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Lane Filtering Bill Passed in Utah

Filtering is allowed in the UK, and I often do it - commuting to and from work through rush hour is such an awesome thing when the traffic is at stand still, but you aren't!

That said, I tend to only do so if the traffic around me is going less than fifteen to twenty miles per hour, and even then not much more than five to ten miles an hour faster than that same traffic. Not worth the risk of a driver changing lanes unexpectedly, or another driver taking offence at another individual being able to best the traffic they can't - and pulling in to tighten the gap.

Amusing story about when a white van did that to me and made difficult my filter. The motorcycle behind me - actually a policeman on a police bike - told me to carry on, I'd done nothing wrong: but he was going to have a word with the van about his dangerous driving. Ah, I do like karma.

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I've never lived in an area that allows lane sharing, but it seems that the only time it would be needed is when traffic is either stopped or moving very slowly. In those instances, even with the narrow lanes, and in "Hospital Curve", it seems as though it would be safe. If traffic is moving at a decent pace (>or=speed limit) I can't see that splitting would be either necessary or advantageous anyway.

True, very true...
 
I've never lived in an area that allows lane sharing, but it seems that the only time it would be needed is when traffic is either stopped or moving very slowly. In those instances, even with the narrow lanes, and in "Hospital Curve", it seems as though it would be safe. If traffic is moving at a decent pace (>or=speed limit) I can't see that splitting would be either necessary or advantageous anyway.

agree. there is no reason to lane split were traffic is moving at decent pace. i only split when there is traffic, in CA is always... lol
 
One person's definition of "decent pace" is likely not the same as another's.

I've had to pass cagers going the speed limit, 65mph, in the carpool lane while being passed by everyone in the regular lanes going 70+.
I try to always ride in the carpool lanes, or far left lanes. There is usually a wider split between it and the #1 lane. But if I see a car holding traffic up, and no traffic for as far ahead as I can see, I'll split and pass them.
Carefully, as I just don't trust anyone doing anything as silly as going the speed limit in the carpool lane!
 
Well, the law finally goes into effect tomorrow. I'll check in later and give an update on how it's being received by drivers. There's been a lot of buzz on Facebook
about it and many bikers have declared their dislike for the law, which is interesting.
 
I don't see why riders would dislike it. It isn't like they're forced to filter.

Whenever I go out of state I do my best to avoid cities, largely so that I don't have to deal with traffic and the frustration of not being able to split (and the fact that doing so is essentially instinctual).
 
Almost everyone I have heard that disliked the idea of filtering was unfamiliar with it, anyone that has been in L.A' s legendarily bad traffic has seen every motorcycle rider there filters, even out of staters will end up getting behind another motorcycle and follow along filtering through traffic, while most cities aren't as bad as L.A. Traffic wise it's still a benefit when there's traffic anywhere, once you've got some experience filtering it's hard to imagine not doing it.
it would be like me telling you to stop making left hand turns, it's not going to make driving or riding impossible but it's taking a maneuver you've done a million times out of your options with little to no benefit when done safely.
I'm in California where it's legal to filter and I've filtered through traffic on every single ride for years (there's always traffic) and when done properly is safer then not filtering.

YouTube

At the same time I want to highlight I agree with this video

YouTube
 
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I’m not surprised about the negative reactions from drivers. Motorcyclists are a very small minority, and of that small group, some behave in ways that irritate drivers and bias drivers against motorcyclists.

You suggested in your first post that road rage could be a problem. It’s looks like filtering could be a dangerous activity unless or until the drivers accept the law. And then you’ll never know if that one hostile driver is still out there. While I would not be hostile if a motorcycle scraped my car, I would be super pissed and expect the motorcyclist to accept full liability. Imagine how a non-motorcyclist would feel about it.

But then what do I know, since I’ve stated before that I don’t generally experience any traffic situations where filtering or splitting could be applicable?
You are correct, even in California where filtering has been common place for a long time you still run into the sporadic angry person that wants to squeeze close to the vehicle next to them so you can't pass, I've actually had a person zig zag 3 times to block me, I didn't realize until the 3rd time she was doing it on purpose
(I tend to blame people's negative behavior on ignorance or stupidity unless I know otherwise)
and I've had plenty of brodozers cut me off on purpose, so legal or not you've got to pay attention (as you should anyways) but it helps not worrying about a ticket and it is still safer when done properly
 
You are correct, even in California where filtering has been common place for a long time you still run into the sporadic angry person that wants to squeeze close to the vehicle next to them so you can't pass, I've actually had a person zig zag 3 times to block me, I didn't realize until the 3rd time she was doing it on purpose
(I tend to blame people's negative behavior on ignorance or stupidity unless I know otherwise)
and I've had plenty of brodozers cut me off on purpose, so legal or not you've got to pay attention (as you should anyways) but it helps not worrying about a ticket and it is still safer when done properly

When we passed through San Francisco I thought it was nice to see. Like everything there was all types, just like car drivers. Some would gradually take the space flowing with the traffic, some were aggressive and pushing the envelope. Overall it seemed to work well in the environment.
 
