Please Explain Lane Splitting

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harrisonm

harrisonm

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Recently, someone complained about Sport Motorcycles passing him in a no passing zone at 25 MPH over the speed limit, and someone said that only a stupid state would not allow Lane Splitting. Please do NOT rag on STUPID motorcycle drivers in this post. I want to know about this Lane Splitting thing. Are there really states that allow vehicles to pass on 2 lane roads with oncoming traffic, and it is the responsibility of that oncoming traffic (and the car(s) being passed) to all pull over to allow that passing????? That sounds plain stupid to me. Comments!
 
Lane splitting happens on 3 & 4 lane roads too.

Idiots with a death wish.
 
The ability for 2 vehicles to share the same lane side by side.
Some riders interpret this as 2 bikes or 1 car 1 bike... which means they can zoom by cars in a traffic jam.
 
Only legal in CA . And yes... stupid. Even if legal it is a bad idea. Cars may not anticipate your approach and could either change lanes on you or swerve and hit you. Lane splitting does not leave enough space for a bike to maneuver.
I dont have an issue with a rider carefully passing stopped cars to get to an open turn lane etc...
 
And while all this is going on, there are more and more right hand drive vehicles appearing on the road, so it's getting so you dont even know where the driver is, let alone if they can see you.

The world is going to hell 1 "priviledge" at a time.
 
Here, lane splitting is riding inbetween cars on there sides. A car in each lane (2 or 3 lanes) headers no in the same direction, the rider will squeeze in between them. The rider will ride the broken white stripe the divides the left from the right lane.

Also, sometimes the rider will ride the solid line at the far right for the shoulder of the road or left side where it ether divides east and west bound sides of traffic or the far left shoulder.

While in traffic, I don’t have an issue when a rider goes by. But there speed can be an issue. Mildly putting on by is one thing. More often than not, I’ll be traveling in stop and traffic at 0 - 25 mph and some (singular or group) rider(s) will ether wiz or SCREAM by any where from 40 - 90+.

This my friends, is an issue.

Add in a swerving rider or group of riders traveling at 30+ miles an hour faster than you in traffic, well, it’s really a recipe for disaster, and it’s obvious none of them care! So this leaves me with, if they don’t care about me, why should I care about them?!?!

I’m really not amused when I’m traveling at 70mph, And a rider or a group of riders travel pass me doing a wheelie. And there not just creeping past me ether.
 
My daughter was taking a left hand turn into a parking lot while all the oncoming traffic was stopped and got hit by a MC lane splitting between the curb and the stopped traffic.
The oncoming traffic left a gap for her to get accross and into the parking lot ( its the law here and there is signage) .
The bike was going fast enough to shift the whole front clip on her BMW ! He flew across the hood and onto the pavement !

Geico said she should have anticipated the event and therefor it was partially her fault ! Guess who he was insured by ??
 
Lane splitting is not passing cars with opposing traffic coming at you. That’s just passing.

It’s also not crossing over any lane dividers. That’s also passing. You’re just using the extra space in the lane to go by another vehicle.

In California, lane splitting wasn’t technically legal or illegal until 2016. There was just nowhere in the vehicle code that said two vehicles couldn’t share a lane. In 2016 a bill was passed to make lane splitting legal and to give the CHP regulatory authority. The CHP has actually issued guidelines before that, but someone sued saying that the CHP didn’t have the authority to enforce the guidelines since it wasn’t actually ever addressed in the vehicle code. I have seen any actual new guidelines published. The old ones limited lane splitting to speeds below 55 mph and limited the difference in speed to 20mph. Ie, if you were splitting with traffic moving 35 mph you couldn’t go faster than 55mph. That’s still actually pretty big difference. More info and the old guidelines Lane Splitting is Legal in California

Personally, I only split lanes when traffic is going under 25mph or so. Faster than that and cars can change lanes too quickly to get out of the way IMO. And I always split to the front when traffic is stopped at a light, because I know too many riders that have been rear ended, while stopped, sitting at the back of a line of traffic. Riders that weave in and out of traffic lanes, blast down between lanes at high speed differentials, and in general ride like A-holes screw it up for everybody. But so do the cage drivers that pull their car into tha way to block splitting, open doors to hit people, throw things out of their windows at riders, or just don’t check their damn mirrors. I’ve had all of those things happen when splitting, and I don’t split if I’m not in first gear so that’s all just a-hole car drivers.

