I think this discussion may be intermixing 2 scenarios:

1. The lane is wide enough for motorists to safely pass (without changing lanes) cyclists that are riding on the right-hand side of the roadway, possibly in a bike lane, shoulder, or just a wide lane. If a cyclist filters past a line of stopped cars and they have to repass, it's not an issue. I don't think any driver minds having to re-pass cyclists for whom they don't need to slow or change lanes.

2. The lane is so narrow that motorists must change lanes (partially or totally) in order to safely pass. In this case, a cyclist who repeatedly filters past a line of stopped cars and then "takes the lane" to cause those cars to re-pass is being inconsiderate, in my opinion.

I think it rather depends on the situation. I take a rather pragmatic view. If I see there is plenty of space and traffic is so backed up that I am not likely to be re-passed I will filter. I don't generally mess around with wider vehicles like big trucks or buses, where lanes are narrow and traffic is moving at a good clip.

Exactly what the issue REALLY is...

I see it a lot...
(This is when there's no bike lane or it's a substandard lane..)

Cars pass me when I'm taking the lane....
They get to a stop light....
I catch up to them...
I stop behind them, because there's not 3' to their right...


There are plenty of times when another cyclist comes up and bypasses everyone.
That's what ticks off everyone (including me-because I'm usually faster then other cyclists anyways) because we all have to re-pass the same cyclist, over and over at the subsequent lights.
It's a matter of fairness... Some people just don't get it. Too many cyclists think the rules apply to them only when it helps them.
Which leads me to the first part...
When it comes to that scenario, this is what I see more often then not...
(Especially in "rush hour")
Bicyclist taking the lane "because they can" even when there is a 5' wide paved (free of debris) shoulder (not a bike lane) and make cars change lanes (partially or fully) and then when they're stopped at a light, the cyclist THEN moves into the shoulder to "filter thru to the front" and then when the light changes, they go back to taking the lane. And this process goes on and on until every motorist gets mad..
(These are also the guys who ask to draft me and then if I get a flat, they continue to ride on without even asking me if I need help!!)

(P.S. In my area, there's wide paved shoulders and lights every block)

Bit of a strawman. Often, one can filter and let the car pass after the light.

Not necessarily. It could be one light.

And, in your scenario, the successive leap-frogging isn't helping the cyclist either. And the risk of passing is being repeated.

Filtering works well when the cars can (easily/safely) pass the cyclist after the lights. This often isn't hard to manage.

I DO NOT filter. It only serves to tick off motorist and give cyclist a bad name.

A cyclist can follow the rules of the road and still tick off motorists and give cyclist a bad name. Filtering pisses off motorists, and sitting in line with them pisses them off as well, damned if you do, damned if you don't. I do what I have found to be the safest at that particular time and place.

I'd say filtering is a lot worse than riding in the lane. Motorists aren't expecting a cyclist to squeeze through to the front of the line- and around here there's almost never 3' of clearance between the traffic and the parked cars.

I totally agree.:thumb:

I'll filter when I consider it safer, and I'll sit in line when I feel it's the safest. I'll be damned if I'm going to sit in line when I can easily out distance motorists stuck in gridlock...... one of the advantages of riding a bicycle.

^^^ this ^^^..........I'm way too busy looking for the one that's
gonna get me to recognize and remember who's passed whom..:o

How many of you " I never filter" guys sit behind rush hour traffic waiting three red light cycles to reach an intersection?

Part of the advantage of cycling is not having to sit in the middle of traffic jams. That is when the motorist seem to get the most pissed off, because they are stuck, too lazy to cycle and can only watch the cyclist ride through the jam. The motorist only have themselves to blame for causing the traffic jam.

I blame PennDot, but if those motorists were on a bike there would be no traffic jam.

I can't imagine a car guy sitting in his car, stuck in traffic thinking, "Gee, that guy on his bike has been patiently sitting in the same traffic that I am. I think I'll stop running them over".

I don't suppose anyone here is arguing the case you're making, which is a specific one, relating to certain road conditions. what drivers are saying isn't that they've been held up, but that a rider has the cheek to keep on overtaking them. In city traffic, in my commmuting days, I, and others did this all the time on the grounds that we're not holding anyone up, nor interfering with them. Yet they will (at least, it seems, in the US) complain regardless, as tho' they have a right not to be treated this way. In the original complaint, whingeing about it after the death of a cyclists, the driver concerned seemed outraged by the idea - a non sequitur using the death of another human being to snivel about the unfairness of it.

