Poll: Motorcycle lane splitting

[toaster]

How do you view this subject?

It seems the amount of lane splitting has increased, or maybe there's more bikes and traffic on the freeways now.

Like anything, though, there's got to be some rules to follow.

Your comments, of course, are appreciated.

[avalonracing]

I think the only place that it should be allowed is at stoplights. I can't tell you how annoying it is to sit at a light in 90ºF sun (in leather) in a line of traffic who want to finish typing their text message before moving after the light changes. In addition, not only would I start moving when the light changes but I will accelerate faster.

[Blue Jays]

Why keep an extra vehicle on a roadway that doesn't need to contribute to overall congestion? Lane-splitting improves traffic conditions and helps everyone by getting more people to their destination faster, using less gasoline, and contributing less pollution. Lane-splitting should be encouraged.

As an aside, it is typically done when traffic is stopped or moving less than 10 m.p.h. by a lawful motorcyclist.

[dvs cycles]

As an aside, it is typically done when traffic is stopped or moving less than 10 m.p.h. by a lawful motorcyclist.
Not in California. Typically I'm doing 75+ and see a flash next to me sometimes with defening volume from the pipes.
Then there are the A-holes that feel pulling up next to me at a light is not enough so they pull out into the cross walk in front of me.
Just because you have a narrow vehicle doesn't justify this.
How would they feel if I pulled my truck along side them in their lane.
They wouldn't like it would they? :bike:

[jmc22]

Lane-splitting regardless when it is done should not be tolerated...are we motorist really to believe that people riding motorcycles should be entitled to any more privileges then the rest of the other vehicles on the road just because some chooses to ride a motorcycles? Heck, it’s bad enough some of these cyclists think that it is okay to park their motorcycle on the sidewalks, now they want to think we should legalize their ability to split a traffic lane just to get front of the line privileges.. Maybe as an alternative for vehicles, we should be permitted to drive on the shoulder to get our destination faster, using less gasoline, and contributing less pollution.
Lane-splitting should remain against the law! :no:

[Blue Jays]

If that's your sole point, shouldn't bicycles be compelled to take the lane and await their rightful turn when commuter traffic is snarled for miles?

[johnnymossville]

As a motorcyclist, I've done it when it allowed me to bypass traffic jams. I had a motorist open their door right before I went by to try and kill me once while I was lane splitting. I'll be a bit more careful next time.

I think there's a time and place for lane splitting and think there's a difference between that and wreckless riding.

[Blue Jays]

"...Typically I'm doing 75+ and see a flash next to me sometimes with defening volume from the pipes..."The police will deal with them just as with any other speeder. Report their description.

"...Then there are the A-holes that feel pulling up next to me at a light is not enough so they pull out into the cross walk in front of me.
Just because you have a narrow vehicle doesn't justify this. How would they feel if I pulled my truck along side them in their lane?..."They probably would chuckle behind their helmets because a truck doesn't stand a chance against a motorcycle when the signal turns green! :D

These same talking points can be used against bicyclists by automobile drivers.
Don't fall into the trap! Help everyone get to where they're going quickly, safely, and with maximized efficiency.

[avalonracing]

Yes, some people are just "haters" and want you to sit in the same traffic that their giant SUV created.

[benb]

My favorite response is "There is no problem caused by [bi/motor]cycles that can be solved by putting more cars, SUVs, or trucks on the road."

Any time you are stuck in traffic the problem is cars, trucks, or SUVs, unless you happen to be stuck in downtown Sturgis/Laconia/Daytona one week of the year or you manage to get stuck behind a CM event or something.

Even in places it's against the law the police are pretty lenient when the cars are stopped dead and you're filtering through at 5-10mph.

No difference between a bicycle doing it and a motorcycle.. so if you do it on your bicycle and object to a motorcycle doing it at similar speeds that would be a little hypocritical.

My theory is that as gas becomes more and more expensive we are going to see more and more motorcycles on the road and rider education & driver awareness will improve, and laws will get changed to allow low speed lane splitting in more states.

[Ken Robb]

First we all need to know that "lane-sharing" is legal in California. There are provisions in the law that try to define that it be done in a safe and responsible manner. Riding 60 mph down the middle of two lanes of traffic moving at 20 mph would be illegal as the differential is too great. Stopping beyond the limit line at a traffice signal is always illegal for any vehicle including bicycles.

