While taking 4 ¼ hours to drive 100 miles today (😒) I was passed by a few bikes.
Is there a preferred way of getting past stopped traffic on a dual carriageway – inside the inside lane, between the two lanes or on the outside next to the central reservation?
Just wondering.

Usually down the middle.

Aye, filtering down the middle is what I do

Down the middle so you can divert either way if anyone tries to cut you off.

Yeah, down the middle. Going between the off side of a car and the central reservation sounds very dangerous, nowhere to go.

As above, down the middle but keeping a very close eye on vehicles trying to change lanes.

Yep, between the lanes. Anywhere outside of the traffic is where all the crap ends up, not to mention people think nothing about drifting towards the edge of the road where there’s no other cars but tend to be more disciplined about drifting towards another lane. It’s unintuitive but it’s definitely the safest place, other vehicles tend not to be thinking very much about filtering bikes but this way you’re in a place that they’re thinking about other cars.

The big danger of course is people switching lanes. So a big part of the skill of it is predicting when that’s possible and likely- slow traffic causes endless shuffling as people get convinced that the other lane is 1mph faster, a gap on the left is a threat on the right, that sort of thing.

Also down the middle, with an eagle eye out for lane switchers as mentioned above and also doors being flung open if the traffic is stationary. I only filter like this if the traffic is stood still or moving slowly and only at a few mph above the flow speed. You really do need eyes on stalks to do it safely, not least on your mirrors for other idiot motorcyclists behind you who think it’s safe to do it at 50 or 60mph when the lane traffic is doing 10 or 15!

Ok that’s interesting, thanks.

One chap passed me on my offside when I was in the outside lane….. It looked sketchy!
I wondered why I hadn’t really seen that before…. Now I know!

Middle, eyes on stalks and head on swivel.

Down the middle, eyes wide open expecting anyone to move into your path at any time…

One chap passed me on my offside when I was in the outside lane

This might be possible on wider roads and if the middle route is tight. But not something I would do, personally.

Filtering is definitely one of those things where everyone faster than you is a maniac and everyone slower is an incompetent, but I’ve very rarely seen it done on the outside and not just thought “idiot”. It’s a strange mix of skill, experience, foresight, observation… And then the psychology part. And that’s a weird combination, like I mentioned earlier you’re almost calculating risk and “what’s next” for yourself and at least 4 cars but ideally more, all the time and constantly having to try and see what hte road looks like to the next car you want to pass… And it’s all time constrained and constantly refreshing. It’s not like say a big feature on a bike where it’s all about visualising success and working out the way you want it to go, you’re essentially visuailising all the failures and the way you don’t want it to go, then with that knowledge, doing it anyway.

Haven’t ridden on the road for years, but I do seriously miss hacking through traffic. Talk about being in the moment…

Not sure why they cant just stay in their lane. Is it impatience ?.

Every time i see a 2 wheeler, bike or motorbike, try to filter up the middle to a set of traffic lights, the lights change leaving the bike in a precarious position, affecting both left and right lanes who cannot move for fear of hitting the bike.

Yes we can all do it, and yes its legal, but is it sensible 😕

Well on that point, the absolute most dangerous place for a ptw in a queue of traffic is at the back, “staying in their lane”. Being “caught” when lights change is pretty much a non-issue because you can match speed so easily and you only need a small space, you can almost always just dip into one lane or the other if you want- the gaps created when traffic pulls away are way bigger than you need.

Northwind explains it well. The worst place for a bike to be is at the back of a queue and potentially acting as a crumple zone for a dozy car driver.

A bike at the front of the queue will happily out accelerate any car and safely slot into the correct lane.

As a non-mororbiker the place I look for them is in the middle, or between lanes two and three on a three lane motorway, a quick glance in the mirror now and again, and move across to give more room and make it obvious I’ve seen them if I do see one coming.
On a pushbike I would filter down the middle for the reasons outlined above.
.
Why cant we let motorbikes use the hard shoulder for filtering? Safer for everyone surely? Maybe a 30mph limit to protect stuff broken down, easy enough for them to live into the inside lane to let ambulances and whatever through

Middle as a default but ready to vary it depending on conditions.

As I used to tell my students.
Most people don’t look in their mirrors.
Some do and will open a gap for you.
Some will see you coming and intentionally close that gap.

Middle, headlight on, spidey sense on defcon 10. Sometimes, like on a pushbike, its safer or reassuring to go for the space behind the first vehicle so you are definitely seen and avoid a drag race with the lead car…

Every time i see a 2 wheeler, bike or motorbike, try to filter up the middle to a set of traffic lights, the lights change leaving the bike in a precarious position, affecting both left and right lanes who cannot move for fear of hitting the bike.

The person on the bike is going to be mindful of this and will get out of your way and its quite unlikely they are going to be in your way or hold you up. As soon as the light change they will be off quicker than you. Also as Northwind says, the size of a bike makes it far easier to re-integrate with the traffic than a car. It’s why they are much better at overtaking, the landing spot they need after an overtake if far smaller.

