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Lane Splitting Debate

OK, then what do you feel about passing on the double yellow (when safe ;)) now that the single white line isn't even remembered by most. :whistle

Some holier-than-thou's in The Perfect Line claim to have never crossed a solid line.. ever. They must not have been to any sort of park or mountain pass. As Paul eluded, Winnebago's be damned..

But, if it ever causes me to get a ticket, I won't be crying about it. I know what I shouldn't be doing (most of the time). :ha
 
But, if it ever causes me to get a ticket, I won't be crying about it. I know what I shouldn't be doing (most of the time). :ha

My last moving violation was for 70 in a 55. The CHP who wrote the ticket also noted that I was on the wrong side of the double yellow at the time. What he did not do, however, was check the little box that said "infraction". Seems like he didn't think it was a big deal, either. :laugh

Needless to say I paid the fine and took traffic school. I didn't want to give him a chance to change his mind in court!

And I think that all of California has double yellows "based on sight distances computed for overloaded log trucks going up hill passing old Winnebagos". I always thought it was a federal standard. :dunno
 
What is legal and that which flat out makes sense are not always the same. We have zero red lights here in my county and it sure isn't Saskatchewan! What we do have is twisty 2 lanes marked with double yellow in some straightaways and some curves(and the pennant shaped "No Passing" signs); the original guy that decided when to start and stop the paint stripe machine was obviously an idiot! Hills and log trucks don't seem to figure into the equation so much as no logic at all for maybe 1/4th of the pass/nopass zones.
Lane sitting on slabs, mentioned above, is now illegal in KY(when we see this, the inside joke is, that they must be from Ohio-& it seems to be true for some reason) and no one seems to enforce or avoid the violation. Not this thread but I've got to say it; on a recent trip to Lex,KY I watched 3 blatant,not sort of, red light runners and that seems to be the norm. It has caused us to absolutely clear the intersection prior to moving in. Bikes beware the times have changed! Texting, now illegal has not abated either! Now back to lane splitting-I'll do when I have to to keep my bike from overheating vs. sitting on the side of the road on that shoulder, vulnerable to some idiot zooming along.
Yesterday we were on a sorta freeway-ala, eastern KY style, called the Mountain Parkway. It is 2 lane/4 lane, & mostly no side traffic. They were grinding the shoulder in bad spots and repaving. The state hwy guy with a radio had traffic backed up into a blind curve(behind us!) and there were ~ 25 cars in front of us. There was a passing lane on my left and a shoulder on my right.and oncoming traffic streaming by in the oncoming lane. WHAT WOULD YOU DO? Sit there-passing lane-or shoulder and advance?
 
Like others from CA have said, there are a few car/truck drivers who will try to close the gap on you, but most are courteous and widen it a little to let a bike by.

My daily commute takes me along about 40 miles of expressway and 15 of small town and country road. Of the highway driving, about half of it is in urban area prone to stop-n-go or slow-n-go traffic during the normal commute hours.

I split lanes in these situations regularly. I ride an RT, so it isn't small. But so do the CHP motor officers, and those guys split lanes at full highway speeds. I will normally do so when traffic is moving 30 or less, but occasionally when I can see a big gap in traffic ahead, and a couple of knuckleheads otherwise holding up traffic - slow folks in the fast lanes.

The ability to split has allowed me to get out of situations where I'm being unduly crowded from behind. One needs to be vigilant and have full control of the bike at all times. Do it with knowledge of the potential hazards, and it's no less safe to me or other motorists than is keeping a place in traffic, tucked between tightly packed cars and at times less visible than when between lanes.

As in any other traffic situation, proceed with caution.
 
I have never lane split before when I was in California this past summer,it scares the crap out of me. I like to keep a "bubble" around me.:nono

whatever you do, don't go ride in mexico.

there, other drivers only give you as much space as you need and feel no compunction about driving *right* up next to you.

this is particularly true in the cities, but you can get quite a surprise in the countryside, too.

ian
 
When I commuted into Massachusetts on route 3, I used to lane split every time the collective mass of cages decided to hold an unscheduled brake testing event. I wasn't trying to pass cars, I was just looking for a place to hide. It was not unusual to look back and see the car that had been behind me about 1/2 of a motorcycle length behind the car I had been following.

I commuted on Rt 3 for close to 20 years and almost every day traffic would come to a screeching halt for no discernible reason. Since I used to see the same cars day after day, I began to suspect that there were a couple of select morons who did the same stupid maneuver everyday and triggered a 10 mile traffic backup.

