Lane Sharing/ Splitting car door opens in my path:

Lane Splitting

The closest I get to lane splitting is that if there is a traffic jam I will sometimes ride on the side of the road. Even then, there are some Mototards who will try to cause you trouble. More than once I have experienced truck drivers shifting over in an attempt to force you into the guard rails. I don't even know if Lane Splitting is legal in Pennsylvania but even assuming that all drivers are well intentioned and not malicious, there's just too many stupid people out there for me to risk it.

Best,

Will

will3hawks said:

The closest I get to lane splitting is that if there is a traffic jam I will sometimes ride on the side of the road.


I don't even know if Lane Splitting is legal in Pennsylvania

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I guess you havn't read the rest of this thread. Lane splitting is illegal in every state, except California.

Passing on the shoulder is illegal in every state, including California. Not suprised that it is met with aggrivation from other drivers.

The OP was performing a legal maneuver in a cautious, conscientious way. The person in the back of the SUV performed an illegal action that caused a collision. After the collision, the driver committed two additional illegal actions by leaving the site of an accident (hit and run) and failure to report the collision.

Your illegal actions are not relavant to the OPs situation, just as people who live in areas where lane splitting is illegal and condemn the practice, because it causes problems where they live, are irrelavant to the discussion of lane splitting in California.

^^^^ Excellent review...that needs to be done every 18 pages or so...gets people back on track.

Here is the final word on the topic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNGD9AAIfFU

Here is another one, and if you watch this one, you will see a whole lot of cars move over for her.
Now, she waves at them to thank them for moving over. In the car, I notice a lot of riders who do that. They may well see her every morning on their commute and thus move over, knowing she will wave.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcLnuBmoT5o
dc

Who would enforce the 'national helmet law'? FBI, US Marshals, Secret Service?????

There is enough government control over our lives we don't need any more!

Lane splitting and my recent experience

I just rode across the country from New Hampshire to South Lake Tahoe, CA. On to Orinda, CA tomorrow. I have been a NH resident all my life and that is in the process of changing. My ride was a single cylinder 650, a G650Gs 2014 vintage to be exact. I was almost always the slowest vehicle on the road, with gear and pinned at the top of the tachometer I could do 90MPH. Might I add this bike impressed the hell out of me for all the abuse I gave it. Definitely sold me on the BMW brand.

All that aside there were more than one occasion where I pulled to the right of the fog line and waved traffic past. There were a few times where I was about to pass someone on the road (legally) and waited for a straight section of road to do it. I was amazed at how many people were shocked by this behavior.

My conclusion, lane splitting could be safely done so long as people do work together to make it safe. Cagers should want these type of rules, it reduces congestion and makes for better flow of traffic. A motorcycle doesn't need to take up as much room as a car.

We will see how my experience in CA is with it tomorrow, When I ride to my new home.... I intend on taking it slowly to begin with.

My experience has been that outside of Los Angeles this state has a lot of anti lane splitting psycho drivers.
Here they are psycho, or frantic, but they understand lane splitting.
I've noticed near Sacramento quite a few intentionally try to block you. Maybe that's all just part of the 'Sacramento Stupidity' that goes on up there.
dc

David13 said:

My experience has been that outside of Los Angeles this state has a lot of anti lane splitting psycho drivers.
Here they are psycho, or frantic, but they understand lane splitting.
I've noticed near Sacramento quite a few intentionally try to block you. Maybe that's all just part of the 'Sacramento Stupidity' that goes on up there.
dc

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I've split lanes a couple times when I've gotten bogged down I-80 in Sacramento and never had a problem with jerk drivers, but I don't live there so I don't know if my experiences are the rule or the exception. Drivers in the Bay Area are pretty respectful of splitting. Maybe that's because I carry a machete and shotgun strapped to my bike

Funny you mention the machete.

ecaho said:

I've split lanes a couple times when I've gotten bogged down I-80 in Sacramento and never had a problem with jerk drivers, but I don't live there so I don't know if my experiences are the rule or the exception. Drivers in the Bay Area are pretty respectful of splitting. Maybe that's because I carry a machete and shotgun strapped to my bike

View attachment 51077

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So I actually did some lane splitting/sharing today. I did actually have a machete strapped to my bike and anyone looking in their passenger side rear view mirror would have seen it. I did notice there were a few people whom tried to block me, I usually just changed lanes and moved along until I ran into another. Wash rinse and repeat. I didn't save a ton of time, but I kept moving. It did feel surprisingly safe to do. I only did it when traffic was stopped and so long as it was moving I just took my place in line, occasionally splitting to get near another 2 wheeled vehicle. For now I am a fan. I wish this was allowed in New England. I was stuck in stop and go traffic in the rain last Friday night, and resorted to using the breakdown lane but kept in my place in traffic. Did the same thing in Nevada, people generally tend to respect this and don't get too upset about it.

johncanty said:

and resorted to using the breakdown lane but kept in my place in traffic. Did the same thing in Nevada, people generally tend to respect this and don't get too upset about it.

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Be careful doing that. LEOs WILL get upset and cite you for that. NO driving/ rideing on the shoulders in California.

98lee said:

Be careful doing that. LEOs WILL get upset and cite you for that. NO driving/ rideing on the shoulders in California.

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I am aware of the California law against it, so that's why I did the lane splitting thing. I think in other states it doesn't get the dim view that California gives it, so it makes for a good compromise. In Mass they allow it during rush hour traffic, the breakdown lane becomes another full speed travel lane. Now if we could only get a convergence of the laws. High speed breakdown lane travel and lane splitting...... in a perfect world.

johncanty said:

I am aware of the California law against it, so that's why I did the lane splitting thing. I think in other states it doesn't get the dim view that California gives it, so it makes for a good compromise. In Mass they allow it during rush hour traffic where explicitly marked on only a few specific roads , the breakdown lane becomes another full speed travel lane. Now if we could only get a convergence of the laws. High speed breakdown lane travel and lane splitting...... in a perfect world.

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FTFY, Don't want anyone crossing into Mass and thinking anything done on the roads is a good idea.

People used to say "what's wrong with the traffic?"
I would say-
"A complete lack of interest on the part of the motoring public to get from point A to point B with any degree of regularity or efficiency".
OM