Commuting - So what would you do?

On my normal route home from work, there's a stretch of about 1 mile where two lanes (in the same direction) narrow into one lane, and as a result, there's always a huge backup of cars (one of the reasons I choose to ride instead of drive).

There's a narrow (2 or 3 foot) shoulder on that stretch of road, so most of the time, I can filter up on the right, past the stopped/slow moving cars - it's not uncommon to pass 50 cars before I turn onto another street. Aside from the occasional driver who chooses (for whatever reason) to drive all the way over on on the edge of the pavement, I haven't had any trouble with this technique.

But I was reading a bicycle etiquette article the other day, and it said that bikes shouldn't pass cars on the right (or between lanes -- basically shouldn't do anything that couldn't also be done with a car) because it will unnecessarily piss off the car drivers.

Theoretically, I could act like a car and sit in that traffic breathing the exhaust of the guy in front of me, but that seems a little silly.

So what would you do?

In my world, a 3-foot shoulder might as well be a bike lane. Keep on doing what you're doing, I say. Just don't let the A&S folks see this thread!

not filtering in congested areas is probably the dumbest thing ever. whats the point of riding, then?

in a place like boston, for example, guides like that need to be taken with a grain of salt -- there is absolutely nothing uniform about how the roads are set up here, so you really just need to ride the roads and figure out the best way yourself. plus, there are usually so many cars that not filtering is just not an option. just like in nyc, riding in the middle of an avenue is usually safer than the bike lane if you are going a reasonable speed.

You are pedaling; hence, you are vulnerable and you should filter politely.

Is there like a sidewalk kind of thingy there? ... I use that trick sometimes; get on the sidewalk, through the parking lot, turn, move!

That's what I was hoping to hear. I've seen a few guys on bikes sitting in the traffic waiting...and waiting...but I couldn't really see the point.

You're not going to earn the respect of motorists by waiting, and obviously anything pisses the hotheads off, so why wait?

Filter as you wish. I have a similar stretch and I do the same thing. When someone is cutting off the whole lane, I usually cut betweena couple of cars and *split* lanes until I see an opportunity to get back to the right. Love it.

Share the Road.

You share the road when the motorist pass with half, to most, of their car in the same lane;

the motorist can share the road as you use 2 feet of lane when passing them.

But I was reading a bicycle etiquette article the other day, and it said that bikes shouldn't pass cars on the right (or between lanes -- basically shouldn't do anything that couldn't also be done with a car) because it will unnecessarily piss off the car drivers.

So what would you do?

Drivers will hate cyclists regardless. If that shoulder was 10ft wide you could bet they'd be in it too.

Me? I'd do exactly what you're doing - except it would never cross my mind to solicit feedback on my behavior.

Pass 'em. Think of your health...sitting behind them all. Ick!

Health concerns make for great excuses!

I used to think the opposite. No more. Filter and pass them provided it is safe to do.

I used to think the opposite. No more. Filter and pass them provided it is safe to do.

Exactly. I actually found that a lot of drivers think it's cool you're doing it because you're doing something they wish they could do at that moment.

Which brings up something that I still don't get and never noticed until I joined this forum. I don't see where drivers get this stigma of being anti-bike. In my whole life of driving and being a passenger with other drivers I have yet to see one instance of anti-bike behaviour. I have seen near collisions with fault to either party, but I see that between drivers every damn day. In fact, I see where drivers who are anti-driver vs being anti-bike. :rolleyes: go figure.

My view would be that if it is safe for you to do so (ie, in a place where you know that no one could possibly make a right turn and hook you), you should take advantage of that opportunity. There are a few places where I don't do the same:

When waiting in a left turn lane (because I don't need to get that close to cars on the other side of me)

When in a line of three cars or less (because what's the point?)

By the way, what is your normal route? Would that be in the South end of King County?

East Hill

If the cars I pass by filtering will have trouble passing me later, then I won't filter. It sounds like you are turning off and not getting in anyones way. I think they would be happy that you are not adding to the congestion.

I think the argument is not to pass 10 cars on the right at a light, when the same cars will pass you again immediately. This is especially the case when you catch up, pass on the right again, and they have to pass you again. That will piss them off, probably deservedly so.

In your case, you're passing 50 cars and picking up a lot of time. At most, they pass you once. Not the same thing. Do it.

I think the argument is not to pass 10 cars on the right at a light, when the same cars will pass you again immediately
If both you and the driver can fit in the same lane i see no problem with that. What does it matter how many times they will pass you?

