For a variety of reasons I have been forced to spend a lot of time commuting in our cars lately. While stuck in traffic I have observed a lot of riders filtering and the behavior of both myself and my fellow motorists. My observations are:
Blind spots.
All bikes (and full face helmets) and other vehicles have blind spots big enough to hide a full sized FWD. Turning your head is not only a good idea but should be essential BUT doing so does NOT guarantee that there is nothing in you blind spot.
When riding a bike with clipons etc most riders will find it very difficult to turn their heads enough to cover that spot. In fact on some bikes it’s had to see traffic coming from the left at intersections
Cars have their own issues. Cars with overstuffed side bolsters at the top of the seat make if really difficult to turn enough to cover the spot. Other cars have badly positioned A and B pillars which makes it even worse.
Couple bad seat design, poor pillar location and an older driver and you have a recipe for disaster for someone passing with out making allowances.
Note: I found that even after checking all my mirrors AND turning my head I could loose a full sized Mitsi Pajero in the blind spot on my Magna SW. I could not believe it was possible but it is!
Mirrors.
In heavy traffic, your following distance is really the only thing you can control and most of the activity is happening up front. Indeed, what is happening in front of you is determining the speed and safety of your vehicle so it is utterly reasonable to concentrate on the area.
An attentive driver (in traffic) will consciously check their mirrors (say) every 20 seconds? (rough guess)
Most drivers seem to give priority to centre mirror and drivers side wing mirror.
The motorways around Wellington and not straight and even when they ARE people do not travel line a stern. Ie some are more to the left and some are more to the right and some people drive very large vehicles wider than my Starlets field of rearward vision, I’m generally lucky to get a clear view of more than 6 vehicles behind me. (lets say 50M)
Note: This is in heavy traffic crawling at rush hour OK. Not the usual 85kph slog.
Filtering
How fast do you ride when filtering?
Lets say 50kph in slow moving to stopped traffic. That is (correct me if my maths is wrong here guys) 13.8 Meters per second. That means you will cover the 50M I can see in 3.6 seconds.
Even if I could see 200M you would travel that in 14.5 seconds. That’s less than the period between mirror scans. Most people will not know you are there because you are not visible! (they can only pick you up from when you appear from around the bend / from behind the Van etc to when you enter the blind spot.
Think about it. I check my mirrors. No bike. Heck my mirrors again 15 sec’s later, no bike and yet a bike could easily be in my blind spot!
Note: 50kph differential between traffic is quite high, normally it would be lower I think.
Changing Lane
Heavy traffic is difficult. The fact is people DO need to change lanes to get to off ramps. It can’t be helped. In heavy traffic, IF a lane change opportunity opens up (in the direction you need to go) you will take it. You will check your mirrors, you may turn you head but that does not means you will see anyone in your blind spot. But you will change lane once you have committed to the maneuver unless some compelling event forces you to stop.
Conclusions.
If you do the maths and study how you yourself drive, you will realize that if you filter through traffic you need to assume everyone in front of you has no idea you are there. They are looking, they are not bad drivers, they are human beings in a high stress environment doing their best but there is a REALLY high chance that they will NOT see you.
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Originally Posted by MSTRS
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