I would have liked to lane split to pass cars, but drivers in Eastern Mass. are highly proprietary and competitive about their place in line. At that time, the use of turn indicators was nearly unknown since signaling for a lane change would invariably cause a car in the other lane to accelerate and block your lane change.
 
I have never lane split before when I was in California this past summer,it scares the crap out of me. I like to keep a "bubble" around me.:nono
California is scary period! Too many people and too many cars!:brow
And don't take this as a slap in the face,just an observation...
 
California is scary period! Too many people and too many cars!:brow
And don't take this as a slap in the face,just an observation...

Get out of the Bay Area or So Cal and it is mostly empty.

1098262694_BbRRR-XL.jpg
 
I really think the police should start giving tickets for not yielding the left lane to traffic.

Number one problem here in Seattle also. Purely passive/aggressive behavior.
When you do attempt to go around them on the right the person in that lane speeds up.
Or the left laner speeds up too. More than a few times I've been boxed in.

Here is where I lane split at speed between them usually to their astonishment one handed w/ the left hand raised and a finger extended.

A close second is cellphones.
 
When traffic is completely stopped or crawling, either on the freeway or on surface streets, it's AWESOME to lanesplit, but when traffic is moving, I don't do it, partly because my bike is so massive (GSA) and partly because it's somewhat nerve racking.

I've seen young guys on sportbikes lane splitting at insane speeds while traffic is flowing. THAT is insane.

And when i'm lanesplitting in stopped traffic and there's another motorcyclist BEHIND me, lanesplitting, that's REALLY nerve racking!

If I get caught while lanesplitting, I always pull in and let them by. I expect the same.
 
I took advantage of the lane splitting for the brief time I spent in CA. People seemed to leave adequate room or move over.

I couldn't imagine putting up with that day in and day out.
 
No kidding. When people come to visit from back east and we go riding, they're always amazed at how rural most of CA is. They think it's all like LA.

I used to hear that about the Adirondacks in NY.
Or... "I'm from NY." The reply: "The City?"
 
FWIW, & just so I don't get placed on the ignorant list, I'll say that I have traveled much of CA and 2 of my 3 sons lived there briefly, also a cousin & family near S.Jose. Much of the state is a beautiful place with many natural wonders, roads and great people too! My student dentist is from Daly City.My cousin & his family live near S.Jose for many years.
However , every time I'm there I marvel @ the $$$ & the ### of people, compared to what I'm used too! I just googled the pop. of CA & stands @ over 37 million. Kern County is 870,000 which is 174 times the population of my county, which is very rural. Even some of the "quaint" places in CA seem pretty busy to me. Frame of reference is relative here.
Back to the thread; when I lane split it's a release from "traffic jail" or urban gridlock, if you will, for me. I'll be very careful when I do it but worth the risk. My version of lane splitting doesn't include the "sport bike lane weaves" I see near most high density urban hwys! Usually some kid with shorts & tennies, sometimes equipped with someones daughter on the back...:dunno
 
When I first started riding in St Louis about 82 lane splitting was common. There were fewer motorcycles them but it was great for traffic. I never went more than maybe 10 MPH in stopped traffic though. Filtering was not common, and lane splitting traffic that is moving more the 10 or 20 MPH was rare. There were few jerks, very few, but society has changed, not nice anymore.

When i started riding again, I was surprised to find it is not done any more. Not an issue here in Joplin, but on the road, there are occasional jams.


Rod
 
I teach MSF with a retired CHP motor cop. He said that in all his years as a CHP he never rolled on an accident from a lane splitting bike and he rolled on many where a bike was rear ended when not lane splitting

Debate over!



I'm a Calif. rider too, and I split, in very slow traffic, and at lights.

But I know of at least one accident where someone splitting t-boned a sudden lane changer in slow traffic.

So it does happen. What (IIRC David Hough) has to say on it is that, where the drivers of cars expect it, it's safe. Where they don't, it's not.

And it has to be done with care, and caution.

I will miss the option when I move to New Jersey.
 
Lane Splitting Rules

:nodI have ridden many wonderful miles in CA and when the traffic bogs down it is a real blessing to be able to split lanes. I don't always do it as I travel a lot and it is much more difficult with saddlebags.

CA riders straighten me out if I am wrong, but aren't there some (possibly unwritten) rules about lane splitting like: only when traffic is 35 mph or under, don't exceed the prevailing traffic's speed by more than 15 or 20 mph (or maybe less), split between the left or fast lane and the lane to it's immediate right (on multilane roads). I'm sure there are more, can anyone expand on this?

I also always watch for cars that might be squeezing the space between lanes (those that may either be possessive about the space or ignorant of lane splitting) and any cars with out-of-state plates.

Karen
 
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