Questions about filtering / Lane Splitting

[baba0912]

Hi All, just a few question regarding lane splitting / filtering. When comes to traffic is red riders tend to squeeze in between cars right? What happen if we squeeze half way and light went green? Should i maintain and get to the front or filter back to lane and hoping cars behind will let me get back into the lane? Sorry new rider here.

[deckard]

signal for the car to give way.

[baba0912]

hmm so you mean i'll maintain where am i abit, signal and see if the car let me in and get back to the lane and proceed?

[xavw]

yeah. don't panic. hold steady and maintain where you are, signal and wait for chance to get back in lane. try not to cut into car's lane abruptly. may kenna rear-end or horn. same thing on expressways when cars suddenly decide to 'share' the lane with you, and next thing you know they are side by side with you.

 

i also new rider, generally dislike and avoid squeezing to the front of traffic lights. i see no real advantage to me at this point, and also cuz i'm not too familiar with roads yet. so would like some time to observe traffic flow, lane direction and look out for landmarks. also feel stress over the need to move off quickly before the cars when the lights turn green.

[baba0912]

haha true true. Will note it down. Thanks for the advise guys!

[haoKR]

die die always rmb to check ur bs

[Man Donut]

Blind spot, very impt....must check, die die must check or not kena rear ended....very painful for u and bike.

[bernardk]

i see no real advantage to me at this point,

 

Advantages.

1) you are not inbetween cars when you are infront of traffic lights. (Thus if move off you have a better view and space)

 

2) you are more obvious when driver see all the bikes infront. Dun worry they will let you move off first. Anyway bike pick up should be much faster than cars even if you dun rev hard. Cos bikes are much lighter than cars.

 

3) you have better view of the traffic infront of you and do a better judgement of where and which lane you wanna travel once light turns green.

[mmkbad]

i also new rider, generally dislike and avoid squeezing to the front of traffic lights. i see no real advantage to me at this point, and also cuz i'm not too familiar with roads yet. so would like some time to observe traffic flow, lane direction and look out for landmarks. also feel stress over the need to move off quickly before the cars when the lights turn green.

 

I was a new rider too, 2 years back, and i had the same thinking as you, i dislike squeezing cos i find it dangerous, and maybe because i wasnt confident i could squeeze through without banging my mirrors against the car mirrors.

 

But after a year and gaining more road confidence, i realised there are some advantages.

To add what bernardk has already mentioned above:

1) U save road space, (especially on a wide road). I drive, although rarely, and i find that bikes which squeeze save road space. Imagine if all the bikes in Singapore did not squeeze past traffic jams or stops, i believe traffic in Singapore will crawl. Sometimes i think it bikers who lanesplit during traffic stops/jams are actually more considerate cos they dun contribute to the already long queue that is building up.

 

2)Bikes usually have a higher power-to-weight ratio compared to a car. This means we have better acceleration. I find its safer to be infront of the pack and accelerating away when the lights turn green then stuck in between 4-wheel cagers and controlling my speed at half clutch to prevent myself from banging the car infront.

 

Of course, if you must lane split, do it safely, check your blind spots, signal your intention, and try NOT to be in the car's blind spot (if u can see the drivers face in his car mirror, he should be able to see u, unless he's too lazy to even check his mirrors)

[ChaoPuzzy1968]

check back side ,signal, check backside again move slowly n slowly move back to lane , but if u can do it quickly pls do so. ( neber do this in the presence of trucks , taxi, mercedes, bmw and worst of all ,lady driver, get as far away(abt 100km) from them as possible either in front or behind.)

 

good luck ride save

[bernardk]

I find its safer to be infront of the pack and accelerating away when the lights turn green then stuck in between 4-wheel cagers and controlling my speed at half clutch to prevent myself from banging the car infront.

 

yup that is wat im trying to explain too.

[Morpheuz]

check back side ,signal, check backside again move slowly n slowly move back to lane , but if u can do it quickly pls do so. ( neber do this in the presence of trucks , taxi, mercedes, bmw and worst of all ,lady driver, get as far away(abt 100km) from them as possible either in front or behind.)

 

good luck ride save

 

 

LOL!! That's funny!!

[xavw]

Wah, good got different point of views. but i think it's important to ride within own abilities, and see the situation. i lane-split in traffic jam along expressway, but normal roads, very seldom. P-plate license very vulnerable, don't think will stand much of a chance when come to accident/insurance claims.

[crazydj]

But always remember. Do your blind spot checking fast. Do it once, do it right. Many times, when you turn your head, that 1 second, some funny driver will do something in front of/near you.

[Fried Rice]

when the traffic is red, i tend to squeeze to the front. firstly is because it is safer to be in front, imagine what will happen if i am the last rider in the lane and the car behind me didn't manage to stop in time, it will hit into me.

 

however sometimes i know the traffic will turn green soon, so i stay behind instead of squeezing to the front. or when the traffic in front is too long, or there are very huge vehicles/long buses, then i don't squeeze, because they are too huge and dangerous. especially when turning, they eat a lot of space.