If you ride inconsiderately, overtaking in such a way that you impede another road user, then a complaint is understandable, but to adopt is as a general rule, elevating it to a right, is absurd. Drivers suffer no inconvenience from this cycling tactic except in the circumstances outlined.

If it means squeezing into the same "normal sized" lane or being in the gutter, then no. If there's a bike lane or the car lane is rather wide, then yes. They've already had to wait for a gap in traffic to pass me once, it would be rather rude to make them wait and do it again, all so I could save 8 seconds. Which ever is safest, I do, although there are times when a lot of time can be saved make up for a bit of risk.

I don't think the car drivers are complaining about this, since you can move to the right and are out of each others way.

100%.

You said it better than I did. Thanks. I added some highlights to the quote in the original post to help folks understand the context in which I was speaking.

Your edit does nothing other than to note how completely you believe motorist complaints are valid. Everyone here (except a couple like you), read and understood those two words just fine and they understood how that complaint is just another whine against cyclist without any real basis.

The impatience of motorist like you is simply amazing.

I live in a beach town and my commute takes me through a two lane road running parallel to the beach, with parking on the beachside curb. So I'm riding behind cars and motorcycles, stop and go traffic because everyone is cruising, looking for parking and yielding to pedestrians in the crosswalk. Also in the mix is runners in the street running the opposite way in the door zone. I really don't have any choice but to go with the traffic. I can't filter on the right because I'll be in the door zone, plus the runners and pedestrians there also.

But of course a roadie filtered on the right despite all this going on. To each his own, but it was a beautiful summer day in Maine and it seemed like the best thing to do was to be traffic, and wait my turn through this stretch. The roadie did make his way through traffic but not without taking risks for not only her safety but pedestrians in crosswalks. And in order to get past some cars she went into the oncoming lane to get around them when she found herself caught with pedestrians in the crosswalk blocking her filtering on the right.

Don't begrudge me because I have the decency to ride my bicycle in a manner that contributes to overall traffic flow efficiency. I do the same thing when I ride my motorcycle, drive my car and even when I walk. It's unfortunate that some are so self centered that they can't do the same. Gives all of us decent bicyclists a bad name.

This thread is like a litmus test of 'reasonableness'...

the reality is that filtering, like virtually everthing, can be either completely acceptable or thoroughly rude, even dangerous - it depends on many factors.

Only some posters, however, can see the issue past their own filter of prejudice and ideology. This inability to simply see things from another's point of view, and accept that those have at least the potential to be valid, is exactly what sinks half the threads in this subforum into idiocy and petty bickering.

This was posted on another forum and does a good job of explaining why I avoid filtering in most situations. In this case I feel like the cyclist earned the lesson he was taught.

I've always considered myself a reasonable man.....do unto others and all that. And I appreciate others forgiving my occasional "dumb !@#" move and I try to return the favor. None of us are 100% smart all the time!

...Don't pass me on the right to get to the front of the line at stoplights when I've just spent 5 minutes trying to pass your sorry butt! In other words, be considerate and act like you've got a brain! This world does not revolve around you!

A side story....some years back I was driving a 135 foot platform Bronto (that's a big @#! fire truck!) I drove it very carefully and always try to give others plenty of room. It was powered by a 550 HP Detroit Diesel with an exhaust pipe that was about 9" in diameter and exited just in front of the rear wheels on the officer's side. It had a pretty significant "jet blast" and I would normally let off the accelerator when passing folks standing at the edge of the road or street....just common courtesy.

Well, I'm driving back to our station late in the day (busy traffic all trying to get home) and I come upon a bicyclist and he's riding about 4 - 5 feet from the edge of the road. Traffic's heavy and after a minute or so I find a break where I can give him all of the lane and ease by him without blowing him off the road. No problem, right? At the next light, here he comes by us on the shoulder of the road. Light turns green and off we go.....cars again having to wait to get by him. We finally get our turn and, once again, I wait for opposing traffic to break so I can get by him without crowding and/or blowing him off the road. He could have waited in line, but I think maybe he'll realize what's happening behind him and not do it again. Next light....here he comes on the right again....right up to the front. Now everyone is getting pissed at him and when the light turns green, he holds us up again. But this time, when it's my turn, I get a little closer than I normally would when passing and nail the accelerator. (Please understand that this truck doesn't accelerate very quickly but the exhaust blast will move big dogs and small children if not tied down.) I watched in my right side mirror as he did a "slow motion" ride into the ditch.....didn't fall but just rode right into the bottom of the ditch. I got a number of "thumbs up" from drivers all the way back to our station. Payback's a *****! http://s3.amazonaws.com/advrider/icon10.gif

:rolleyes: And probably illegal (it's premeditated assault).