I have been riding motorcycles for over 50 years and live in California. I rarely split lanes. When I do it's usually when traffic is stopped or nearly so and I pass the stopped cars at 15 mph or so to get past the clog. This is the safest circumstances for splitting too as there is about no chance of a car/truck changing lanes in front of me as they are bumber-to-bumper and have no room to do so. I see bikers splitting lanes in 60 mph freeway traffic at 70-75 mph and I think their risk/reward ratio is skewed against them. In that situation other vehicles are often changing lanes quickly as 60 mph isn't the usual 75 mph pace on our freeways. I know that speed is over the limit but our police/CHP typically can get writers' cramp even when they ignore anyone not at least 11 mph over the limit.

I just got back from a week iin the Seattle area (Whidbey Island and Gig Harbor) and the first thing I noticed while driving was that very few drivers were even going 5 mph over the limit and that the limits in many places were lower than similar roads in California would be. The second thing I noticed was more state troopers than freaky fans at a Raiders game. My friends have radar detectors in their cars and I was amazed at how many police radars we encountered. There were two stationary speed traps and one active radar cruiser in a five mile drive around Gig Harbor where they actually have speed limits of 20 mph on city streets. I have never seen such intense enforcement anywhere else.

Their motorcycle officers were out rain or shine. In San Diego motorcycle officers go out in cars when it rains. Of course if you don't ride in the rain in Seattle you won't put many miles on your motorcycle or bicycle.

[Blue Jays]

My favorite response is "There is no problem caused by [bi/motor]cycles that can be solved by putting more cars, SUVs, or trucks on the road."

Any time you are stuck in traffic the problem is cars, trucks, or SUVs, unless you happen to be stuck in downtown Sturgis/Laconia/Daytona one week of the year or you manage to get stuck behind a CM event or something.

Even in places it's against the law the police are pretty lenient when the cars are stopped dead and you're filtering through at 5-10mph.

No difference between a bicycle doing it and a motorcycle.. so if you do it on your bicycle and object to a motorcycle doing it at similar speeds that would be a little hypocritical.

My theory is that as gas becomes more and more expensive we are going to see more and more motorcycles on the road and rider education & driver awareness will improve, and laws will get changed to allow low speed lane splitting in more states.Outstanding!
You are far more eloquent than me in your analysis and you're 100% correct. :)

[johnnymossville]

I ride my bicycle to work and follow a street that has two full lanes in each direction and a huge paved single lane between them that just sits there doing nothing. Yet,... there is no lane on either side to ride a bicycle. Every single time a car passes me I am lane splitting. It does get kinda scary sometimes since they are usually driving fast and talking on phones.

I wish they'd split that center lane not being used into two nice bike lanes. In fact, I'm gonna write my congressman about that.

[Charles M]

I think it's down to making generalizations about people...

I know cyclists that get off on riding as far out into traffic as they can, even when there is a substantial shoulder... I know guys that split traffic at high speeds...

All groups have their a$$holes.



Lots of motorcycles don't have the cooling systems required for long term stop and go... They need to have some airflow and when traffic is backed up, there's both the need to split lanes and in those conditions, there's not only a relative safety factor, but it's more environmentally freindly and helps the traffic flow.

[Ozz]

...I just got back from a week iin the Seattle area (Whidbey Island and Gig Harbor) and the first thing I noticed while driving was that very few drivers were even going 5 mph over the limit and that the limits in many places were lower than similar roads in California would be. The second thing I noticed was more state troopers than freaky fans at a Raiders game. My friends have radar detectors in their cars and I was amazed at how many police radars we encountered. There were two stationary speed traps and one active radar cruiser in a five mile drive around Gig Harbor where they actually have speed limits of 20 mph on city streets. I have never seen such intense enforcement anywhere else.....
Please let me apologize for any problems you encountered while driving in Puget Sound area traffic.....how many folks did you come across driving in the left lane at or below the speed limit that refused to move over?? "Keep up or get out of the way" I always say!:cool:

I just returned from a trip to San Diego (Legoland) and Anaheim (Disneyland) and let me say that I love driving the freeways in CA. People drive at or above the speed limit and when you come up behind them they move over....truly a unique experience for me.

FWIW - lane splitting is illegal in WA, so I rarely encounter it. I am unfamiliar with it, so I rarely check for in when driving in CA. This could be dangerous for the motorcyclist....therefore, I stand by that it is an unsafe practice unless the traffic is bumper to bumper as Ken describes.

Cheers.

[Ginger]

And nobody who objected to lane splitting by a mortocyclist passes cars on the right while they're waiting at a light. You stick in your spot in the queue and wait for everyone to go...right?

Legal vehicles.

If it's legal, I have no problem with it.

Although, as a former mortocyclist, it always seemed like a poor choice to me at speed.

