Why lane splitting is good for traffic.

[Desert Goat Herder]

Sounds like someone who has NO bissness on a bike or in a car. Maybe a beauty Salon as a hair dresser is more his speed.

[kenrobert]

Not sure about So-Cal but up here in redwood land this past month from the Oregon border to Eureka there were two very large, and well lighted, DOT signs. They were reminding drivers to "share the road with motorcyclist". Pro-active efforts such as these hwy signs have to help us motorcyclist. Cross the border north into Oregon and spliting lanes is a fine. Of course we are talking about a part of the world where three street lites means a really big town.

[ZachD]

Originally Posted by kenrobert

Not sure about So-Cal but up here in redwood land this past month from the Oregon border to Eureka there were two very large, and well lighted, DOT signs. They were reminding drivers to "share the road with motorcyclist". Pro-active efforts such as these hwy signs have to help us motorcyclist. Cross the border north into Oregon and spliting lanes is a fine. Of course we are talking about a part of the world where three street lites means a really big town.

I've only seen 1 of those signs all month here in SoCal, kind of disappointing... Oh well.

Yesterday my wife & I were riding up the 99, just south of Bakersfield. The traffic was pretty light, but lot's of left lane hogs, so I just kept "filtering" between cars, as needed to avoid having to slow down (I was averaging 105mph in a 70mph zone) when I noticed we were slowly closing on another motorcycle. As we got close I saw it was a CHP motorcop. So, I slowed slightly to match his speed (80-90mph), staying about 7-10 car lengths back. After following him for a mile he pulled over a mini van in front of him, for what I am not sure. Funny, because the motor cop didn't seem to even care that I was still going 90ish when we passed them.... he was not running radar.

[gotfz1]

Originally Posted by kenrobert

Not sure about So-Cal but up here in redwood land this past month from the Oregon border to Eureka there were two very large, and well lighted, DOT signs. They were reminding drivers to "share the road with motorcyclist". Pro-active efforts such as these hwy signs have to help us motorcyclist. Cross the border north into Oregon and spliting lanes is a fine. Of course we are talking about a part of the world where three street lites means a really big town.

They started a year or two ago. That message is in the statewide rotation and last week it was on again. Saw it a dozen times last weekend between LA and the Mx border.

When a driver is reading that sign they definitely aren't looking for motorcycles so watch out

[Desmo]

Yah. Saw it all over the place on freeways last Saturday here too.

[BruinFZ1guy]

Originally Posted by kenrobert

Not sure about So-Cal but up here in redwood land this past month from the Oregon border to Eureka there were two very large, and well lighted, DOT signs. They were reminding drivers to "share the road with motorcyclist". Pro-active efforts such as these hwy signs have to help us motorcyclist. Cross the border north into Oregon and spliting lanes is a fine. Of course we are talking about a part of the world where three street lites means a really big town.

Ya, I saw a few between Ontario and W. LA on the 10 and another one or two on the 405 between Santa Monica and Long Beach. Nice to have the reminder out there.

[RobG]

I'm passionate about lane splitting. It's the whole reason I started riding (and then riding became a passion too). I was dealing with a 45-min each way commute in SoCal (9 miles) by car, and so I bought a bike and it became 15-min each way. That was 2-1/2 years ago.

Since then I've been to Oregon for six months, then back to SoCal for a year or so, and now I'm in Reno. And here in Nevada, not only is lane splitting not legal, cagers aren't very friendly towards bikes in the first place.

I've written a fairly long letter to my reps about legalizing it here, but I haven't gotten a response yet. I'm going to re-send it every couple of weeks until I get somebody who will help make it happen. It needs to be legal everywhere.

Rob

[ZachD]

Originally Posted by RobG

I'm passionate about lane splitting. It's the whole reason I started riding (and then riding became a passion too). I was dealing with a 45-min each way commute in SoCal (9 miles) by car, and so I bought a bike and it became 15-min each way. That was 2-1/2 years ago.

Since then I've been to Oregon for six months, then back to SoCal for a year or so, and now I'm in Reno. And here in Nevada, not only is lane splitting not legal, cagers aren't very friendly towards bikes in the first place.

I've written a fairly long letter to my reps about legalizing it here, but I haven't gotten a response yet. I'm going to re-send it every couple of weeks until I get somebody who will help make it happen. It needs to be legal everywhere.

Rob

I can't agree more with everything you just said Rob. I actually lived in the Reno for nearly 20 years & I always hated going back there after spending a day riding over in CA, because the cagers in Reno are such assholes. I live in SoCal now & I visited Reno the first weekend in May & I couldn't wait to leave, because the car (mostly pick-up truck) drivers were such jerks.

Watch out for the local police (Sherrif, PD & HP) they all seem to hate motorcycles, especially sportbikes...

Hopefully you aren't stuck in Reno for too long.

[BruinFZ1guy]

Just a suggestion, but maybe starting some groups and getting petitions with names and addresses would help. You could join a bunch of forums on-line and recruit locals or start an independent webpage.

If your reps see that the numbers of people calling for legislation change are large enough to influence an election or otherwise give them a lot of PR you are likely to at least see some movement on the issue!

Originally Posted by RobG

I'm passionate about lane splitting. It's the whole reason I started riding (and then riding became a passion too). I was dealing with a 45-min each way commute in SoCal (9 miles) by car, and so I bought a bike and it became 15-min each way. That was 2-1/2 years ago.

