Lane Sharing/ Splitting car door opens in my path:

Motodan said:

This is why lane splitting is a bad law. Regardless of the law, speed, location, facts, insurance coverage or whatever....lane splitting is not a good law and worse, it is not a good idea. WHY - because there are people who will not watch for such actions and then there are people who do, just so they can "punish" a motorcyclist. Just the way it is and NO law is going to make it safer.

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So your position is that I should be more afraid of punitive damage from drivers who are willing to break the law and assault me, than I should be afraid of getting rear ended by a jackass who's shaving/eating/texting/talking/navigating on his cell phone? That's an interesting position. Do you make all your decisions based on being afraid of your neighbors, or just some of them?

You could make it MORE simple:

If you don't ride, they can't get you. LoL.

greenwald said:

I'm starting to feel kind of sorry for k100lt - no one seems to have read his comments verbatim.

He didn't say the SUV performed such a maneuver - he asked "what if it had abruptly changed position while still rightfully occupying his/her lane."

Isaac Newton can rest easy - his Laws of Motion are not being rewritten by Californians.

Geeeez

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"what if it had abruptly changed position while still rightfully occupying his/her lane."

And I asked how the hell it could do that while it was stopped. And no one has yet offered an answer. Thanks for playing.

jcj78 said:

And I asked how the hell it could do that while it was stopped. And no one has yet offered an answer.

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I think most of us assumed that K100LT meant if the vehicle was still moving and then suddenly moved to its right within his own lane. That's something both Greenwald and K100LT clarified for us.

k100lt said:

Who's fault would it be if the SUV had shifted to the right in the lane he was occupying at the same time the M/C was sharing the same space?

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I think there are a lot of factors involved in that question. What caused the driver to deviate from his path? Was his attention elsewhere other than the road? Texting, phone call, distracted by one of his passengers and then he hit any vehicle, then it would be his fault. If he moved over to avoid debris in the road, then, that would be tough to tell. Generally a motorcycles intent when lane splitting/ sharing is not to ride parallel with the car. The objective is to pass the vehicle at a safe speed and when legal to do so. I wouldn't be lane sharing if the speed was of traffic was at 50. And I wouldn't also be riding in the driver's blind spot. I have had cars purposely shift their car as I approach to try to cut me off. I'd say maybe about 1:1000 cars will do that.

So to give a firm answer on your question, I think it would all depend on the circumstance but in more cases than not, they would fault the motorcycle. In my circumstance, they would have faulted me if I didn't have the camera. He could have easily said I was speeding my and side swiped him.

To the question that someone asked about driving on the double yellow, that's illegal for the car to drive on or cross and same thing for a motorcycle to drive on or cross. From what the CHP explained is that you have to see the lines as concrete barriers. You cannot drive on the lane whether is solid, double yellow, or broken. You can only change lanes on a broken white lane when legal and safe.

And for the person who said, this post is my "baby", I'm not trying to brag about what happened. Mentally, it ****ed me up and I didn't walk away unharmed. To see a door just open in front of you...... I can't even explain the feeling I felt. If I didn't have a video to show people, and just told the story, everyone's opinions would be worse than what's going on now. We've all had our close calls. People on their cell phones, people changing lanes without signaling, people tailgating. But now people are asking me, " what if's." What if he did this, what if he did that, what if a piano fell from the sky..." what would you do! Who's fault?"

Then there's the " well, you shouldn't have been lane splitting in the first place."

Why?? It's LEGAL IN CALIFORNIA! Plain and simple. I don't need to justify WHY I do it no more than you should have to justify if you get rear ended by the person texting behind you. Yeah, I know, If was wasn't late splitting, this wouldn't have happened. I get it!!! But again, it's LEGAL and I was at LEGAL SPEEDS! So whether you against it or not, it really doesn't matter to me because it's LEGAL. The "what if's" don't really come into play. My circumstance is all I was showing.

And here's a what if...if I was going 90 MPH and someone opened the door, who's fault would it be? At that point, we'd both be doing something illegal. But at 90mph and that happened, I don't think I'd be here typing here today.

Then you got the non motorcycle drivers. "Well, that's just the risk you take because you drive a motorcycle"

So now, from every direction, I'm getting criticism. From those who ride bikes that oppose to lane splitting and those who don't ride bikes that just hate bikers in general.

So, to be clear. What I was doing was legal. Opening a door on the freeway whether there was intent to hurt another person, is illegal. No more more than if someone was on their cell phone and just slammed into you.

I haven't been on my bike since, aside from that this incident took out my front left blink, it scared the hell out of me. Many things are going through my mind. What if I didn't have the camera on? What if I had a passenger? What if the door opened up more? ( There are rhetorical and I'm not asking for answers. ) I know the best thing to do when falling down is to get right back up and ride again. And I will. But it's not an easy thing to brush off.

BC1100S said:

I think most of us assumed that K100LT meant if the vehicle was still moving and then suddenly moved to its right within his own lane. That's something both Greenwald and K100LT clarified for us.