I don't know if it's legal or not, but in France the lane splitters are everywhere, scooters, motorcycles, whatever...takes a bit to get used to.

[dvs cycles]

They probably would chuckle behind their helmets because a truck doesn't stand a chance against a motorcycle when the signal turns green! :D

.
You'd be surprised how fast my little truck gets off the line. The last guy who blocked my right of way at a light sure was when he was just taking off and saw my fender next to him. :D
Hey I was just splitting lanes with him.

[chuckred]

My understanding it's specifically allowed on CA freeways?

I always thought it seemed exceedingly dangerous, but I can see why people do it.

But, given the way drivers tend to weave through traffic while relying only on their mirrors without regard for their blind spot - I was always surprised to make it up the 405 without witnessing an accident!

[davyt]

It's mostly not illegal for two vehicles to share a single lane in California but I'm also not aware of any special provisions in the Vehicle Code for motorcycles to do so. The CHP has guidelines for what they think is proper but they're just that, guidelines, and subject to interpretation. And it is lane sharing, not lane splitting: if you're doing the latter you're not doing it right.

Done properly, it's less dangerous than it might appear. For instance, your chances of being rear-ended are dramatically decreased.

Just the same, most motorcyclists don't lane share very well and when they dismount their bikes and drive their cars they don't do that very well, either.
--
Davy

[avalonracing]

You'd be surprised how fast my little truck gets off the line. The last guy who blocked my right of way at a light sure was when he was just taking off and saw my fender next to him. :D
Hey I was just splitting lanes with him.

Wow, your pickup can do 0-60 in 2.5 seconds like the average new sportbike?
You must hold some speed records! :rolleyes:

[TimD]

Oh, pickup truck drivers are SO BIG, STRONG, TOUGH, and BRAVE when they are in their big pickup trucks and put themselves up against someone riding a bike.

Of course out of their vehicles things are different.

[dvs cycles]

Wow, your pickup can do 0-60 in 2.5 seconds like the average new sportbike?
You must hold some speed records! :rolleyes:Not at all. I just have good reactions and can get a hole shot on someone that underestimates an old fart in a toyota truck. :beer:

[dvs cycles]

Oh, pickup truck drivers are SO BIG, STRONG, TOUGH, and BRAVE when they are in their big pickup trucks and put themselves up against someone riding a bike.

Of course out of their vehicles things are different.
I drive a little Toyota Tacoma and I assure you if I get out I'm much bigger and meaner than my truck. ;)

[Pete Serotta]

:beer: :) :cool:

I drive a little Toyota Tacoma and I assure you if I get out I'm much bigger and meaner than my truck. ;)

[dvs cycles]

:D :beer: :D

[Blue Jays]

I love this place!

[TimD]

I drive a little Toyota Tacoma and I assure you if I get out I'm much bigger and meaner than my truck. ;)

Everyone is rich, beautiful, big, and mean on the Internet.

Check your truck's frame rails for major rust perforation - I'm not kidding, but apologies if you are aware of this issue.

[avalonracing]

He's in OC you are in MA. EVERYTHING RUSTS IN MASSACHUSETTS! (I should know, my wife grew up there)

[Tobias]

How do you view this subject?I think splitting lanes is a bad idea. A while back on one of my first visits to CA on business a CHIP blew by me while I was stuck in traffic and it startled the heck out of me. Soon after a bunch of other bikes blew by and it wasn’t much better.

At my destination I asked a coworker who lived in California (he rode a 3-cylinder Triumph in the LA area) and he told me that it was allowed when traffic was moving below a certain speed (I think he said something like traffic below 45 MPH) and that the motorcycle could only overtake traffic by a certain margin of speed (something like 15 MPH and not to exceed the speed limit).

He then admitted splitting lanes between two 18-wheelers going 70 MPH while he was traveling well over 100 MPH. He was such an idiot I believed him. A smart engineer but an idiot nonetheless IMHO. I learned smart people can do really stupid things.

[Ginger]

He's in OC you are in MA. EVERYTHING RUSTS IN MASSACHUSETTS! (I should know, my wife grew up there)

Your wife is rusty?

[Sandy]

Your wife is rusty?

Nope. He dips her in FRAME SAVER twice a year. :rolleyes:


Sandy

[avalonracing]

No I just have another Ti wife that I take out on rainy days.

[Blue Jays]

The lane-splitting that I've observed has nearly always been done with traffic at a standstill.
Automobile drivers should encourage the practice to help themselves to have less traffic with which to contend.

