Bikes passing bikes in the same lane???

[Arthur]

I have an aversion to passing a bike (or one passing me) in the same lane, at any sort of speed differential.
On the way to work this morning I had occasion to dodge sideways very rapidly to avoid a P plater who indicated into my lane as I drew level with their rear bumper. Knowing how bloody fast most of these drivers change lanes, I reacted automatically, and swerved to the other side of the lane just in case. Nothing came of it, but it made me think what could have happened if a bike had bee passing me at that moment. You are not watching the mirror much in traffic except to monitor the other lanes, and I have been surprised several times by bikes whizzing past me.
I am curious to know what the general feeling is about passing another bike in the same lane.
What do you think?






Life is for the living, money for the spending. There are no pockets in a shroud. Anon

[thro]

I think if the guy hits you from behind, it's legally his fault and will cop a severe beating if i am still able to stand.

[66]

and what if you where in a car and swerved out of the way of that p plater, while a bike was splitting past?

same same really.

I split past cars, I split past bikes, though I am more cautious of bikes, as they have the ability to move within their lane by a larger amount than a car.

[thro]

At the end of the day: look where you are going and don't be a muppet. What other people do is out of your control.

If the dude was riding in your blind spot, he's a muppet. If he wasn't (actually, even if he was, he wouldn't have magically teleported there) then you should have known he was there and adjusted your riding / exit strategy accordingly.

I treat riders in close proximity to me as a hazard. I don't trust them (if I see someone behind me approaching at significant speed, i get the fuck out of the way). My mentality is that 90% of all road users are muppets. Including 90% of the idiots on bikes. Do not trust.

[XolituDe]

I had a close call today, on a single lane at bayswater train station a car stopped in the lane to turn right, myself and a women behind me stopped and i was about to rush around him although the women decided to do the same thing and was centimeters from sandwhiching me between her and the car infront of me.

Normally if somebody nearly hit me then i'd go nuts but it was my fault for not checking my mirrors to see if anything was coming up beside me before overtaking the car so i went on with my day, luckily she didnt hit me and i still have all my limbs and my new bar ends.

[devolved]

On the odd very rare occasion, I'll be splitting and some dude will be riding with the traffic, not splitting but also oblivious to the fact I'm behind him.

I will do one of 3 things:

1/. Sit behind him and wait for him to move over.
2/. If its the Mitchell, I will go to another lane and split down that one if I can.
3/. If I'm supremely confident its just an oblivious numpty (quite often on a maxi-scooter), I will whizz past him/her when I feel it is safest to do so.

If I have an inclination that the bike could potentially start splitting I will just get the fuck out the way by whatever means I deem safe (which may include dropping back) and wait for a better opportunity.

[Archie]

Generally I find it's fairly easy to tell whether other riders are likely to be a hazard. If they're tailgating you in normal traffic (riding single file, close proximity, copying your lane position to the millimeter), wave them past on the right of your lane or just get the fuck away from them; they're always the worst in my book.

[Arwon]

standed rule of thumb is, pass don't sit beside like Eric Estrada in CHIPS beacause thats just gay.

[Wahoo]

Its legal. At a safety course I went to, the cops explained that you treat each tyre track as your territory on a single lane. While you don't need to indicate, you do need to headcheck if you cross it. If you pass, you pass on the right, not on the left. You also keep your distance to any bike in your tyre track, but not necessarily to the bike in the other track. I think he even said it was legal to have 3 abreast but not quite sure on that one. So if you pull up at the lights next to a cop car, the bike on the right of your lane is the bike to gun it (sorry... lead) past the bike on the left, not dawdle about waiting for the guy on the left to possibly get picked up for passing incorrectly.

[66]

This crap about passing on the right.... Really?

Sure, on a single lane road (but then its likely to Bws residential and ill wait, or low volume hwy, and ill use the oncoming lane to pass)

But if you're in the right lane on any dual lane road, I'm going down the centre line, just like I would to a car.

Legally its incorrect, but the law, as we all know, is quite heavily retarded.

[Wahoo]

Just to clarify, I mean the right tyre track of your lane. If you have 2 lanes = 4 tyre tracks = 4 bikes across. The bikes on the right tyre track of each lane take the lead. I suppose if you bought in legal lane splitting/filtering, that would be how you can have 3 bikes across in one lane. If you split, as long as you indicate and the bike moves a little more central to allow you in, and it is not endangering anyone, maybe you can legally do it.

[Kristy]

Meh, who cares about technicalities, they do my head in and we all know it doesn't mean shit if a plod wants to ticket you. Do what feels safe and right for you, and hope no one else fucks up your ride.

Personally I don't like encroaching on another bikes space in the same lane - I treat them like they occupy the width of that lane. However if you're surprised by bikes whizzing up alongside you, you're not paying enough attention. If a bike rider isn't paying enough attention, how can we have any hope that car driver's seeing/anticipating us? If you don't like it, then maybe car drivers don't like it either hence their aversion to us splitting. Say, you sound like one of dem car drivers... *squint*

There is of course one solution: go faster then the chances of people changing lanes into you decreases, and you won't have bikes whizzing past you

[Randomman]

Its legal. At a safety course I went to, the cops explained that you treat each tyre track as your territory on a single lane. While you don't need to indicate, you do need to headcheck if you cross it. If you pass, you pass on the right, not on the left. You also keep your distance to any bike in your tyre track, but not necessarily to the bike in the other track. I think he even said it was legal to have 3 abreast but not quite sure on that one. So if you pull up at the lights next to a cop car, the bike on the right of your lane is the bike to gun it (sorry... lead) past the bike on the left, not dawdle about waiting for the guy on the left to possibly get picked up for passing incorrectly.

I wouldn't be taking what a cop says as expert testimony to it's legality. I think you're also confusing what he thinks people should do with what people have to do.

[ADD!CT]

I won't pass another bike in the same lane unless I know the rider, or I'm waved passed/they indicate in someway.

If I'm splitting, which isn't very often as I tend to avoid peak times, it will depend on where in the lane the other bike is and whether I've seen them splitting at all beforehand (likelihood of pulling out to continue splitting).

Generally if I see a bike coming up behind me going faster ill just slide over to the left wheel track and wave them passed myself

[Wahoo]

Agree. Perhaps change that to "a cop that was presenting to the MRC course regarding bikeriding legality said its legal."