A question for filterers

[ohnovino]

I saw another cyclist nearly get doored this morning. Approaching a small queue of traffic at a red light, I chose to wait in primary at the back but a rider behind me tried to filter to the front. A passenger in one of the cars decided to take advantage of the red light and quickly get out of the car, and the other cyclist was only saved by some pretty impressive braking.

It's not the first time I've seen this. In fact, on the rare occasions I see someone open a car door without looking, it's almost always in a traffic queue rather than parked at the side of the road.

So my question is: why does "filtering" not count as "riding in the door zone"?

 

[doug]

Filtering in the door zone does count as riding in the door zone to me. When I "filter" I make sure I am not in the door zone, but I generally only filter (i.e. overtake) on the right when the circumstances allow a safe overtake.

 

[Brandane]

So my question is: why does "filtering" not count as "riding in the door zone"?

It does count as riding in the door zone. So you do it at your own risk, and you have to be ultra careful, as the incident you witnessed this morning proves. Technically the person who opened the door is at fault, as they should always check it is safe first, but you won't have much comeback against a 10 year old jumping out to run into school. In any case, blame is no consolation when you are spending hours at A&E waiting to get stitched up and/or X-rayed.

Go slowly and watch for the usual tell tale signs, but sometimes there aren't any........

Edit: Beaten to it by Doug. Must type quicker!

 

[Brandane]

You would have comeback, the driver is responsible for ensuring that it is safe for passengers to open the doors.

Source?

 

[BSRU]

Luckily I very rarely have the need to filter, usually sit in primary at lights/junctions/roundabouts.
Only need to filter if there is an accident/roadworks/christmas shoppers causing a traffic jam, then very slowly on the right.
There is one road that sometimes I have to filter up the left but it is a wide road and I am not in the door zone.

 

[Brandane]

Road Vehicles (Construction and use) regulations 1986 the 105 " no person shall open, or cause or permit to be opened, any door of a vehicle on a road so as to injure or endanger any person"

Fair enough; but I think you would have a very difficult job to prove the "cause or permit" part of that legislation in court, if it ever got that far.

 

[fossyant]

I suppose the best way to filter is to Danny McAskill it - right over the top. Might just upset a few folk though !!!

 

[benb]

9/10 I filter on the right, for this reason. If there are 2 lanes, I'll filter between the two, on the basis that a passenger is much less likely to open on me from the right lane. But even so, you need to be on the ball with brakes covered.

 

[DCLane]

I filter a lot - often on the left if there's not much traffic, otherwise on the right if there's two lanes. The only time I won't is if there's a wagon or bus near the front of the queue and it's red.

It's a risk, but one I've been OK with - given the route I take on my commute which is mostly 40 & 70mph dual-carriageways. The advantage I have is that where I'm usually left-filtering there's a seperate cycle line.

 

[leemo]

Just get the speed down to mitigate the risk of being doored.

 

[Hawk]

I will not get to my destination any quicker by filtering at 15mph then sitting at the (still red) light for 30 seconds, compared with filtering at 8mph and arriving with time to spare. This is especially true for shorter queues.

If the light's red, you'll need to slow down at some point. We all see some motorists accelerate violently past us as they overtake only to then slam on the brakes 10m up the road at a queue. This is as pointless as filtering at high speed is in most circumstances.

 

[benb]

I will not get to my destination any quicker by filtering at 15mph then sitting at the (still red) light for 30 seconds, compared with filtering at 8mph and arriving with time to spare. This is especially true for shorter queues.

If the light's red, you'll need to slow down at some point. We all see some motorists accelerate violently past us as they overtake only to then slam on the brakes 10m up the road at a queue. This is as pointless as filtering at high speed is in most circumstances.

This is true, but if it is a particularly long queue, or you know the phasing of the lights, you might need to filter to avoid getting stuck with 2 red phases.

 

[MrHappyCyclist]

Filtering in the door zone does count as riding in the door zone to me. When I "filter" I make sure I am not in the door zone, but I generally only filter (i.e. overtake) on the right when the circumstances allow a safe overtake.

+1 I filter on the outside or between the lines of traffic. I rarely filter on the inside unless there is a cycle lane, and then very cautiously.

 

[MrJamie]

Luckily i dont cycle anywhere i have to do this, but i dont think id want to do it. Im always worried about drivers not giving me enough room on overtakes, so seems to give the wrong message when we squeeze through little gaps imho.

 

[MrHappyCyclist]

Im always worried about drivers not giving me enough room on overtakes, so seems to give the wrong message when we squeeze through little gaps imho.

Well, this is how I look at it: http://www.happycyclist.org/?p=205.