[dvs cycles]

Check your truck's frame rails for major rust perforation - I'm not kidding, but apologies if you are aware of this issue.That was the first generation Tacoma. Mine is an'07.

[Tom]

I'm sitting in about a two mile long backup of stopped traffic entering Troy NY on the 2-lane main road. There was a fair amount of traffic coming the other way, we may have been rolling about 5-10mph but not much. It was hot. I had my windows open. I hear a Harley coming up fast from behind... from a ways off getting louder and louder. I look in my rearview and see a bike coming right up the middle of the road, ducking in tight when oncoming traffic was there and swinging out when none, going about fifty.

When the bike went by I saw it was ridden by a young woman... I instantly fell in love.

[Ozz]

That was the first generation Tacoma. ...
I've never understood how Toyota decided the name "Tacoma" was a good marketing name for a truck....those from the Puget Sound area will know what I mean....."aroma from Tacoma" and all that.:rolleyes:

[csm]

whenever I hear Tacoma I think of John Candy in VOLUNTEERS:

"Tom Tuttle, from Tacoma, Washington."

[Pete Serotta]

:cool:

I'm sitting in about a two mile long backup of stopped traffic entering Troy NY on the 2-lane main road. There was a fair amount of traffic coming the other way, we may have been rolling about 5-10mph but not much. It was hot. I had my windows open. I hear a Harley coming up fast from behind... from a ways off getting louder and louder. I look in my rearview and see a bike coming right up the middle of the road, ducking in tight when oncoming traffic was there and swinging out when none, going about fifty.

When the bike went by I saw it was ridden by a young woman... I instantly fell in love.

[Pete Serotta]

come on down or I will come out there... it is Friday and social time somewhere... :beer: Pete

:D :beer: :D

[Ken Robb]

Not at all. I just have good reactions and can get a hole shot on someone that underestimates an old fart in a toyota truck. :beer:

well the "hole" part certainly rings true. An "old fart" should have outgrown these activities long ago.

I still laugh remembering when my dad got cut off by a bus while we were in our sedan. Dad yelled: "You wouldn't do that if I was in my truck". He was a truck driver but even at 10 years old I could see the irony of his comment. I don't think he ever cut anyone off in his life.

[Kevan]

and I don't need this encouragement.

Actually, on my commute, I follow my bike route through the la-de-da neighborhoods of Greenwich CT. I ride a freakin' scooter commercial, f'r pete sakes. I get to throw the bike back and forth through a tangled mess of zig-zags and ups and downs. The ride is a hoot and I do my daily 45 miles on a bit more than a half a gallon of gas, spending only ten minutes more than my car ride route. Imagine a full tank and getting enough change back from a 5 dollar bill that you can dang near buy a soder and chips.

[Ken Robb]

so Kevan take a look at the aerostich (sic) site for some really good riding attire, etc.

[Blue Jays]

/\/\ Definitely a top-notch supplier -- Aerostich (http://www.aerostich.com)

[Kevan]

some of that stuff almost costs as much as the scooter itself. lol

I did try on this jacket and was impressed:

http://www.ridersdiscount.com/street-gear/jackets-men/39695.php

[dvs cycles]

well the "hole" part certainly rings true. An "old fart" should have outgrown these activities long ago.
.
I may be getting older but having fun while I drive is one thing I hope to never out grow just like fast descents on my Serotta.
If that makes me a HOLE in your eyes??????????????? :fight:

[Rusty Luggs]

I knew lane splitting by motorcycles was specifically prohibited in MV regs in my state but I was curious if these regs were as common as I assumed, so I went to AMA web site, which lists motorcycle-related regs for individual US states, and by my quick look, 31 states had regs on the books specifically prohibiting lane splitting by motorcycles (CA was NOT one of them, since much of discussion has been around CA...)

Of course, there's lane splitting, and then there's LANE SPLITTING - recently had a string of 20 + sportbikes blast by between lanes - it was late night with heavy traffic on a multi-lane highway going 75+ MPH, and bikes just flashed by, one after another, definitely going over a buck, probably well over. It happened to be one of those states that prohibits lane splitting, reckless or otherwise.

[Blue Jays]

"...Of course, there's lane splitting, and then there's LANE SPLITTING - recently had a string of 20 + sportbikes blast by between lanes - it was late night with heavy traffic on a multi-lane highway going 75+ MPH, and bikes just flashed by, one after another, definitely going over a buck, probably well over. It happened to be one of those states that prohibits lane splitting, reckless or otherwise..."Agree 100% that what you witnessed is not traditional lane-splitting.
That is a swarm of twenty reckless jerks who (by chance) happen to own motorcycles.