Filtering through stationary traffic acceptable

[macp]

I have to filter every morning I start down the right hand side and then as it goes into two lines of traffic I filter down the centre for about 2 or 300yds to the traffic lights. Nobody complains or gives me grief. I pickup the point made by Canucks Traveller which I genuinely thought was insightful & thoughtful. Can I have my five pounds now

 

[Wolf616]

Sometimes, but only if I've seen them enter it illegally.

GC

Well the legality of entering ASL's is a bit confused anyway (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jul/29/cycling-advance-stop-line), but I've rarely seen a situation when I've thought 'yeah, they had no other choice but to enter the ASL' other than on a right turn out of an unfortunately placed car-park near Dulwich that's on my commute home.

 

[si_c]

Anyone else get a mild (and very pathetic, obviously) kick from filtering past any idiot who is waiting in the ASL box and pulling in just in front of them?

Nope never done that. Nor having done that have I had problems clipping in and setting off. Nope. Never.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

Well the legality of entering ASL's is a bit confused anyway (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jul/29/cycling-advance-stop-line), but I've rarely seen a situation when I've thought 'yeah, they had no other choice but to enter the ASL' other than on a right turn out of an unfortunately placed car-park near Dulwich that's on my commute home.

When driving my car in heavy traffic I've found myself legally occupying the ASL: I have a green light and traffic is moving slowly through the junction. I'm cautious of not entering the junction unless I know I can clear it, then the lights change to red as I'm in the ASL so I stop.
Same thing can happen if I've been in a queue of cars waiting to turn right and the red light prevents me progressing while I'm queuing in the ASL.

Also, if a driver's been (genuinely) unable to stop in time for the first line and stops for the second one, that's fine.

So, unless I've seen for myself how a driver got there, I don't judge.

GC

 

[summerdays]

Anyone else get a mild (and very pathetic, obviously) kick from filtering past any idiot who is waiting in the ASL box and pulling in just in front of them?

I don't know why .... But if I do end up in front of someone I've seen go into the box after the red light, especially after seeing me approach I find that after I stop... It puts me off getting my pedal ready and getting a quick start.... And then I grin madly so they can see my happy face as they zoom by!

 

[nickyboy]

No problem with filtering up the right side of stationary traffic

The only exception to this is where the stationary traffic is waiting at a temp traffic light with single lane in front. It feels a bit wrong to filter to the front and then hold everyone up as I cycle through the single lane section. In this instance I'll hold back as far as poss whilst still being confident of getting through the green light

 

[Starchivore]

Anyone else get a mild (and very pathetic, obviously) kick from filtering past any idiot who is waiting in the ASL box and pulling in just in front of them?

Yeah I make a point of doing that. And add in an aloof, superior glance back at them once you're there.

 

[Mr_Kipling]

In the book Cycle Craft chapter 11, it goes into detail about filtering. The very first sentence in that chapter reads "It is unreasonable to expect cyclists to wait in long queues of traffic when there is room for them to pass."

 

[rugby bloke]

Nothing wrong with filtering - as opposed to weaving, as so ably demonstrated by riders on the London commute. This always looks like chancing your luck and that's only going to end one way. I normally look to filter to the front but I also accept that there are times when this is not practical or reasonable ... especially on Boris Bikes, which are as wide as Belgium and cannot always squeeze through the gaps !

As far as d*ckheads in Range Rovers go - well done for standing your ground Sir.

 

[Wolf616]

When you guys/gals refer to weaving do you mean incessantly in and out? Sometimes it makes sense to cut in front of a (stationary) car and move to the other side (i.e. if the route further down is blocked or due to oncoming traffic). I know filtering down the left isn't ideal, but it's preferable to not filtering at all in my ever so humble opinion.

 

[Globalti]

My neighbour, a club cyclist all his life and former runner-up in a national hillclimb championship, has just bought himself a Land Rover Evoke. Too late, he now realises that the mirrors are massive and as he is of small stature they create big blind spots in front. And guess what? Yesterday he actually collided at low speed with another car, which was partly hidden behind the OS mirror. He's begining to regret buying the car.

 

[Globalti]

Wing mirrors are cleverly designed by some of the world's best designers to look right and in proportion to the vehicle; a Land Rover with weedy little mirrors would look wrong. But you don't notice these design failings until you live with the vehicle.

 

[Goggs]

Where I live weaving is de rigeur for cars, bikes, vans, tuk-tuks, people, dogs, cats. Left & right, any which way that works. The only aspect I'm slightly uneasy about is the rule where car drivers are compelled to use a phone while they weave.

 

[Globalti]

They are but a minor part of the thing's overall ugliness.

You consider it ugly because you hate motor vehicles but it's naive to think that cars don't to appeal to buyers. They appeal by looking butch or fast or aggressive; it's well known that cars have faces and need to project the image the prospective owner has of himself or herself. In a minority of cases people buy cars for practical reasons and not because they look right.

*cough* my Passat estate is of course an ugly car and I only drive it because I can fit 4 bikes and 4 people inside it....

 

[summerdays]

They are but a minor part of the thing's overall ugliness.

You consider it ugly because you hate motor vehicles but it's naive to think that cars don't to appeal to buyers. They appeal by looking butch or fast or aggressive; it's well known that cars have faces and need to project the image the prospective owner has of himself or herself. In a minority of cases people buy cars for practical reasons and not because they look right.

*cough* my Passat estate is of course an ugly car and I only drive it because I can fit 4 bikes and 4 people inside it....

My Passat estate is lovely and red (and fits the kids or my bikes in the back)