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Did they? Because its pretty clear in the video that the vehicle in question is NOT moving. At all. Are we now to the point of throwing out random hypotheticals to attempt to discredit a rider who was following the law and accepted riding practice most of the world over? The best given reasons so far have been "Don't do it because it makes cage drivers butthurt, and one of them might get mad and assault you", and "It looks too scary to me."

Whatever. I live and ride where its not a neccessity, or a legal option. I filter right on red anyway when I think its the safest option for me to take. If a pokie don't like it, I'll either lawyer up or pay a fine. I don't lane split in stopped traffic because I don't ride in places where there is stopped traffic. I understand that not everyone has that luxury, so I don't go around telling anyone else how they ought to do unless they endanger my personal safety and welfare or that of my dependants.

And FTR, I didn't say that Californians were re-writing Newton's Laws, just that their cars sometimes move in unorthodox fashion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnV3VLOTZ5E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKzROy8SPvA

rad said:

Sorry, wrong answer. Try again after you become informed.

Almost 50 years of lane splitting under my belt and never have had someone open a door on me.

As I have stated before, my MSF teaching partner is a retired 25 year CHP motor officer and he said he never rolled on a lane splitting accident but rolled on many a accident where the motorcyclist was rear ended. He is very clear that lane splitting, done properly (like all riding should be) is far safer than sitting in rubber banding traffic.

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Wrong answer. More motorcyclist have been injured and/or killed while lane splitting whether it was legal or not....then motorcyclist who didn't attempt to lane split.

Motodan said:

Wrong answer. More motorcyclist have been injured and/or killed while lane splitting whether it was legal or not....then motorcyclist who didn't attempt to lane split.

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I have never seen a stat like that.

The largest, or one of the largest, traffic enforcement LEO agency's in the nation, the CHP, point to the most recent study that states that it is no more dangerous than any other riding when done in a safe manner. I will stick with the pros that live with lane splitting every single day.

Motodan said:

Wrong answer. More motorcyclist have been injured and/or killed while lane splitting whether it was legal or not....then motorcyclist who didn't attempt to lane split.

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Then why do the statistics show the inverse, and that motorcyclists are most likely to be rearended while NOT LANE SPLITTING, but sitting like a duck? And that when they are rearended, they are more likely to be killed than when they are lane splitting? Its not up for argument. The data is in. The numbers are crunched. The problem is that some people can't process it.

Worth sharing as in input to this discussion:
http://www.ridetowork.org/files/docs/LANE_SHARING_A_GLOBAL_SOLUTION_FOR_MOTORCYCLE_SAFETY.pdf

tangorider said:

Worth sharing as in input to this discussion:
http://www.ridetowork.org/files/docs/LANE_SHARING_A_GLOBAL_SOLUTION_FOR_MOTORCYCLE_SAFETY.pdf

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Taken from the above referenced report: "The physical laws associated with crashes shows that lane-sharing represents a less hazardous crash than being rear-ended."

Motodan said:

Wrong answer. More motorcyclist have been injured and/or killed while lane splitting whether it was legal or not....then motorcyclist who didn't attempt to lane split.

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Wrong on so many levels. Almost like a bad joke. Most of the world does it/only our ill-trained riders are afraid of it.

Not this again........

akbeemer said:

Not this again........

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You're about five posts too late.

mneblett said:

The result of Federal law: any HOV lane with Federal money in the project (essentially all such lanes) is required to be open to motorcycles.

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Thanks AMA!

tangorider said:

Taken from the above referenced report: "The physical laws associated with crashes shows that lane-sharing represents a less hazardous crash than being rear-ended."

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Maybe where you live, but you better not try it in the northeast. I do it once in awhile, but only when the rest of traffic is stopped and I can clear everybody's car door.

Motodan said:

This is why lane splitting is a bad law. Regardless of the law, speed, location, facts, insurance coverage or whatever....lane splitting is not a good law and worse, it is not a good idea. WHY - because there are people who will not watch for such actions and then there are people who do, just so they can "punish" a motorcyclist. Just the way it is and NO law is going to make it safer.

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No law is perfect and you can find exceptions to many of the laws on the books why it isn't a good law. Should we ban driving or drinking because people will drink and drive? Should we outlaw guns because someone will use one commit a crime? Lane splitting, IMO, should be reserved for experienced riders, and I think some of the riders who lane split do not to have the appropriate skill level. Although I live in California, I do not feel comfortable lane splitting. I do not think my skill level is sufficient to lane split. Many riders do have the experience to lane split and it's up to each rider whether or not they have the skills and are willing to take the risk.

akbeemer said:

Not this again........

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Ya, I know. And I let myself get sucked in

I think I will go search for a good oil thread

ric
It's time to get back on the horse. The only cure is to get back on the horse.
We have all had bad experiences in many different places, and the best medicine is get back on the horse and ride.
Maybe take a trip out in the rural areas and avoid freeways.
dc

rad said:

Ya, I know. And I let myself get sucked in

I think I will go search for a good oil thread

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Nah it's good. I will be interesting to see how this works out in the "plain 'ole accident" view.
OM

rad said:

I think I will go search for a good oil thread

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You can thank me later...

http://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?69505-2013-R1200RT-motor-oil-question