And no, California isn’t the only place it’s legal. It’s legal in pretty much every other country in the entire world, the US is the exception. Most countries allow it because it eases traffic. The bikes aren’t stuck in traffic with everyone else, they can split to the front and then they’re out of your way. Also encourages more riders, so, less traffic again.
 
mbaird said:
My daughter was taking a left hand turn into a parking lot while all the oncoming traffic was stopped and got hit by a MC lane splitting between the curb and the stopped traffic.
The oncoming traffic left a gap for her to get accross and into the parking lot ( its the law here and there is signage) .
The bike was going fast enough to shift the whole front clip on her BMW ! He flew across the hood and onto the pavement !

Geico said she should have anticipated the event and therefor it was partially her fault ! Guess who he was insured by ??
Click to expand...

So she made a blind turn across multiple lanes without checking to see if it was clear? What if a bicycle was riding by in the bike lane? She’d have killed him.

Sorry, but even at 20 mph a 400 lb bike will do a number on a car, and at anything faster than 15 mph the rider will fly across the hood and onto the pavement.

Im sure he was probably going faster than that, and splitting where people can leave spots for cars to turn in requires a heck of a lot of attention even at low speed. Because car drivers never look for bikes. Ever.

So yeah, they got it right. She didn’t look, he was probably speeding, both are at fault.
 
harrisonm said:
Recently, someone complained about Sport Motorcycles passing him in a no passing zone at 25 MPH over the speed limit, and someone said that only a stupid state would not allow Lane Splitting. Please do NOT rag on STUPID motorcycle drivers in this post. I want to know about this Lane Splitting thing. Are there really states that allow vehicles to pass on 2 lane roads with oncoming traffic, and it is the responsibility of that oncoming traffic (and the car(s) being passed) to all pull over to allow that passing????? That sounds plain stupid to me. Comments!
Click to expand...



What I said was, and I repeat for clarity, done correctly lane splitting is not a bad thing. Just because someone does it wrong we should stop it? Bullshit. You can use that rediculous logic on everything from guns to Big Macs.

I can follow a car for miles and know they never check their mirrors. That's how **** happens. Idiotic drivers. And yes, there are bike riders who do stupid ****.

Don't blame lane splitting on stupid people. You don't have to like it. Why should I have to sit in traffic, which isn't all that safe if I can split a lane and get away from morons?

Ever see what happens to a bike that gets squished at a stop light, or sitting in a stupid traffic jam? Yep, I lane split and do it without caring what anyone else thinks of it. Call the sheriff and whine to him.
 
But, she would not have been hit if the idiot with the death wish was not lane splitting.

If traffic is stopped, he should have had the common sense to slow down & be VERY aware.

Traffic stops for a reason, morons continue at speed.
 
1st off she did not make a blind turn across traffic. In this state we have a turn lane in the center and signs prohibiting blocking entrances to businesses while traffic is stopped. So all the oncoming traffic was stopped leaving a gap for cars to turn into the parking lot. If it was a bicycle Im sure he could have stopped because she was moving about 3 mph.... besides there was no bike lane...just a few feet between the curb and cars.

This is a perfect example of why lane splitting is a bad common practice
BTW , the rider was cited

2nd... I ride a motorcycle everyday ! With the exception like today when I had to pickup my block from machine shop and get my dirtbike trailer .

I dont even want to be adjacent to a car for fear they may merge on me... muchless passing many cars within a foot of a moving vehicle at higher rates of speed.

I dont really care if others do it . Its there life.... Just as long as I am not inconvenienced waiting for the wagon.
 
She didnt hit him... he hit her.
But you are correct.
Alaskan_TA said:
But, she would not have been hit if the idiot with the death wish was not lane splitting.

If traffic is stopped, he should have had the common sense to slow down & be VERY aware.

