Lane Filtering Past a Parked Truck
You are on a 60 km/h four-lane road (two lanes each way) in stopped traffic. A truck is parked partly in the left lane ahead, forcing cars to merge right. You are considering filtering between the two lanes to reach the front. Your motorcycle is 800 mm wide at the bars and mirrors add 150 mm each side. The gap between the stopped cars in the two lanes is about 1.1 m in places and narrows to 0.7 m near the truck. A car in the right lane has its right indicator on. It is legal to filter in your state only when traffic is stationary and you do not exceed 30 km/h.
1. Apply the rules and the physical constraints to decide whether filtering here is permitted and safe.
Read the worked answer
Legal test: traffic is stationary and the local rule allows filtering up to 30 km/h, so the activity itself is not automatically illegal. But legality does not equal safety.
Physical test: your total width with mirrors is 800 mm plus 150 mm each side, about 1.1 m. The gap is about 1.1 m in the open sections and narrows to 0.7 m near the truck. A 1.1 m motorcycle cannot pass through a 0.7 m gap without contact, and even the 1.1 m sections leave zero margin for a door opening or a car drifting.
Conclusion: do not filter through the narrowing near the truck. The gap is physically too small. If you filter at all, do it only in the wider sections, at walking pace, and stop before the pinch point rather than forcing through.
The safe answer is to wait in line behind the merge, or filter only where there is a clear margin of at least a door's width.
2. The right-lane car has its right indicator on. How does this change your plan, and what is the correct position while waiting?
Read the worked answer
A right indicator on a car in the right lane means it may be about to move right, change lanes, or pull out around the truck. Either way it may move toward the space you would occupy, and its driver is unlikely to check for a filtering motorcycle in the narrow gap.
Revised plan: treat that car as unpredictable. Do not enter the gap beside it. Hold back until it has completed its move and its position is stable.
Correct waiting position: stay in the left lane behind the merge point, roughly centred in your lane, with a gap ahead so you have an escape path. Keep the front wheel straight, both feet able to reach the ground, and watch the truck's and the car's wheels rather than their indicators. Indicators show intent; wheel movement shows what is actually happening.
If you must stop near the truck, leave enough room that a door opening or a reversing manoeuvre will not trap you.