Is it ok to filter to b 1st?

Man, judging by the reaction here, mentioning "filtering" to some Americans is akin to saying something like "I raped your underage daughter, killed her and then buttfucked her corpse."

Lighten up, fellas. All the world does it, it's no big deal. The cars stopped at the light are going nowhere, and no one dies if you filter slowly and carefully to the front.

Think about a container full of bowling balls: there's lots of empty spaces for marbles in it. And get ghis: WHEN THE MARBLES GO IN, NO BOWLING BALL LOOSES ITS SPACE! THERE'S NO "CUTTING IN LINE"!

I don't think anyone is discounting the benifits. We would all love to do it.

I think there is no doubt that it is illegal in most places. However, were there is disagreement is in the viability of "safely" doing it. Some say it is, some say it isn't.

Like most things, people who disagree take their point of view to extremes and refuse to listen to the other/opposite point of view. Hense, this thread, and the animosities presented here.

Jim

True, but all it takes is one pissed off self centered asshat cager actively trying to run you down to make you consider not doing it again. Yes, this has happened to me.

Jim

some people are waiting their turn in line. other people are skipping to the front of the line.

and you claim it is those who are waiting their turn who are the ones with the sense of entitlement?

you got that exactly backwards.

whether or not filtering bikes actually hold up the line (depends on how the filtering is done and how many bikes are doing it), the anger of the cagers at seeing MCers (and bicyclists) appear, at least, to be skipping by them in a line does not come from a sense of entitlement. it comes from a sense of fairness--and a perceived violation of fairness. (if you want to change attitudes/laws, it would be best to own up to that and address it.)

thinking it's OK to skip line, on the other hand, is about as clear an example of an entitlement mentality as you will find.

California politics SUCK so for penance they let us lane split/filter.

As for holding up traffic when you filter to the front If you filter that would suggest you're being kept from traveling the speed you would like. If someone holds up traffic after filtering to the front at a light, they should be shot! The reason for filtering is to proceed unimpeded when the light changes. I have NEVER had a problem with hitting the far crosswalk before the cagers get 1/2 way across the intersection AND I'll have 100 yards separation within seconds (without grossly exceeding the speed limit, just getting to it much quicker). As someone else said, I can get across town in less than 1/2 the time it would take in a car by splitting/filtering.

As for safety? Common sense goes a long way and when there is a lack of, there are problems.

Jim, glad you survived the experience.

I think that's the challenge for riders in the US: hammering into the heads of cagers that "filtering" <> "cutting in line". When (and if) this change in cagers' mentality happens, the laws will follow.

Hard to do? Sure. But the rest of the world already did it.

Pissed off cagers:

You can identify them long before you split past them. Common sense! I stay in my lane until the natural flow puts me past them and then I proceed. Rarely will it take more than a minute with the ebb and flow (rubberbanding) of traffic.

Because it's common in California most drivers are aware and just bare it. My experience is the ratio of drivers giving more room to those trying to squeeze me out is about 10 to 1 with 90% just holding their line.

Yes, I have been stopped from splitting or filtering by disgruntled drivers. It's never escalated because I avoid them after the confrontation by either falling back or getting around and leaving them well behind. I won't go past unless I'm sure I can get some distance after doing so.

It's not perfect and there are risks but there are risks riding our chosen mode of transportation. Judicious use of the privilege and you'll be just fine from my experience.



Greg

in some cases it is not. in other cases it is. here is a real world example, i have witnessed more than once (while waiting in line on my motorcycle), of when filtering really is line skipping and why some people get pissed about it.

unlike in cases where you have several lanes all going in the same direction through many lights, we have many intersections in pittsburgh that have three lanes--a left turn lane, a straight only lane, and a right turn lane.

an example is the bloomfield end of the bloomfield bridge for anyone familiar with the area. traffic can get backed up nearly all the way across that bridge (about a half mile long bridge). at the end of the bridge, the straight lane goes onto a relatively narrow street (but a major rush hour traffic route in spite of not really being able to accomodate the volume of traffic--we have a lot of streets like that here) with cars parked on both sides and another light about 1/4 mile down the road.

bikes sometimes filter through the traffic on the bridge and then pull back in front of the first car in the straight only lane to get to be first in line.

when the light turns, they go, but often cannot make it through the next light because of traffic and the timing of the lights. because the street is so narrow, they physically cannot filter. because traffic is so heavy, not everyone who had been in front of them on the bridge makes it through the light at the end of the bridge.

so, the bike is now taking up a space in line after the first light, before the 2nd light. and, as a result, one less car made it through the light at the end of the bridge.

the bike has skipped line. plain and simple. just like skipping line in any other line. it is not fair. it betrays a sense of entitlement. and, yes, it pisses people off...justifiably so.

but it is different from what many here are describing.

people do not choose to have a disability. we choose to ride motorcycles. when i make a choice, i should be the one who bears the ramifications (good or bad) of that choice. it is not right for me to force others to be inconvenienced to accommodate my choices.

No kidding.

Sweet, we are disable now.

WTF? you crossed a serious ethical line there by purporting to quote me as typing something i never typed.

wow. the fact that you would do that really says something about you.

btw, i ride on the street every single day. i don't even own a car.

So it's only your brain that's in a cage.

+1 (and toyota don't make motorcycles)