Since then I've been to Oregon for six months, then back to SoCal for a year or so, and now I'm in Reno. And here in Nevada, not only is lane splitting not legal, cagers aren't very friendly towards bikes in the first place.

I've written a fairly long letter to my reps about legalizing it here, but I haven't gotten a response yet. I'm going to re-send it every couple of weeks until I get somebody who will help make it happen. It needs to be legal everywhere.

Rob

[ZachD]

Lane splitting is good, when you know how to do it properly. these fools can't...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW45XcRczSQ&feature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhtX3WdRUoA&feature=plcp

[Khaotik]

Europe has (for the most part) an aging road network and most of it cannot have its capacity increased any further.... and as Europe is so damn over-crowded we have to filter to get anywhere.

Having ridden all around Europe, I find most drivers are aware and accepting of bikes filtering and I feel very safe doing it - as long as I keep my speed to within 20mph above the traffic im passing, thats what the UK police riders recommend (they can obviously go faster when they have their lights and sirens going). You get used to reading the "body-language" of a vehicle that may be thinking about changing lanes in front of you.

We do however still get the idiots flying through traffic at well above the speed of the traffic.

[gixxerjasen]

Originally Posted by ZachD

Lane splitting is good, when you know how to do it properly. these fools can't...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW45XcRczSQ&feature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhtX3WdRUoA&feature=plcp

Those guys would be me....shitting my pants trying to do that!

[ZachD]

Lane splitting supporters also state that the US DOT FARS database shows that fatalities from rear end collisions into motorcycles are 30% lower in California than in Florida or Texas, states with similar riding seasons and populations but which do not lane split.

[eflyguy]

There should be a public education campaign around driving techniques, courtesy, and (of course) rider awareness. I've thought about doing something on YouTube and getting local media to pick it up. Covering things like lane hogging, tailgating, right of way, etc., in an educational way.
..a

[KBinOKC]

I am in southern France and the lane splitting works well. I am in a smaller town so do more filtering up than lane splitting. Drivers are very courteous and move right to allow riders to pass.

I was in Paris and needed to get from the airport to an area at least an hour away by taxi. I took the Moto-Taxi and was there in 30 min. It was on a Goldwing and the ride was very relaxing with no real tense moments. He had a jacket, gloves, and nice helmet that fit pretty well with a helmet liner. In Paris there are tons of bikes and scooters moving through traffic with no issues. It's great!

And round-a-bouts instread of 4 way stops are great as well.

Been here a year and still do not have my license. Did take an FZ6 for a spin last weekend. Great Fun,

[gixxerjasen]

Wow do you need to update your location in your profile!

[robrides85]

Took my first cruise with my girlfriend, to Nassau.

We were lucky enough to rent the crappiest scooter on the island! Front rotor was warped (scooter shook upon use, and easily went from kind of stopping, to full grab and front wheel skid (yeah, I didn't use the front brake much/any after the test ride)) and a rear brake that was also of delicate constitution - expect too much from it and it was more than happy to grab and skid the rear tire as well!

Front suspension: pogo-like.

Add to this many lost battles with other renters (not a piece of plastic on the scoot was free from road rash, most were drilled and ziptied to others), in addition to broken: headlights, brake lights, turn signals, and a horn, and we were ready to lanesplit!

So we get on the scoot and cut through a bunch of one-way traffic to a Scotiabank where I can get some cash out. ~3 miles later, we head over a bridge, pay a toll, turn left, and see our first oncoming traffic, in our lane!

I'm giggling like a schoolgirl... they drive on the left side of the road here! The first couple roundabouts we went through, it took a bit of effort to hit it clockwise, instead of counter-clockwise.

We toured the island, had a great seafood dinner, and hit up a couple of beautiful beaches! We filtered through parking lot traffic without trouble (at extremely slow speed - only had about ~6 inches of total clearance in spots) in addition to staying clear of their driving methods: (they start moving over or merging with your lane, and you either switch lanes, go around, or slow down, blinkers optional).

What an adventure!

[eflyguy]

Reminds me of our vacation in Bermuda. Our scooters were great, though..

(staged pic - we did wear brain buckets - but still..)
..a

[Tom Renda]

If you do it in VERY slow moving traffic, I think you are pretty safe.

After all, nobody is going to mess with you too badly in very slow moving traffic.

(Since you can always just park the bike by the side of the road and take a tire iron or boulder to their windshield.)

If someone is blocking (and this does happen), just back off, move to a different lane and get past the blocker. I used this approach on the Staten Island Expressway in June on the way to Laconia and had no problems. Most people did not intentionally narrow the space between lanes, only a few did.

I suspect you are probably safer doing it in slow traffic, even when it's illegal, then doing it at speed in California, where it is legal.

I wonder what the penalties are if some cop gets upset. Has anyone here ever been ticketed for it?

People in NY do it all the time, and I have never seen a cop pull a biker over. (Of course, NYC traffic cops are thrilled on the odd day when drivers aren't shooting at each other.)

[ZachD]

I've accidentally split right by a cop car (on a few occasions) in Nevada, where it's illegal & just kept going, nothing happened.

Here in SoCal where it's legal I split @ all speeds, because I feel it's safer than sitting amongst all the caged-up idiots..

In fact, I've gotta get ready to ride to work now & do some lane 'splittin

Cheers!