Overtaking cars?

WiznaeMe wrote:

I may be in a minority of one, but I'm not convinced that the British Cycling guide to filtering is a clever way to move through traffic. It advises cyclists to overtake on the outside of queuing traffic adjacent to oncoming vehicles. I can't see how this gives us a big enough gap.

I HATE passing on the inside of cars and avoid it whenever possible. I find drivers rarely check their nearside wing mirror and there is far to much chance or being left hooked, squashed against the curb/squeeze out or as the other person says 'having a door opened on you'.

If you pass on the right, I find drivers use their mirrors much more, possibly because they are thinking about motorbikes and worried about damaging their cars? Or maybe it is just natural instinct to check the right more often as that is where you assume the danger is coming from.
Saying that, I do quite often find that drivers on my daily commute see you coming and then edge towards the middle of the road to try and stop you getting passed....

The funniest instance was a queue of stationary traffic at some lights. I passed about 20 cars, got close to the lights and slotted in behind the 2 car in the queue waiting for the lights to change. The woman behind in an MPV jumped on the horn and started to rev the engine to close me out of the gap which I was already in. I looked over my shoulder, shook my head and ignored her. When the lights changed she accelerated hard, swerved on the other side of the road to overtake and then cut me up, only to join another queue of traffic about 50 meters down the road at a roundabout....Oh how I laughed