When we passed through San Francisco I thought it was nice to see. Like everything there was all types, just like car drivers. Some would gradually take the space flowing with the traffic, some were aggressive and pushing the envelope. Overall it seemed to work well in the environment.
I'm an hour and a half to two hours from San Francisco and much prefer taking the bike over the car, it's my experience that most vehicles in San Francisco are generally more courteous towards and aware of motorcycles and bicycles (likely because there's so many there) parking is cheaper if not free for motorcycles vs the $30 to $40 I've paid for parking my car in Frisco
 
Well, the law went into effect yesterday so I hopped on the NC and went for a ride around town to try out some filtering. While I was out I saw maybe 3 other bikes that were filtering at lights. I filtered maybe 7 or 8 times and was surprised at the lack of reaction from motorists (expecting honks and yells, etc). Obviously it was just the first day so who knows how things will really play out, but so far I'm fairly pleased. I'm already starting to develop strategies to increase safety and visibility. At one light, after filtering to the front and waiting for the green, I noticed the SUV that was at the front of the line to my left started to inch forward closer to me. I thought "oh boy, here comes the first angry driver". To my relief, I turned and saw that the driver was a 50-something-year-old guy who gave me an approving nod and a big thumbs up.

I do hope that riders throughout the state won't abuse the fresh law and mess up our opportunity to have a decent relationship with motorists. Time will tell.
 
Well, the law went into effect yesterday so I hopped on the NC and went for a ride around town to try out some filtering. While I was out I saw maybe 3 other bikes that were filtering at lights. I filtered maybe 7 or 8 times and was surprised at the lack of reaction from motorists (expecting honks and yells, etc). Obviously it was just the first day so who knows how things will really play out, but so far I'm fairly pleased. I'm already starting to develop strategies to increase safety and visibility. At one light, after filtering to the front and waiting for the green, I noticed the SUV that was at the front of the line to my left started to inch forward closer to me. I thought "oh boy, here comes the first angry driver". To my relief, I turned and saw that the driver was a 50-something-year-old guy who gave me an approving nod and a big thumbs up.

I do hope that riders throughout the state won't abuse the fresh law and mess up our opportunity to have a decent relationship with motorists. Time will tell.
I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with how many motorist don't care (or don't even notice you[emoji25]) 99% of vehicles don't react at all but that 1% can be a problem, as long as your paying attention and riding at a sensible speed (relating to the vehicles around you) you should be fine
 
My younger brother had a slick, but impractical idea about this. He is SLC. He said he was going to fill his big aluminum panniers with ice and drinks and pass them out to drivers who were cool about the whole thing.
>T
 
My younger brother had a slick, but impractical idea about this. He is SLC. He said he was going to fill his big aluminum panniers with ice and drinks and pass them out to drivers who were cool about the whole thing.
>T
That idea will really pick up around July, sounds a bit impractical, but I'm loving the sentiment
 
That idea will really pick up around July, sounds a bit impractical, but I'm loving the sentiment
Impractical? With the frunk, why not put a few coke's in ice - easy access at the junction, to pull one out as an unexpected gesture of friendliness :)

... actually, I might try that...

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Impractical? With the frunk, why not put a few coke's in ice - easy access at the junction, to pull one out as an unexpected gesture of friendliness :)

... actually, I might try that...

Sent from my Mi A2 using Tapatalk
You said your brother with panniers, someone riding an NC, yeah that's different.

I've watched two guys almost and one guy successfully drop their bike while parked doing the slow fall, trying as hard as he could to not drop his bike because he was turned around in the saddle reaching into his side case
 
Wow Oly, my hat's off to your brother in SLC. I recently went through there and wa all too quickly reminded why i hate SLC interstate traffic. I took me 2 hours to go n/b from just south of SLC to Ogden. 5 lanes wide and everybody is at a stand still. Thanks fully it was only 76f out and not more. Did i say that i hated SLC traffic...uhmm, YA!! What a great idea though, i am so glad to hear that Utah has now approved and passed that bill allowing riders to "Filter"..... Good for you guys that live there!! :{)
 
I recall, very clearly, the traffic problems in SLC from the 10 years that I lived there. That was a while ago so I'm sure it's gotten worse. After SLC, I lived in the north end of Seattle - another traffic nightmare. We're on the south end of Olympia and retired now so we don't have to worry much about commutes and traffic. If the traffic is bad, we just stay home or ride the other direction!

By brother rides a BMW with big aluminum panniers. I haven't seen anything like them on an NC.
>Thom
 
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