CTAC

If there is a long line of cars waiting for the green arrow to turn left I'd normally filter through and wait behind the first car in line. When it start I'd ride through the intersection at the same speed as that car just slightly to the right from its rear bumper. Do you think that a good idea? How would you do that?

CastIron

Depends on intersection, traffic, weather, road conditions, mood, and moon phase. But yeah, I do that a lot and it works pretty damn good.

Opinions do vary, however.

mastershake916

I turned left!

DataJunkie

I tend to not filter. However, if traffic conditions are such that getting into the left lane (or turn lane) is problematic I may even perform a two step left.
My safety > any VC propaganda.

jdeane4

I most definetly filter. It makes it easy for me and the drivers to start up. If you ever notice an intersection, there tends to be some kind of a shoulder on the road. Having this little extra room allows me an accellaration point and as I was filtering, everyone saw me and is now aware of me. I dont filter and then immediately take someone's spot in line but I get to the right rear of the first car. This gives people plenty of room to pass me. Just be safe.

CdCf

If the lane is wide enough, and the cars are placed far enough to one side, I ride all the way up to the line. If not, I simpy take my place in the line, or ride as far forward as the space allows me to.

As I usually accelerate faster than most cars for the first couple of seconds, I prefer to have some clear space ahead of me.

chephy

If left-turn lane is wide enough to share, I filter. Otherwise, I take my place in line of cars. If the line's so long that it would take me several light cycles to get through the intersection, I do a pedestrian left turn. In short, I consider the safe and courteous options and choose the fastest one.

CdCf

Completely OT, but I just have to ask chephy what kind of dog that is. This may sound very weird, but it reminds me of a Cessna A-37!

I hope you can see the resemblance...

chephy

LOL!

It's actually supposed to be a mongoose. But I have my doubts about that. But the picture's cute enough that I just had to adopt it as an avatar.

tomg

i filter as well. there seems to be an "acceptance" from drivers as i signal my intents, no suprizes!
i don't "jump to the front of the line" though. usually, stop behind a car, or go through the intersection with them.
i feel, usually, a mutual sharing is included!

cyccommute 

I never filter... right turn, left turn, going straight. I am a vehicle. I will act as one. However, if you are going to filter to the front to the line, doing it on a left turn is quite possibly the most dangerous place to do it. Lane width is usually around 11 feet but it can be narrower than that. Cars generally run around 6 ft wide with some SUV or trucks being near 7 feet wide. You take up around 2 feet plus some margin of error of say another foot on both sides, so you are effectively 4 feet wide (You have to have a little room so you don't scratch the nice peoples cars ). So if you filter to the front of the line and sit off the right corner of the left turning car, you are, in effect, taking space in the through lane to your right. The through lane is legally allowed to pass those cars on the right and might not be expecting a cyclist to be hanging over into their lane. Being any place where cars don't expect you is not a good thing, ever.

Additionally, when you filter to the front of a line of cars, when you complete your turn there is an implication that you will be turning very wide. If there isn't enough room on the road you are turning on to, the cars may try to squeeze by and force you into a bad positioning situation on the road. It's best just to put yourself in the middle of the lane behind the last car and control the situation when you are making the turn.

zeytoun

Like everything, it depends.

I have one light where I turn left on my way home, and during rush hour there is usually close to two dozen cars waiting to turn left. The road they turn on to is wide with a demarcated shoulder, and traffic on it is often backed up. I filter to the very front of the line, and hang out at the front right corner of the first left turner. He's got room to turn, I've got room to turn. Everyone's happy.

I have also more "textbook" left turns, that have maybe 5-10 cars waiting, and no gridlock on the street they turn on to. I wait in line.

chephy

Yep, that's one thing to pay attention to: if you're going to have to take the lane on the road you're turning onto, filtering may not be the best idea... especially if there are only as many lanes on that new road as there are left-turn lanes on the road you're turning from.

cyccommute 

Personally, if I had an intersection like that on my route, I'd be looking for a way around it entirely. I don't know where you live but Denver and it's suburbs are on a grid system (mostly), so any bad intersection has a parallel route that I can use to avoid the bottle necks. I know it's not the same everywhere (Vermont is a good example...they don't have roads, just paved cowpaths ) but often there's a way around the bad stuff.

zeytoun

The route I take is one of only three that go up the hill in my commute (the other two are less safe, IMHO). It's really not a bad intersection (for bicycles). It's practically a parking lot, and after the turn, I can just thread my way through and up to the next intersection, where I make a left. The intersection is actually a T-intersection, with the left lane turning left onto a street with one lane in each direction, and the right lane turning right. There's plenty of room to share the lane, and the traffic is on the street we turn on to is invariably completely stopped. All the drivers are regulars (since it is not a main throughway) so they are used to the fact that it is always stopped (Civil engineering...).

The cars that I pass take a good 5 minutes to catch up to me, and that's only because at that point, I'm climbing a 300 foot hill.

Phantoj

Generally, I'm against the "filter" method, but in the situation you described, I think I would do it. I think filtering for the turn is a pretty bad idea (rude) if, as soon as you make the turn, you have nowhere to ride and will have to take the lane. If you're turning into a road with a bike lane, why not? Watch out for tractor-trailers...

rajman

LOL I thought it was a seal.

+1 on the not waiting more than one light cycle - if it's safer (IMHO) I'll just cross as a ped.

I've even *gulp* ridden on the sidewalks (at ped speed across intersections) this winter after a 10 inch snowfall - the sidewalks were cleared and the roads were fishtail city. Do whatever you think is best in the situation - just don't cut anyone off who has the ROW.

greenstork

I don't think I'd feel comfortable filtering up alongside a left turn lane. I do however, do this often on two lane streets (one lane each direction) and 4-way stop signed intersections.

fordfasterr

I usually just split up the right side and then bomb through the turn with as much speed and lean as I can manage while still pedaling madly....

=)

CdCf

Here, it's legal for bikes and certain mopeds to pass other vehicles on the right, so filtering to the front of the row is technically legal, as long as it can be done in a safe manner.

Helmet Head

I don't see any reason to filter forward unless there are so many cars backed up that I'll miss the next light if I don't filter. In that case, I filter forward until I get to a point where I'm sure I'll get the next light, then start looking for a place to integrate back into line. Acknowledging the driver I move in front of is a big part of it (smile, nod, wave... whatever). But, that's rarely the case. Normally I just stop behind the last car, with a few feet gap in front of me. I use that gap to get going when the cars in front start moving, that way when the car right in front of me finally goes, I'm ready to go, and usually able to take advantage of some draft.

Helmet Head

What do you mean by "VC propaganda" and when does it recommend doing something that you feel might compromise your safety?

By the way, did you know that the "two step left" (when getting into the left turn lane might be problematic, usually due to fast/busy traffic) is straight out of the closest thing there is to the "VC Bible" - John Forester's Effective Cycling.

sfrider 

I usually go up to the right of the front bumper of the first car to make sure I'm visible. That way if they change their mind and decide to go straight or make some other interesting maneuver they'll know I'm there. I then take my turn extremely wide, almost like a square corner, outside the path of cars, just inside the crosswalk on the other side. At the end of my left turn is usually a bike lane, if not I'll very carefully merge back in at the end of the turn.

HardyWeinberg

I will filter past a blocked single lane to get to a turn lane up ahead, but not past other people in the turn lane. Usually. I think.