Over the last five years i have clocked up 50k miles riding in london and inside the m25 so I think this qualifies me to comment on the navigation of bus lanes. I do not mean to sound irritable but this debate is a no brainer.

In London traffic the chances of finding one side of the road snarled up (so you want to pass) and the other clear for more than an odd second are remote! But elsewhere I imagine that this may not be the case e.g., rush hours where the local traffic may be completely uni-directional.

It's a bit like the commonly understood rule of thumb that on motorways you should filter between lanes 2 and 3 and not between 1 and 2. At the bottom of the southbound M11 there are a couple of good reasons why this isn't a great plan. You have to take account of local conditions, experience and more and make your decisions accordingly.

or between 3 &4 if on the M25

c4aok wrote:Over the last five years i have clocked up 50k miles riding in london and inside the m25 so I think this qualifies me to comment on the navigation of bus lanes. I do not mean to sound irritable but this debate is a no brainer.

Road safety is all about using your brain and learning as you go.
Have you experience of operating large vehicles?
If you have then you'll know what the risks are, if not, watch this: " onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

c4aok wrote:What facts am I meant to be ignoring? The boris machine would have turfed motorcylists out of bus lanes if there was any evidence of increased accidents. There has been a rise in cycle fatalities but there has been a huge rise in cycle use. Trying to argue that filtering against oncoming traffic rather than using a wide empty bus lane would only be supported by someone with very poor road skills

Or a person who has ridden in London bus lanes and is aware of the the sunken drains, potholes and other crap caused by the buses.

I for one prefer to filter in London as it is much safer and avoids the idiot cyclists who do not look before turning right and who are also trying to avoid those drains and potholes