Traffic stops for a reason, morons continue at speed.
Click to expand...
 
Please understand that I am not a goody two shoes nice guy risk adverse geeksquad fella..

I have raced desert , enduro , hare and hound.. I ride high mountain single track at speeds that most would consider insane. I play hockey 3x per week , I ski experts chutes and bowls , Ive been 165 on a roadbike. But I try to be smart about my risky adventures ...and riding between drivers that may not even trust there own skills is not a risk I am willing to take.
 
That is just it.

If a car signals for a lane merge in slow traffic, the idiot at speed may not see the signal in time.

I have also seen ladies open doors when they are stopped in traffic when they notice they closed the door on the hem of their dress.

How fast can a lane splitter react to a door opened right in front of them?

Not fast enough.
 
I don't like lane splitting and believe it should be completely illegal.

What happens if I'm legally going along, and you the super duper unbelievably talented and skilled two wheel splitter comes along just as I need to "wiggle" a little bit because there's something in the road, whether a possible tire getter, or something that just LOOKS like I should not hit it. My lane (should be) my lane. When I'm in that lane, everybody else should stay TF out!!
 
We got loads of Harleys out here and no one keeps the baffles in the pipes so they are all illegally loud. The rest are ricers with Kerker exhaust that do little to nothing for their exhaust note. So all bikes are loud here. The Harley guys blip their throttles when they pass you and either give you the finger or point down when you give them a little room or not. The ricers have narrower handlebars so they just blow by you 30mph faster than your going. And neither can legally split the shoulder side.
 
Just because someone is on two wheels does not make them an idiot, or an asshole, or someone who wants to run over baby-strollers. That is the impression I am getting from a lot of you people here. Don't tell me you always drive the speed limit and follow all the laws of the road in your mopars. Hypocrites.
 
I bought my first street bike brand new off the showroom floor at the Honda dealership while I was still a senior in high school. I've been riding that long on the street. I recently went down and visited my father and has a nice street bike. Those people down there have lost their freaking Minds! The police too! They're on a complete suicide mission down there in LA! Not me I'm not riding like that! Now honestly since I was there I went ahead and pulled forward at lights because I could, but I could have done without as well. And I'm the same way dirt bikes snowmobiles drag cars and Double Diamond runs at the ski slopes! But I feel safe doing that stuff compared to be on the roads in LA! On a motorcycle:realcrazy:
 
Ottmundr said:
Just because someone is on two wheels does not make them an idiot, or an asshole, or someone who wants to run over baby-strollers. That is the impression I am getting from a lot of you people here. Don't tell me you always drive the speed limit and follow all the laws of the road in your mopars. Hypocrites.
Click to expand...

There are a lot of safe motorcycle riders out there.

But there are idiots too.
 
67Dart273 said:
I don't like lane splitting and believe it should be completely illegal.

What happens if I'm legally going along, and you the super duper unbelievably talented and skilled two wheel splitter comes along just as I need to "wiggle" a little bit because there's something in the road, whether a possible tire getter, or something that just LOOKS like I should not hit it. My lane (should be) my lane. When I'm in that lane, everybody else should stay TF out!!
Click to expand...

I whole heartedly agree w/ the above post. Most roads around here aren`t even wide enough for 2 newer p/ups to pas each other comfortably.
 
yellow rose said:
What I said was, and I repeat for clarity, done correctly lane splitting is not a bad thing. Just because someone does it wrong we should stop it? Bullshit. You can use that rediculous logic on everything from guns to Big Macs.

I can follow a car for miles and know they never check their mirrors. That's how **** happens. Idiotic drivers. And yes, there are bike riders who do stupid ****.

Don't blame lane splitting on stupid people. You don't have to like it. Why should I have to sit in traffic, which isn't all that safe if I can split a lane and get away from morons?

Ever see what happens to a bike that gets squished at a stop light, or sitting in a stupid traffic jam? Yep, I lane split and do it without caring what anyone else thinks of it. Call the sheriff and whine to him.
Click to expand...

Lane splitting isn't crossing the double yellow and passing into oncoming traffic....
 
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