Soldato
- Joined
- 24 Mar 2011
- Posts
- 6,479
- Location
- Kent
Ouch, that sucks - get well soon! 
Unlikely, this sort of accident will normally go 50-50. Any bike filtering should be looking out for cars making U-turns or pulling out into side roads, it's as much (if not more) the bikers responsibility to filter carefully especially in stationary traffic if it's not the normal traffic for the road/time of day.
And on that note - why the hell were you filtering past stopped cars at 40mph?
I sometimes filter past cars moving at 10mph while doing 25-30mph, but 15-20mph is the absolute max speed difference there should be. If it was stationary traffic due to an accident or road closure, i.e. not 'normal' traffic then that's a doubly dangerous area as people WILL make u-turns when they get sick of waiting. In 'normal' traffic, i.e. queues due to rush hour traffic people will not normally make u-turns but even then, some will.
Filtering on a wide (space for u-turns) road with a completely empty opposite lane, at 40mph... that makes me cringe just thinking about it...
An empty other side of the road is inviting people to u-turn, and you should also have been right over 1-2 metres from the right hand verge, better visibility for you and oncoming traffic and more space to avoid cars u-turning.
Don't wanna put the blame on you (but hopefully you learn from this when (not if!
) you get back on the bike) but if anyone else filters past any stationary traffic at 40mph I hope they might see this and calm it down a little....
Anyway, get well soon, and what's gonna replace the SV?
This is aimed at everyone, hopefully so someone in the future can avoid an accident like this - this situation (wide road, stopped traffic, empty other side of the road) is THE most dangerous time to filter, bar none.
Why: Completely empty other lane would suggest an accident, or road closure or roadworks, i.e. not normal traffic for the conditions. Makes people impatient and makes them wants to do U-turns.
Now, if there's cars coming the other way, they can't U-turn. It's far, far safer to filter when there's cars coming the opposite direction than when the other lane is clear. Why, because the cars you're passing aren't going to u-turn directly into oncoming traffic.
3rd - a big wide open A-road means any car can just swing around in a single movement and be on their way. A smaller, tigher road means a 2-3 point u-turn which is harder, and a lot of drivers won't bother if it's tricky to u-turn, especially if there's intermittent traffic coming the other way.
If you're filtering in these conditions, keep it slow, and position yourself over to the far right of the opposing lane. Or only filter when there's cars coming the other way.
Bit of a rant, but as above hopefully this might keep one of our newer riders upright and off the deck
Dis86;30484751 said:
Unlikely, this sort of accident will normally go 50-50. Any bike filtering should be looking out for cars making U-turns or pulling out into side roads, it's as much (if not more) the bikers responsibility to filter carefully especially in stationary traffic if it's not the normal traffic for the road/time of day.
And on that note - why the hell were you filtering past stopped cars at 40mph?
I sometimes filter past cars moving at 10mph while doing 25-30mph, but 15-20mph is the absolute max speed difference there should be. If it was stationary traffic due to an accident or road closure, i.e. not 'normal' traffic then that's a doubly dangerous area as people WILL make u-turns when they get sick of waiting. In 'normal' traffic, i.e. queues due to rush hour traffic people will not normally make u-turns but even then, some will.Filtering on a wide (space for u-turns) road with a completely empty opposite lane, at 40mph... that makes me cringe just thinking about it...
An empty other side of the road is inviting people to u-turn, and you should also have been right over 1-2 metres from the right hand verge, better visibility for you and oncoming traffic and more space to avoid cars u-turning.Don't wanna put the blame on you (but hopefully you learn from this when (not if!
) you get back on the bike) but if anyone else filters past any stationary traffic at 40mph I hope they might see this and calm it down a little....Anyway, get well soon, and what's gonna replace the SV?
Participant;30484932 said:
This is aimed at everyone, hopefully so someone in the future can avoid an accident like this - this situation (wide road, stopped traffic, empty other side of the road) is THE most dangerous time to filter, bar none.
Why: Completely empty other lane would suggest an accident, or road closure or roadworks, i.e. not normal traffic for the conditions. Makes people impatient and makes them wants to do U-turns.
Now, if there's cars coming the other way, they can't U-turn. It's far, far safer to filter when there's cars coming the opposite direction than when the other lane is clear. Why, because the cars you're passing aren't going to u-turn directly into oncoming traffic.
3rd - a big wide open A-road means any car can just swing around in a single movement and be on their way. A smaller, tigher road means a 2-3 point u-turn which is harder, and a lot of drivers won't bother if it's tricky to u-turn, especially if there's intermittent traffic coming the other way.
If you're filtering in these conditions, keep it slow, and position yourself over to the far right of the opposing lane. Or only filter when there's cars coming the other way.
Bit of a rant, but as above hopefully this might keep one of our newer riders upright and off the deck
