Well.....


First let's talk about the subject of legal/illegal/grey area by taking a quick look at California and the infamous statement that Lane Splitting is legal in CA.

Filtering/Lane Splitting is legal in CA.

It is not, by the way explicitly legal. It is not explicitly illegal either (which it is in every other US state right now). So legally, it falls into the 'grey area' of undefined legality. What this means is that it falls to traffic enforcement to determine if lane splitting is being practiced in a potentially unsafe manner and addressing it under the proper law, often using failure to yield, speeding or reckless as the charges, as there is no specific statute for 'lane splitting'.

So, keeping the above in mind, there are precious few states that explicitly define certain bicycle behaviors, and lump them under the 'vehicular' laws. Where this fails is when you have a conflict, as this particular instance articulates. The conflict is in the use of the left turn lane, and as far right as possible usage.

Look at this intersection for example. (Google Maps, Streetview ) https://www.google.com/maps/@34.1305...aVHBdZ5bXw!2e0

That left turn lane often presents the exact situation. Many cars waiting to turn left (and it is onto a well used bike route). The intersection lacks any marked bicycle facilities. In GA, you face the conflict of FRAP and VC. Do you become a vehicle in the left turn lane, or do you cross to the far right of the left turn lane? Due to the open space to the right, most cyclists choose to honor FRAP in this instance, filtering to the front.

In prep for a Rules of the Road session I am planning, I contacted the sheriff's department that is responsible for that intersection for clarification on interpretation. The response was that there is no clear 'right' way for cyclists to approach this subject, and they find more concern for how the cyclists crosses the two lanes of traffic (safely signal, look and move across) than the handling of the left turn lane.

So the answer to your question is that, in GA, there is no clarity to the 'right' way, and that it is going to boil down to he LEO at the time, and even that will boil down to other behaviors, including the cyclists speed in the process of 'filtering'.

As one officer so perfectly stated it: "If I am not looking for a specific citation (red light, speeding, DUI, seat-belt, texting) It boils down to attitude. If someone on the roads is behaving in an aggressive or dangerous manner, I will find a citation I can make stick, I have plenty to choose from. If you do something iffy in front of me, but have otherwise been courteous, I'm probably going to let it slide."