Filter on McRuss, and damned be he who says " hold enough."

filter!

If both you and the driver can fit in the same lane i see no problem with that. What does it matter how many times they will pass you?

I haven't seen too many roads where a car and a bike can comfortably fit within the same lane, but if you have a luxurious road with extra-wide lanes, beautiful. I know of one where I live, that's it - and it is pretty much the local cycling freeway.

Use common sense as uncommon as that seems to be.

Using the right hand margin is expected as long as doing it doesn't create unreasonable delays for others. It would be bad form for instance to use the right hand margin to pass a group of cars at a light and then create a significant delay when you cut back in and keep them from proceeding, expecially if you do it repetedly to the same group of cars.

Moving up to where you are going to turn off any way and then turning off, or making your way up to a light so you can make it through but then doing your best to allow autos to proceed with minimal delay should be considered fine and helps everyone.

And notice I said minimal delay not NO delay, just be a respectful citizen on the roadway. There will be some who will be irritated but they're probably going to be irritated at everyone and everything not just you, so just try not to provoke them and otherwise don't worry to much about them.

Filter, of course. I have trouble justifying some kinds of filtering, but definitely not this kind. There is room and they'll be stuck there for a long time. Pass the cars! :)

For the record, here is the two kinds of filtering I dislike:

1) When there is barely any room and the cyclist is nearly scraping the stationary cars with the pedals as he's crawling forward.

2) A cyclists comes up to a red light with a few (maybe 1-5) cars already stopped. He filters forward in a narrow lane and is now ahead of all the cars. The traffic starts up and the cars he just passed have to pass him again, and since the lane is narrow this is not easy for the drivers (not to mention dangerous for the cyclist...).

I agree with chephy with on exception, when I approach a red light behind the last car and a JAM races around me, then swerves to cut in front of me while slamming on the brakes and he cuts as far right as he can to keep me from filtering. Then I simply pass on his left and move back into the line.

In response to the OP, I always filter when there's a traffic jam and I can move faster than the other vehicles on the road. I've done this many times in suburban Orange County, CA (there are some streets around here that are very frequently used...and they happen to be under construction, too :rolleyes: ). However, I also agree with cephy and CB HI about certain types of filtering. When I come up to a red light, I won't filter to the front if there are only like 1-3 cars in the lane. It's just silly. Same with the pedal scraping. In fact, you're very likely to scrape some unlucky person's car with your handlebars than with pedals, especially when you are using wide mountain bike-style flatbars.

I filtered on a motorcycle, nevermind on my bicycle. I filter on the bicycle all the time. If someone get upset, I suggest they start riding.

I agree with chephy with on exception, when I approach a red light behind the last car and a JAM races around me, then swerves to cut in front of me while slamming on the brakes and he cuts as far right as he can to keep me from filtering. Then I simply pass on his left and move back into the line. Yeah, when any kind of JAM behaviour is encountered, all bets are off!

A lot of the time I do nothing to confront JAMs. If I tried to sort it out with every bad driver in the city, I'd have to dedicate my life to it and have precious little to show for it in the end, other than maybe a few scars. :D But there is nothing wrong with teaching them a bit of a lesson once in a while if you're so inclined. :)

A lot of the time I do nothing to confront JAMs. If I tried to sort it out with every bad driver in the city, I'd have to dedicate my life to it and have precious little to show for it in the end, other than maybe a few scars. But there is nothing wrong with teaching them a bit of a lesson once in a while if you're so inclined.

Mmmm Carl Hiaasen (http://www.carlhiaasen.com/)book:


Honey Santana - impassioned, willful, possibly bipolar, self-proclaimed "queen of lost causes" - has a scheme to help rid the world of irresponsibility, indifference, and dinnertime sales calls. She's taking rude, gullible Relentless, Inc., telemarketer Boyd Shreave and his less-than-enthusiastic mistress, Eugenie - the fifteen-minute-famous girlfriend of a tabloid murderer - into the wilderness of Florida's Ten Thousand Islands for a gentle lesson in civility. What she doesn't know is that she's being followed by her Honey-obsessed former employer, Piejack (whose mismatched fingers are proof that sexual harassment in the workplace is a bad idea). And he doesn't know he's being followed by Honey's still-smitten former drug-running ex-husband, Perry, and their wise-and-protective-way-beyond-his-years twelve-year-old-son, Fry. And when they all pull up on Dismal Key, they don't know they're intruding on Sammy Tigertail, a half white/half Seminole failed alligator wrestler, trying like hell to be a hermit despite the Florida State coed who's dying to be his hostage . . .

