Overtaking stationary traffic on the left?

[iranana]

Is it legal to cut through traffic on the left side (one lane) if traffic is stationary? I'm under the impression it is, and the reason I as is that I had a run in this morning with a lady who tried to overtake and run me off the road after I merged in front of her when the traffic up front started moving. Had a stern word with her about her actions and she was insisting she was 'in the right' and that what I was doing is illegal. Can anyone clarify on whether it's legit, or if I've got my wires crossed?

[F5 Dave]

only if you're lobbing a monsta wheelie.

what are you on?

[roy.nz]

That is possibly an undertake which is a no no, but if it is merging lanes then it's merge like a zip. But i think somewhere in the road code it states that you can over take without indicating if you stay in the same lane.

[Vinz0r]

The rules are:

You can only pass on the left when:

there are two or more lanes on your side of the centre line and you are able to pass safely by using the left-hand lane
you are directed to by a police officer
the vehicle you are passing:
has stopped, or
is signalling a right turn, or
is turning right.
At all other times, when you are passing, you must pass on the right.

The stopped car bit might apply to your situation, but I don't think jumping traffic queues are how it is meant to be interpreted. Seems that it'd be more a case of a single car being stopped in the road rather than a gridlocked queue.

If you're wanting to split traffic, you have to do it in the right hand side of the appropriate lane while indicating to merge back in.

[Banditbandit]

You're in the wrong ... and don't argue with cars like that - losing can be fatal !!! (In which case she may well get charged with manslaughter - but you'd still be dead ...)

[iranana]

I was doing some searching and a couple of posts in this thread seem to indicate that it is in fact legal, so long as traffic is stationary:

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...onary-vehicles

I dunno though, I've been cutting stationary traffic on the left for yonks and have never had any problems (gotta keep yer eyes sharp though...) and I thought it was legal. But now I'm not so sure. Right or wrong, well, I don't either of us were in the right, but I'd just like to know for future reference

[TheDemonLord]

Just think on this - on the Left hand side is the biggest blind spot, as opposed to the right hand side.

[iranana]

Just think on this - on the Left hand side is the biggest blind spot, as opposed to the right hand side.

Yeah the left side isn't ideal I know, but on some roads it's not possible to overtake on the right without crossing the centre line (and surely that's illegal too?)

[F5 Dave]

so why was she able to catch up to you to overtake?

[chasio]

...but on some roads it's not possible to overtake on the right without crossing the centre line (and surely that's illegal too?)

I don't think you meant that as you wrote it. If it's a solid yellow or there is oncoming traffic that will mean you are not back on your side with 100m to spare, sure.

If she actually tried to run you off the road, she could be up for assault with a weapon or somesuch. However getting evidence and action would be very difficult. If she just edged over and tried to make life hard for you, I wouldn't expect anything to happen.

Now, she was stopped so the law says you can pass her on either side. What the intention of that law is doesn't really matter that much. So technically she is wrong. However...

The reality is, legal or not, being passed on the left pisses some people right off and any rider doing it needs to expect a bit of aggro from time to time because we are dealing with human beings. My view is that the drivers see it as "cheating" and just as in sport, in the absence of the referee taking action, the players will often take things into their own hands and 'sort that bastard out'.

As already pointed out, if they do that and you fight against their vehicle, you will lose. Best not to engage as you don't know who's on steroids, booze or P (or has PMS, for that matter).

I have had it happen after filtering and if I cannot leave them well behind, buffered by other vehicles, I am willing to drop back, let them "win" in their minds and keep my distance behind them until one of us turns off or I can get clean away.

[willytheekid]

You're in the wrong ... and don't argue with cars like that - losing can be fatal !!! (In which case she may well get charged with manslaughter - but you'd still be dead ...)

Just think on this - on the Left hand side is the biggest blind spot, as opposed to the right hand side.

What they said +1

Forget the "is it legal?" aspect, and focus on the personal safety bit....is it really the safest place to be when overtaking?...traveling in a blindspot, cars turing into or out of side streets, cyclists, pedestrians stepping out...the list goes on & on....and your choice in road position has reduced your personal safety, and increased your potential threats...legal or not...its just a recipe for an accident* waiting to happen.

(* got one at work that has had two crashes in under two yrs due to "undertaking"...he's learnt the hard way...but it nearly cost him dearly!)

Ride Safe KBers ....there "panel damage"...could be our life!

[rustyrobot]

In Wellington the one place where I have passed traffic on the left a number of times is the southbound approach to the terrace tunnel. The last few times I haven't, mainly because of comments from people on here about the way it impacts on motorists' views of riders. I'm still not really sure where I stand on it though, probably depends how late I am getting home from my ride and how much flak I'll cop.

Pretty much every time I'm stuck in traffic here (in a car) a bike passes on the left. What do you all think? For obvious reasons it's not often possible to pass the line of traffic on the right.



And is that Mashman over there on his RSV in the northbound lane?

[iranana]

All very good points chaps, much appreciated. I try not to cut/filter if I can help it, but this morning the traffic was worse than usual, so, ya know. I guess it's about time I revisit some of my riding habits... I rarely have dodgy encounters, so I'll take this one as a hint that I shouldn't let myself become too complacent. I'm not usually one for confrontation either, but seeing as traffic had come to a stand still yet again, I thought I'd ask her what her gripe was. Kept it civil - no expletives exchanged - but she was not open to my point of view in the slightest (she was right, I was wrong) so beh, that's the last time I'll bother with that.

[argada]

Most of the time, being passed on the left isn't what pisses people off - some people wouldn't even notice you were there at all. I bet it is the "merging back".

So the train of thought goes like this: "Oh WTF! this bastard biker already jumped 100 cars while I been sitting here for 15 minutes and NOW he intends to muscle his way back in MY LANE in front of ME!? NEVER! *FOR GREAT JUSTICE!*"

[SMOKEU]

In Wellington the one place where I have passed traffic on the left a number of times is the southbound approach to the terrace tunnel. The last few times I haven't, mainly because of comments from people on here about the way it impacts on motorists' views of riders. I'm still not really sure where I stand on it though, probably depends how late I am getting home from my ride and how much flak I'll cop.

I don't give a fuck what cagers think about me as long as I'm riding safely and legally. It's not my fault if they don't know the laws, like when they don't understand that 30kmh means 30kmh, or that bikes are allowed to use bus lanes during operational hours etc.

In saying all that, I am always vigilant around traffic for idiots who don't look where they're going, and if I do pass on the left I do it quite slowly. But I'm not going to wait in a big line of traffic if I can safely and legally get past.