So in fact if the car at the lights NEXT to me got rear ended I'd maybe get clipped, but I'd certainly still be alive.
Depends how they're sat and how they get hit. If you're on a curved entry to a roundabout or junction (of which there are many round here, for example) and the inside car gets hit, it will squish you flatter than my singing voice and then shred you as it goes past!
Getting rear ended, being pulled out on, both things are risks to us bikers - you try and reduce that risk by either riding defensively and/or not putting yourself in a situation where you are at risk.
Oh sure.
But going into the far greater danger of filtering is not the answer to the comparatively far lower risk of rear-enders... That's just silly!
If you have a full licence and don't filter, you may as well drive a car, unless you only ride on Sunday mornings at 8am.
Assuming the opportunity to filter relatively safely presents itself.
You can filter on your bike test, if you're able to do so safely and the situation warrants filtering in order to make progress. You can also fail the test if this criteria is not met, including filtering when it's not neccesary/safe and/or presents more of an inconvenience to other road users.
Those of us who do the daily commute deal with heaps of traffic daily and if I didn't filter my journey would be 20-30% longer than it is.
Those of you who do - How nice. I do both the daily commute and ride for work purposes, at all hours of the day, all days of the year in all weathers and I do often filter, myself... but only when the situiation warrants it.
IMO, filtering past only one or two cars at the lights, "just in case" someone rear-ends me is not really a consideration.
Oh and to add - I very rarely filter if there's only a car or 2 in the queue, but when there's a line of 5-10 cars, you can bet your life I'll filter past them.
Yeah, that's exactly what I'm talking about - Where you can actually make progress. 3 or 4 extra car lengths isn't really progress...
that's actually what i was taught for my test, accelerate quickly but safely to the speed liit
SAFELY, yes.
Blazing off at speeds guaranteed to beat any car is not safe, especially given how many bikes cannot do this, which is why such things are not taught in lessons.
Bikes average 0-60 in about 3.5-4.5 seconds. Some can go faster, while others are much slower.
Cars average 0-60 in 4-7 seconds, apparently.
These are usually manufacturers quoted stats, though, which often mean pretty much nailing the throttle and redlining it. If you're riding like that every time you pull away from the lights, you really don't have a clue and are a serious danger. You're certainly not pulling away safely enough and may even catch it in the side from someone who jumps the lights, either on your road or from those others served by the lights.
You should also have been taught to watch for other vehicles that might be going faster than you - My bike can do 0-60 in just 2.8 seconds... There are cars out there which will beat even that!
So you'll be getting one hell of a shock when that happens and the faster car pulls into your lane, having not seen you...
you open up a nice big space behind you that unless they're speeding they wont take back up giving you some added safety.
Oh, and cars never ever speed, do they... ?
Certainly not some middle-management bawbag in a BMW or the executive in a Porsche or Lambo out for jollies on his way home...?
Nope, never...
how does filtering increase that risk?
I was implying that you are far more likely to be pulled out on than rear-ended during normal road riding, therefore filtering is not the answer.
But as it happens, filtering reduces your vision, thus opening you up to vehicles emerging from the side and/or changing lanes, at which point you do stand even more chance of being pulled out on because they cannot see you coming. Thus far, most cases have ruled 50/50 responsibility because while the car did pull out, the rider was filtering and thus knowingly increasing their own risk.
At least when a car is coming up behind you, you can generally be seen quite clearly (being front and centre with lights on, and all).
filtering reduces the chance you get rear ended it also gets you to the front where you can open up a safe lead.
So what happens when you pull up to a stop light and you're the only vehicle there at the time?
The next vehicle along that road WILL be coming up behind you, but there's no filtering you can do... The only thing ahead is the traffic crossing and you're on a red light.
How do you reduce this "oh-so-serious" threat of being rear-ended when you are the only thing in front?
Do you panic?
Do you 'filter' to one side of the road?
How do you cope with this impossible situation?
multiple cars are fantastic shock absorbers especially with their handbrakes on.
Oh, so you're assuming they put their handbrake on too, now?
You don't notice how many are just riding the clutch and/or creeping forward?
if the guy is going fast enough on impact he cannons cars into you at the front then being at the front 100% saved your life as that impact would have crushed you beyond belief.
If you're at the front and the car behind cannons you, you're now potentially in multiple lanes of the moving traffic crossing the junction from the sides.
If you're at the side and the car is cannoned, you're potentially getting crushed from the side instead.
Either way, you are up the creek and those you survive could mean you're now just a potato eating meals through a straw and able to breathe as long as no-one unplugs you.
I've also heard that if you have an accident while filtering the very fact that you were filtering may go against you even if you weren't to blame
Sometimes that is indeed the case.
Things are changing as they are better understood, but it is still a factor and can turn the tide completely.