For the record, here is the two kinds of filtering I dislike:

2) A cyclists comes up to a red light with a few (maybe 1-5) cars already stopped. He filters forward in a narrow lane and is now ahead of all the cars. The traffic starts up and the cars he just passed have to pass him again, and since the lane is narrow this is not easy for the drivers (not to mention dangerous for the cyclist...).
Then you probably hate me a lot. What I do differently though is I stay as far right as possible when crossing an intersection from a stopped position. This way the cars behind me are able to pass me with plenty of room then I just go back into the lane after the intersection.

When making a left turn I basically do the same thing. I don't take the lane when makinga left. I make a wide left turn to allow the cars to pass. The two methods have worked perfectly fine so far. I think drivers are fine with that because even though they have to pass you again you are not in their way and they don't really have to make any adjustments for you.

I filter enough to ensure I will make it through the intersection with one cycle of the light. I usually don't ride all the way up to the front of the line. I don't know, I think that's like rubbing it in the cagers face and they may resent it. I'm weird that way.

I filter on the right side if there is room. I don't subsequently move into the lane and make the cars wait so there really isn't anyone hampered by my behavior. I'm going to hang out on the shoulder or in the gutter. They'll pass me with ease after the light. Nobody is slowed down and nobody is angry.

Edit: Know your route. There are narrow sections of street where you have to take the lane. Don't filter right before those. That wouldn't be fair.

With anything you do in life, know the risks involved and act accordingly. Typically filtering has a bad safety rap because of inner city type situations where cyclists will be going too fast and encounter pedestrians crossing between cars, car doors opening or cars pulling in or out of parking spaces but none of that sounds applicable here.

On my normal route home from work, there's a stretch of about 1 mile where two lanes (in the same direction) narrow into one lane, and as a result, there's always a huge backup of cars (one of the reasons I choose to ride instead of drive).

There's a narrow (2 or 3 foot) shoulder on that stretch of road, so most of the time, I can filter up on the right, past the stopped/slow moving cars - it's not uncommon to pass 50 cars before I turn onto another street. Aside from the occasional driver who chooses (for whatever reason) to drive all the way over on on the edge of the pavement, I haven't had any trouble with this technique.

But I was reading a bicycle etiquette article the other day, and it said that bikes shouldn't pass cars on the right (or between lanes -- basically shouldn't do anything that couldn't also be done with a car) because it will unnecessarily piss off the car drivers.

Theoretically, I could act like a car and sit in that traffic breathing the exhaust of the guy in front of me, but that seems a little silly.

So what would you do?

well, I have tried the "vehicular approach", and I agree in the sense that it does seem silly to have to breathe the exhaust of the guy in front of you... I think that I would "filter" but I would do it slowly and when I got to the light, I would take robert hurst's advice of stopping to the right rear of the first car... this way the first car couldn't right hook me and the second car would be able to see me.

Here in PA, the DOT has this to say:



Traffic jams don’t have to stop you -- that’s one of the biggest advantages of bicycling in the city. But in the tight quarters of a tie-up, take extra care. Stopped cars in a traffic jam present the same hazards as parked cars: blindspots, doors and unpredictable starts and turns.


Full text can be found here:
http://www.dot.state.pa.us/Internet/Bureaus/pdBikePed.nsf/infoChapterNine?OpenForm

Then you probably hate me a lot. What I do differently though is I stay as far right as possible when crossing an intersection from a stopped position. This way the cars behind me are able to pass me with plenty of room then I just go back into the lane after the intersection.

When making a left turn I basically do the same thing. I don't take the lane when makinga left. I make a wide left turn to allow the cars to pass. The two methods have worked perfectly fine so far. I think drivers are fine with that because even though they have to pass you again you are not in their way and they don't really have to make any adjustments for you.

That's totally different, I've done that too. But the only reason I do it is because I can't trackstand (yet?) - I filter just to keep some forward momentum, then get out of the way while they pass me, or wait for a break and get back in lane.

Would any of you guys filter in the breakdown lane if a Policeman was one of the 50 cars in line?

Filter away! It's a freakin' shoulder, and it's fair game, I say. Besides, you aren't getting ahead of all the cars so they have to pass you again.

