Lane filtering is when a motorcyclist moves through slow or stationary traffic at low speed (typically under 30 km/h), usually making their way toward the front of the queue at traffic signals.
The theory is that riders position themselves away from rear end crash risks and can get “away from the pack” when the lights change, leading to a safer outcome.
Sounds reasonable in theory. But we’re not sure there is strong evidence demonstrating that these claimed safety benefits actually occur in practice. We’d genuinely welcome anyone pointing us toward comprehensive research or evaluation of the safety impacts of lane filtering.
In a similar vein to the claimed advantages, we also feel compelled to reflect on some of the crash types we’ve investigated involving legal lane filtering:
- Dooring and late lane change crashes as drivers move through congested traffic
- Start up crashes, particularly where riders have been hidden in the blind spots of larger vehicles
- “First off the pack” crashes where riders accelerate quickly into a green signal and are struck by red light runners
- Pedestrian crashes where pedestrians have been walking through stationary traffic and struck by a filtering motorcyclists
- Looked but failed to see crashes where the rider is first away from the queue and a vehicle emerges from an upstream intersection into the rider’s path
We strongly support evidence-based decision making, so we still find ourselves scratching our heads as to how lane filtering was introduced as a “safety” initiative.
Perhaps framing it as a mobility initiative would be more appropriate.
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