Hello,

I was having a discussion with someone from the US a week ago and I he informed me that filtering in traffic is a big no-no there.
I am curious as to how well filtering was recieved in other parts of the world???

It is something that on the road i tend to take for granted, learning to ride in London and using the M25 every day went someway to engrave that in me

In the UK it is accepted, as long as you dont overdo it. Altho in the more rural parts I have been pulled over.


Mike

In the Netherlands it is accepted but there are some rules.
Don't use the emergency areas on the side of the road and the speed difference should not be to big (I don't know how big but there is a rule.) There are some more rules but I don't exactly know. Using common-sense will help.

__________________
Jan Krijtenburg

My bikes are a Honda GoldWing GL1200 and a Harley-Davidson FXD Dyna Super Glide

My personal homepage with trip reports: https://www.krijtenburg.nl/
YouTube channel (that I do together with one of my sons): motormobilist.nl

It's not illegal everywhere in the states. "Lane splitting" - as they call it - is legal in California.

I think what you refer to as filtering is called lane splitting in North American English. The acceptability of this motorcycling practice of moving ahead in slow or stalled traffic seems to depend on the jurisdiction one finds oneself in. In California and some other regions it is accepted practice but there are also regions wherer it is not permitted. Here in Ontario I don't know its legality but I do move ahead of the stallled traffic around Toronto using either the side area or down one of the lane lines .However I make sure to keep an eye out for patrol cars far ahead and then get back in line .It is generally bad practice anywhere to try this technique when traffic is stallled around an accident scene and police are having enough trouble getting traffic flowing again.

__________________
http://advrider.com/index.php?thread....207964/page-5 then scroll down to post #93

I read in MCN recently the UK Courts did not hold filtering against a rider who was involved in an accident and damage claim that arose when he was filtering. I think a pedestrian walked through the cars into his path without looking as all cars were stationary. That gives filtering some sort of non-Liability precedent of acceptability.

Filtering is not illegal in UK 'per se' but should be untertaken with care, coinsideration and attention so as to avoid Reckless or Careless riding charges. Oh how much simpler and safer to allow bikes in ALL bus lanes!

I once saw a TV item that said filtering was not allowed in Switzerland, but all 2wheelers were doing it (therefore including me!) in Geneva last week.

__________________
Vitim Bridge Clubwww.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=533442
www.sibirskyextreme.com

Some years ago I was travelling to Pisik, in the Czech republic on a public holiday so the roads were fairly solid. Like you Mike, I learned my trade around London, so I was filtering happily past the stationery cars. I was a bit surprised by the number of local bikes sitting in the queues, but didn't think too much about it. The only other bike I saw filtering was a Dutch registered 'wing (not you Jan?).

On arrival I was speaking to some Germans attending the same event, and I was shocked and embarrassed to find I had been breaking the law. I may not have been law abiding had I known, but I do prefer to know if I'm breaking the law; that way I know if I should take extra care near police cars. Whether I filtered on the return jouney is a matter between me and my conscience (the little cricket that sat on my shoulder until I got irritated by his constant chirping and squashed him).

Do any of the motoring organisations produce a guide to road laws that would include details of which countries do or don't allow filtering?

That trip was the first journey I undertook with the present Mrs MarkE. When she fell asleep on the back near Frankfurt I knew she was OK.

Interesting story.

I made a trip between London and Tyneside a few years ago and was pulled over on my return trip for 'undertaking'. After a long discussion i was led on my way. Apparently i broke the law because i crossed the white lane marker when filtering, which then it becomes undertaking. You can stay clear of the law by staying in the same lane closer to the car you passing ?!?! It is too subjective to what each officer of the law's opinion is. But i rarther that than to have everything cut and dry as i dont think i would be able to filter anywhere near as much as i do now

Mike

Hi Mike:

Wow - the only other subjects I can think of that have as many different regional variations as filtering (lane-splitting) practices are, perhaps, the customs for tipping service staff in different countries, or the custom associated with raising a toast to others in different countries.

All I can say, based on 7 years of riding 100,000 KM in about 25 different countries, is to just sit there quietly until you have had a chance to observe what most of the local riders do and observe how the car drivers respond to them - then take your cue from the locals.

I have been in countries where the car drivers will always pull to one side of a lane or another to let motorcyclists proceed up the middle of congested traffic, and other countries where the drivers will deliberately and spitefully move together to block motorcyclists from proceeding simply because they are stuck in a traffic jam and they figure you should suffer along with them.

Customs can also vary quite a bit in the same place depending on circumstances. In some countries, motorcycles zipping forward to the front of a lineup at a traffic light, construction delay, or accident queue is totally accepted by the surrounding car drivers, because they know you will eventually be off like a bat out of hell and won't slow them down in any way. But, in the very same place, filtering forward through congested traffic (a traffic jam) will piss off the very same car drivers.

Personally, I don't think the critical issue is what the local legislation is, I think the critical issue is what the local customs are. The worst thing that can happen if I contravene local legislation is a ticket that bites my wallet. The worst thing that can happen if I contravene local customs is that I could get killed.

Michael

well said and excellent point!

__________________
2000 Africa Twin
http://two-up-ona-twin.blogspot.com