this morning when i was filtering on A2(Rochester Way Relief Road) after joining A2 from A2213(Kidbrooke Park Road), a car swerved to change lane without indicating. My speed was under 30 miles, i did an emergency brake, my front wheel locked and skided a bit. the car driver realized his fault and swerved back to his lane. After the nearly miss, i just followed other rider to filter all the way to blackwall tunnel.
this is the 1st dangerous situation i’ve met so far in my 2 months’ london commuting.
I have filtered along to A40 into London a few times, had a moment with a car changing lanes, like your scary moment they realised they were about to knock me off and changed back again, not done the commute since then, stick to the trains for now I think Glad your ok
best try and leave yourself as much room as possible between you and the car when filtering (while still trying to ensure you are visible in their mirrors, if you cant seem them in it, they cant see you) and stick to the no more than +15miles an hour more than them
Always be thinking “where would i go if the next bloke pulled out” always thinking escape routes
There, not much to take on baord while riding to work is it !
Glad it was only a near miss mate, you got to watch these cage-drivers;)
I find it’s safer to only use first gear when filtering in central london, and only second in built up A roads etc… Always keep the speed to a minimum, and always have an escape route/ plan.
Good advice. And always think about it from the drivers point of view. If there is a gap in the faster moving queue it’s highly likely a driver is going to jump for it. They’re trying to make progress (debatable) too, as we are with the filtering!
It doesn’t work for everyone but my rule of thumb is generally not to filter past a moving car when there’s the possibility that it could turn right or change lanes.
I treat filtering differently from overtaking. When filtering there’s relatively little space in which to take avoiding action so I don’t tend to ‘overtake-filter’ past traffic travelling at more then about 15mph. At anything over this speed the cars start to gap and the drivers minds start to think ‘maybe I could make a few yards by nipping into the other lane etc…’
Overtaking is different but if the traffic is moving at a reasonable pace then there’s no real need to filter until you get to the inevitable next traffic jam.
If a car is about to turn right they usually give it away by slowing down very slightly before they do anything- brain getting into gear I guess. This is my cue to wait behind them until either they turn or they catch up with the traffic jam in front- only when they get close enough to the car in front so it’s not possible for them to swerve do I carry on filtering.
THe sooner you realise this was 100% your fault the more chance you have of staying alive.
Cars will not always indicate before changing direction.
You should not lock your front wheel when braking, learn to do it better.
Look for spaces, cars always like to change lanes - the grass is always greener so if there’s a car sized spce use it yourself to get away from the car on your side then retrn to the filtering position. You have to anticipate drivers every move i ou want to stay alive. Consider this morning was your warning for free.
thanks for all the comment and advice, i totally agree. yesterday on my way to london, i was thinking of some unpleasant things happend on the day before, probably that distracted me a bit.
must be something seriouslywrong with my riding, i had a near miss this morning again, 2nd time within 3 days.
this morning on my way to london between lewshim and new cross, an emerging car from the left turning right almost hit me while i was overtaking the stopped cars on my left. my stupidity almost makes me seriously injured.
probably it is a dangerious time for me after 2 months, having gained too much confidence, and not much experience. in the beginning it took more than 50 minutes for me to get to the central london, now it takes around 40 minutes. I think i will slow down and take more care.
At the risk of teaching you to suck eggs (what me?)…you could start to memorise all the road junctions, garage forecourts, laybys etc. on your route to work and expect drivers to emerge from them when you least expect it- especially from between queuing cars. You’ll find yourself slowing down as you approach each ‘danger area’ and by doing this you’ll give yourself more time to see and react.
Another thing to think about is pedestrian crossings and particularly zebra crossings- make sure you can see for yourself if there is a straggling pedestrian behind the nose of that bus before you pull away- and just because the lights are green it doesn’t mean there won’t be pedestrians crossing. I had one this morning on Streatham High Street. The lights were green but he sauntered across the dual carriageway anyway- looking the wrong way!!:w00t:
Glad your ok 
