Passing traffic: What's the protocol?

Several times as I sit mournfully in the queue of traffic at the traffic lights I see several bikers expertly and gleefully take advantage of the gap at the sides or in the middle to glide to the front, if not near it, of the queue.

So I have to wonder, is it essentially 'okay' to do this, i.e. if I do this and a bobby drives past am I facing punishment for bad driving? Or is it just down to confidence? I've only been riding a month and my confidence is slowly but surely rising.

Any 'advice' sure would be appreciated.

[Ross]

driving up through the middle of trafic is accepted and its safer than stopping and dragging the car driver out on the road and beating the shit out of him just because he's in front of you (but the second option is much more fun)

[Spree]

It seems to be a really grey area this and I haven't yet seen anything definite about it.

Do more experienced riders seem to mind learners taking their lead and following? I consider myself sensible when I ride (I'm 22, not a little boy racer trying out out-rev someone who's clearly got a bigger engine at the traffic-lights) but for the most part I think it's a bit of a confidence issue with myself right now. I get passed on a daily basis by rider's who you can tell as they carefully but expertly navigate the cars, know what they're doing but I really haven't the gall to do it myself ^^;;

[druidsam]

if your not confident,then dont filter. I do it but only when traffic is really slow or stopped,as soon as the traffic picks up then i will fall back into line



.........................Sam

instead of trying to ride down the centre of a queue, seeing as ya new to this,and a bit nervous, start off by just passing ..say two cars in the queue then stopping.
then build it up abit as ya confidence grows..
and as a pointer you will find that approx 65% of car drivers will just sit there..
34% will actually pull over a little to give you room..
and 1% will pull in to close the gap...WONT YA ! YA FUKIN WANKER ! and then spend the next 2 hours trying to retrieve his wing mirror VERY carefully ...from his arse !.....

Originally Posted by badshads

instead of trying to ride down the centre of a queue, seeing as ya new to this,and a bit nervous, start off by just passing ..say two cars in the queue then stopping.
then build it up abit as ya confidence grows..
and as a pointer you will find that approx 65% of car drivers will just sit there..
34% will actually pull over a little to give you room..
and 1% will pull in to close the gap...WONT YA ! YA FUKIN WANKER ! and then spend the next 2 hours trying to retrieve his wing mirror VERY carefully ...from his arse !.....

When you stop in order to get 'back in line' so to speak is it best to wait for someone to let you in or do you nudge in gently? I have a 125cc engine so it's got a nice 'pull away' as it were, but I don't want to be discourteous to other drivers by just cutting in front. I saw some kid narrowly skim the front of a car the other day and it's little wonder other drivers get disgruntled.

[BLACKPANTHER]

I think the best and safest method is to filter right to the front. a lot of traffic lights have little green boxes for push bikes so if you're a little under powered you can pull in front of the front car, I used this method when I rode scooters. Another way is to slowly filter towards the front car and accelerate past as soon as the light turns green, careful to watch out for people jumping red across the front of you. Nowadays, I've got a Blackbird, so I pile to the front and know there's nowt that'll beat me from the lights. Regarding the Old Bill, as long as you're seen to be riding with due care, you shouldn't get pulled. Oh and be careful in really heavy traffic, some t$%t ran my foot over last year! Surprisingly un-painful, but nether the less he deserved the door kicking he got.

gotta keep abit of common sense here chap...end of the day, as in all walks of life...treat others as you would want them to treat you .
if ya go an shit all over some dudes bonnet ...then guess what ? he aint gonna be all that happy bout it ! ( no more than you would be )
the majority of folk out there are kinda decent...BUT there is always the odd twat , who , only knows one way of negotiation....and it starts with boot an ends with head ( no girls simmer down !)
just use ya nogging m8...if the gaps that tight that ya gonna scratch car doors on ya travels...then hold back..
if ya got the room ...go fer it ..
....b gud

Originally Posted by Carl Panther

I think the best and safest method is to filter right to the front. a lot of traffic lights have little green boxes for push bikes so if you're a little under powered you can pull in front of the front car, I used this method when I rode scooters. Another way is to slowly filter towards the front car and accelerate past as soon as the light turns green, careful to watch out for people jumping red across the front of you. Nowadays, I've got a Blackbird, so I pile to the front and know there's nowt that'll beat me from the lights. Regarding the Old Bill, as long as you're seen to be riding with due care, you shouldn't get pulled. Oh and be careful in really heavy traffic, some t$%t ran my foot over last year! Surprisingly un-painful, but nether the less he deserved the door kicking he got.

LOL!! Your last sentence just completely made my night!

To be honest, where I drive I don't get heavy traffic as I use my scooter to commute. The only times I see some backlog is at a busy set of traffic lights and at a motorway roundabout where I often seen other bikes going up the middle.

I think for the most part it seems like it's down to confidence. Sadly, I don't know anyone to ride with some time to see what they do and how they filter.

I'm liking all the different thoughts though, great to see how people are thinking!