In this case, you're probably more likely to piss off motorists if you're traveling in the lane with them. People tend to connect dots that shouldn't be connected: "I'm in a traffic jam. There is a bike in front of me. Bikes generally go slower than cars. A bike is probably causing this traffic jam."

Then you probably hate me a lot. What I do differently though is I stay as far right as possible when crossing an intersection from a stopped position. This way the cars behind me are able to pass me with plenty of room then I just go back into the lane after the intersection. This makes some sense... but then you must be moving pretty slowly through the intersection. I tried doing this at some point and found that even if I start off at a leisurely rate and move across pretty slowly, only one or two cars have time to pass me in the intersection. If I sprint from the stopped position as I normally do, even a single car doesn't really have time to pass me before I have to rejoin the regular travel lane.


When making a left turn I basically do the same thing. I don't take the lane when makinga left. I make a wide left turn to allow the cars to pass. That's what I do too, normally. I do take the lane while waiting for it, but as I'm going through the intersection I'm also shifting right. But that doesn't have much to do with filtering.

Theoretically, I could act like a car and sit in that traffic breathing the exhaust of the guy in front of me, but that seems a little silly.

So what would you do?

I have a similar situation. Pass em up. Some of the folks I pass are co-workers and thus far, they've been envious, not violent :D

I'd filter. Being on a bike has advantages and it's silly not to seize them where it's just soooooooo clear.

I would filter very carefully. It sounds like you turn off this road during or shortly after the congested section, right? If so, not many of those cars should have to re-pass you. Just remember that you're probably seeing some of the same people every day, so be nice.

Would any of you guys filter in the breakdown lane if a Policeman was one of the 50 cars in line?
Will, and did. If they have any problems I can point to "share the road" and "as far to the right as possible" crap. If they give me a ticket I'll fight it and will have a pleasure of a judge yelling at the cop.
Filter and be safe. Sitting behind cars breathing in all that exhaust is just silly, and pointless.

Would any of you guys filter in the breakdown lane if a Policeman was one of the 50 cars in line?
Yes, of course.

That's what I do too, normally. I do take the lane while waiting for it, but as I'm going through the intersection I'm also shifting right. But that doesn't have much to do with filtering.
True, but those are my justifications for filtering to not piss off the motorists behind me. If I filter and take up the lane on a green light then I will probably be honked at every day of my commute.

I agree with chephy with on exception, when I approach a red light behind the last car and a JAM races around me, then swerves to cut in front of me while slamming on the brakes and he cuts as far right as he can to keep me from filtering. Then I simply pass on his left and move back into the line.

I must've missed something in the few months I haven't been on the forums regularly. What is a JAM?

I filter with care where it is safe and efficient.
If there are right turns available, I don't consider it safe and if its going to save me only a few seconds its not efficient. Otherwise thats one nice thing about riding a bike is the increased flexibility of my form of transportation.
Craig

On my normal route home from work, there's a stretch of about 1 mile where two lanes (in the same direction) narrow into one lane, and as a result, there's always a huge backup of cars (one of the reasons I choose to ride instead of drive).

There's a narrow (2 or 3 foot) shoulder on that stretch of road, so most of the time, I can filter up on the right, past the stopped/slow moving cars - it's not uncommon to pass 50 cars before I turn onto another street. Aside from the occasional driver who chooses (for whatever reason) to drive all the way over on on the edge of the pavement, I haven't had any trouble with this technique.

But I was reading a bicycle etiquette article the other day, and it said that bikes shouldn't pass cars on the right (or between lanes -- basically shouldn't do anything that couldn't also be done with a car) because it will unnecessarily piss off the car drivers.

Theoretically, I could act like a car and sit in that traffic breathing the exhaust of the guy in front of me, but that seems a little silly.

So what would you do?

In a case like this I would definitley filter politely.
Waiting with cars (in this case) may be more dangerous and piss some drivers off..

I must've missed something in the few months I haven't been on the forums regularly. What is a JAM?

Silly acronym for Jack-Ass Motorist. Evidently, 'cager' wasn't derogatory enough. :rolleyes:

You are pedaling; hence, you are vulnerable and you should filter politely.

Is there like a sidewalk kind of thingy there? ... I use that trick sometimes; get on the sidewalk, through the parking lot, turn, move!

I never cut through parking lots. They are more dangerous than the roads IMO.

Would any of you guys filter in the breakdown lane if a Policeman was one of the 50 cars in line?
Is this the McNaughton rule of filtering?

I generally don't like to filter, but in the OP's case, I see absolutely no problem with it.