Not sure why they cant just stay in their lane. Is it impatience ?.

Why would you sit in traffic when you don’t have too? Also by getting out of the way you are reducing the size of the tailback.

Down the middle

I have noticed more people giving room to bikes, feels positively European sometimes.

Why cant we let motorbikes use the hard shoulder for filtering? Safer for everyone surely?

Without giving it much thought this sounds like a good idea – someone may come up with a reason why it’s actually a daft idea!
(the only worry is that the “30mph” limit might be forgotten given a completely empty lane ahead!)

Because that is where all the shit ends up. The chances of a puncture are high.
Also, once a couple of bikes do it, all the idiot drivers will copy them.

Not sure why they cant just stay in their lane. Is it impatience ?.

Do you also not pass slow pedestrians when you walk, or stop your bicycle if the cars stop?

I use to commute in/around London. One day I pretty much rode the ‘whitelines’ from Beaconfield to GSK at Brentford – circa 20 miles.

As others have said, eyes on stalks and TBH I use to reckon on ‘clipping’ a vehicle a day – mostly mirrors but… The bigger the bike (+1000cc) and (slightly) more respect cars/vans show you, helped that in the latter years I looked like Plod with white/silver faired bikes and green/black jackets.

Agree with everything said here. Not ridden for a few years now but the other reason I had for not filtering on the outside or hard shoulder is the amount of crap, screws etc that you find there – I always had the fear I’d end up with a puncture…

Spidey sense is a good way to describe it actually – doing it safely really does require acute observation – I remember looking for slight shifts in the front wheels of cars, or movement from drivers heads to indicate an upcoming, unsignalled manouevre…

I used to do it a lot when I was a despatch rider, and, being of an invincible age, I had a lot of ‘offs’ but only one I can think of when filtering..

My car commute was 75 mins. I can do it in 30 on the motorbike without breaking any speed limits.

I no longer have a bike but rule of thumb was between lanes only, maximum speed difference of 20 mph – so stationary traffic, speed lower than 20mph, 20 mph traffic, slower than 40 mph.

Not sure why they cant just stay in their lane. Is it impatience ?

Why wouldn’t you want them too, jealousy?

The biggest danger to it is “impatient” car drivers changing lanes to gain just a few meters.

I’m still getting experience of bikes in traffic and have yet to experience hardcore traffic, but it is now commuting season and that will probably happen soon enough.

I was told previously to watch wheels, not necessarily just for indicators, because people can forget to indicate when changing lanes. I do find that my bike has made me a lot more aware of what other people are doing. Spidey-sense carries over slightly, but it is craned to 11 when I am on two wheels.

I must admit I only tend to filter when the traffic is stationary or very close to it, the risks go up exponentially when higher speeds are involved IMO.

Why cant we let motorbikes use the hard shoulder for filtering? Safer for everyone surely?

Mainly because it would give car drivers an excuse to do the same.

Why cant we let motorbikes use the hard shoulder for filtering? Safer for everyone surely?

Mainly because it would give car drivers an excuse to do the same.

I think we are forgetting that the HS is for people to pull onto if broken down and for emergency services. It’s not a convenience lane for anyone..

Why filter? Why do you think we’re on a bike getting rained on in the first place rather than a comfy chair with a heater / aircon?

spidey sense on defcon 10.

That’s very low. The highest DEFCON is 1 not 5.

Without giving it much thought this [filtering on the hard shoulder] sounds like a good idea – someone may come up with a reason why it’s actually a daft idea!

As others have said, it’d set a bad precedence. It’d also increase already high jealousy animosity towards motorcyclists.

I must admit I only tend to filter when the traffic is stationary or very close to it, the risks go up exponentially when higher speeds are involved IMO.

“filtering” between two overtaking lorries is exhilarating, you should try it*

*actually don’t

Every time i see a 2 wheeler, bike or motorbike, try to filter up the middle to a set of traffic lights, the lights change leaving the bike in a precarious position, affecting both left and right lanes who cannot move for fear of hitting the bike.

Dyna-ti – On a pedal bike, I tend to agree – inside is best. On a motorbike however the reason for being first off the lights for me is to put myself in fresh, safe air away from cars as they pull away from the lights and jockey for position. On most motorbikes you will be away from the lights far quicker than most cars, so you aren’t really delaying them. If a car allows 1m either side, this means only 1m on the inside (enough for a bike), but 2m down the middle assuming both cars leave 1m each.

The safest place to be is in fresh, clean air, not competing for road space with cars that may not have seen you and whose unpredictability has far greater consequences for me on a motorbike than it does for them. In some scenarios speed is your friend.

As for the original question, filter assuming something bad is going to happen (it sometimes does!) and give yourself the greatest number of escape and evade options. This usually means the middle of traffic.