 

what happens if i am caught in the middle when squeezing? try to get back into the lane, or ride accordingly. there is no right answer for this, but what i can say is you will definitely know what to do when you are stuck in between while squeezing. trust me

[baba0912]

what i can say is you will definitely know what to do when you are stuck in between while squeezing. trust me

 

Haha true true but still nervous when im in between both cars as i am afraid that i would knock my handle bar on their side mirrors. It happened once before lol.

[DeusExMachina]

Huh? That means while you're splitting to the front during a red light, the signal turns green and traffic begins to move off?

 

My advise: As long as the road is still going straight, continue splitting. Just go. Accelerate until the cars are spread out, then merge into the lane.

 

Don't ever stop when cars are moving off. They won't give way to you.

[Morpheuz]

Huh? That means while you're splitting to the front during a red light, the signal turns green and traffic begins to move off?

 

My advise: As long as the road is still going straight, continue splitting. Just go. Accelerate until the cars are spread out, then merge into the lane.

 

Don't ever stop when cars are moving off. They won't give way to you.

 

I totally agree with this. Just keep going forward until there's enough space (in the lanes, not between lanes) in between the cars for you to merge into the lanes. Cars will never give way to you. They expect you to give way to them just because they're bigger.

[baba0912]

What happen if there are 3 lanes, right and centre lane turning right at the traffic light infront and i am in between this 2 lanes and going right too? not yet filter to the front of all the vehicles.

 

Oh ya, when comes to filtering inbetween cars i tend to shake abit lol maybe phobia liao after i hit the side mirror of a car previously. Somemore is handle bar kenna his mirror not my side mirror hit his mirror.

Edited February 14, 2011 by baba0912

[Wormwood]

If you're not confident about continuing to lane split when the cars start moving off, or if there's an obstruction ahead, you will usually have a chance to get back into a lane BEFORE the car beside you has a chance to move much if there's a decent-sized gap ahead. However, if the cars in the lane beside you are already moving off at a speed that's faster than a crawl, then speed up and wait for a gap to appear.

[bernardk]

What happen if there are 3 lanes, right and centre lane turning right at the traffic light infront and i am in between this 2 lanes and going right too? not yet filter to the front of all the vehicles.

 

Oh ya, when comes to filtering inbetween cars i tend to shake abit lol maybe phobia liao after i hit the side mirror of a car previously. Somemore is handle bar kenna his mirror not my side mirror hit his mirror.

 

best is still try to get your way to the front if cant then dun turn together with the cars. let the two cars infront or beside you go first. Signal which lane you want to go in then follow from there lor. All the cars at stationary moving off dun think will be so b@StArd to squeeze you out la. If they do then they are really b@StArd. Hahahha.

[CSV]

so what you guys mean is,

 

if reaching red light, it turns green, just nice i am kiap in between two cars already. if the cars are still not moving, quickly move into the gap

 

and

 

if the cars besides me moving off already, have to stay at the lane markings there until got gap to squeeze in?

[Wormwood]

so what you guys mean is,

 

if reaching red light, it turns green, just nice i am kiap in between two cars already. if the cars are still not moving, quickly move into the gap

 

and

 

if the cars besides me moving off already, have to stay at the lane markings there until got gap to squeeze in?

If you're still far from the front of the queue, you'll notice that the cars around you will be stationary for quite a while as they'll have to wait for those in front to move off. In that case, you may want to try to get as far ahead (still lane-splitting) as you can before the cars in in the rows beside you start moving. If you're not confident, just try to get into one of the slow moving rows of cars in the lanes beside you.

 

If the cars on your left and right are already moving, you can either try to move even faster than them and enter a lane further ahead, or try to merge into one of the lanes when gaps appear immediately in front. This will probably involve your moving a little faster than the cars. Try not to cut in too suddenly lest you get rear-ended. Signal and move in at a gradual angle. Especially do not cut in suddenly and then brake!

 

Personally, I wouldn't recommend remaining stationary in between lanes until a gap appears as you might not have the speed to merge into a lane unless the cars are still moving very slowly.

Edited February 15, 2011 by Wormwood

[Feelicks]

my 2 cents worth is basically, if ur not confident in lane splitting plz plz plz, dun do it. ur only putting urself in harm's way.

 

a point i'd like to add is when u lane split, b very mindful of e position of e car infront of u, if u see tt e car's starting to drift to urside, slowdown... many a time's i've had cars juz cut into me cuz they did'nt check their blindspot.

 

only overtake when u noe there's no way tt car can cut in or when its maintaining its lane steadily. look at e driver's head if he/she's looking ard all e time e car mayb filtering soon so beware!

 

peace

[DeusExMachina]

Just remember never to stop IN LANE in between 2 cars (front and back).

 

 

Why?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2BccVeAurI&feature=player_embedded