there are indications otherwise.  Encouraging indications to the biker include vehicles in front maintaining a steady line over a period of time as he approaches them, vehicles making a conspicuous move to clear a path for the approaching motorcycle (which does sometimes happen) and in stationary traffic, occupants who are not moving about.  These give no guarantee that obstacles will not suddenly appear in the biker’s path but they will reduce some of the risk.

It helps of course to make yourself as conspicuous as possible when you are filtering so having your dipped headlights on is an absolute must.  Wearing Hi Viz clothing is useful too, especially if it’s a full yellow jacket and you’re wearing a white helmet and riding a white GoldWing, as I do. This is one of thsoe situations when being mistaken at first glance for a police motorcyclist works in your favour.

Cones often herald narrowing lanes

The more lights you can show to make yourself conspicuous to the drivers’ peripheral vision through their door mirrors as you approach the better chance they will spot you coming and most drivers will avoid turning into your path even if they don’t move away from it.

Legal ways to make yourself conspicuous include flashing your main beam headlights regularly and on a GL1800 this is very conspicuous and relatively easy to do; pressing the rear end of your headlight dipping switch works as a momentary press flashing switch (i.e. press on and release off) and you can do this with your left thumb.  Fog lights aren’t illegal either these days, or at least they are not likely to attract police attention, so if you have those and/or any driving lights you have fitted, it’s worth switching those on too.

Other conspicuous lights such as strobe lights are illegal and could get you in trouble if you happen to be filtering past a police car, but they are very effective.  They do capture the attention of a fair proportion of drivers and many of them do then move away from your line of approach.

Lane dividers marked for use by turning traffic are not available for filtering

Filtering between lines of traffic on a motorway while riding a GoldWing requires confident slow speed handling to maintain your own chosen line, sometimes along beading lines on the tarmac, which can feel a bit tottery until you get used to it, and lines of prominent cat’s eyes which feel even worse.  Fortunately your |GoldWing is better at this than you will be to start with, so as long as you keep looking up and ahead, make your decisions about whether the gap you’re approaching is big enough well before you get there and avoid panicky glances downwards or sideways you’ll either get the hang of it fairly quickly or equally quickly abandon the idea for ever.  Filtering between lines of traffic is like Marmite; you either relish doing it and grab every opportunity or hate it and avoid it like the plague.

Filtering through motorway traffic which is moving steadily forward, even if only at 20 mph or so, carries an increasing risk of difficulties as the speed of traffic increases because if a collision occurs it is increasingly likely to be a spectacular one in which you could end up dead or seriously injured.  If you ride the M25 you will often see motorcycles weaving through traffic which is moving at 60 mph or even faster.  This can provide interesting spectator sport while they’re in view but it is really is very risky to follow their example.

John Measures doesn’t cite any cases of collisions while filtering on motorways in his Article but clearly if the motorcycle is the only vehicle which was moving the rider will get all the credit for causing the collision and even if another driver moves into his path or opens a door on him, the motorcyclist will be at substantial risk of being regarded as partly at fault, especially if he has been filtering at considerable speed.

When traffic engineers have squeezed in extra lanes the options for filtering are reduced

In summary filtering past or through traffic on a motorcycle is not illegal per se but it is a risky activity and the motorcyclist is likely to get blamed at least to some extent if anything goes wrong.  By all means overtake standing traffic in towns and on main roads when it’s safe to do so but keep a special eye out for left side junctions and gaps in the traffic from which something could suddenly emerge.  Likewise filter between lines of traffic on motorways when you feel confident that you can ride steadily through narrow gaps without clenching your buttocks and getting into a state.

But and don’t complain if it all goes suddenly and terribly wrong; your insurance company is not likely to be very sympathetic or supportive if you collide with something while filtering, even if the police aren’t particularly likely to take issue.

More detailed discussions of filtering risks and methods is available on the Advanced Driving Forum by Clicking Here.  A well written briefing on filtering skills is available on the In Gear Rider Training website by clicking Here.

And finally, filtering can be a particularly terrifying pastime for pillion passengers, so bear that in mind too.  If you get too cavalier about filtering with the wife on the back seat you might get a buzz from the progress you make and enjoy the moment while it lasts but you might never hear the last of it either.

Postscript (July 14th)

In response to this Article I have had an email from a serving Traffic Police Officer who rides a Wing himself.  He doesn’t want to be named but here’s what he says:

“Whilst I am not speaking for the police, my take on your article about filtering is much as yours, and I feel that most of my colleagues share that view point.  If your actions are deemed dangerous or inconsiderate, then fair do’s you will get nicked.  Nevertheless, it should be mentioned that should an accident happen, the filtering by a bike would be a major factor when it comes to any charge.  Me personally, I do it all the time – but safely and with my highway pegs tucked in.  I and most of my colleagues see GoldWing riders as more mature, considerate and safe than other bikers, so they don’t often get tarred by the same brush.”