beemerdood
New member
Well, in Ca., the cars were moving over to allow the bikes to move through, as they are by law supposed to do.
I've had this, or similar discussions with Greenwald before. Back then, I mentioned that on freeway rides that last longer than an hour, during which I've been lane splitting, that I wave "thanks" to so many drivers who pull to the other side of the lane to let me pass, that my arm gets tired.
There was no sign of a negative image or positive image from Ca. drivers, having an understanding of that law, they parted like the red sea. Sometimes 10-12 cars ahead were already moving out of the way for the lane splitter/s. Seemed to me, that wasn't a negative image in any stretch of the imagination.
We've also discussed this phenomena. I've said that if lane splitting was to be made legal elsewhere, that it would take lots of education in the form of PSAs, brochures, flyers in mailings from the DMVs. People need to be educated that the bikers are not 'cutting in line' in front of them, that actually, they're allowing those in cars to move forward a bike length.
Personally, I'd never done that before, but those two leo's led the way, and I kept up till they pulled off an exit and I continued on for another near hour leaving the LA basin in heavy traffic.
The 'magic' you feel when first lane splitting, after riding in a state that does not permit it, is a fantastic sensation. It rivals the freedom that many feel the first time they ride a motorcycle.
You still have the choice of not going to LA. You also have the choice to allow your BP to rise over it or just accept the fact it's law, and lane splitting is allowed.
Some people are against others having fun. Some people in positions of power pass laws to restrict this. Some oppose the passage of laws that permit it. Greenwald seems to be in agreement with these groups.
Elsewhere I've written about a moderately lengthy trip that I just returned from. It covered 18 states. As soon as I left CA, I could no longer legally lane split. In MO I took an exit off the freeway, and was stuck at the end of a line of trucks that extended all the way up the off ramp, such that I was hanging out into the traffic lane with cars flying past me at 70 mph, while I was stopped behind a semi trailer. I quickly said F this and hit the split between vehicles, moving out of that lethal area. Being struck from behind at those speeds was probably not survivable.
In Louisiana, there was a large traffic jam and I was forced to ride in traffic for over an hour. I dutifully stayed in traffic, but my clutch hand was starting to cramp, just as traffic opened up. A couple of times I saw that the driver behind me was on his phone, both talking on it while holding it to his ear or either texting, looking at a map program, reading email, or something along those lines. I pulled to the left shoulder and let him pass. The next driver, behind him was much better.
Not being allowed to lane split, put me at great risk in both of these situations. If I lived somewhere that lane splitting wasn't legal, I'd be part of a group to see that it was legalized. It's legal in most of the world and speeds motorcyclists on their way, reducing traffic congestion, and making bikers safer than they would be if they were sitting in traffic.
For those who haven't read all the messages ‒ earlier in this discussion I wrote this.
The most recent study that I've seen comes from the Safe Transportation Research & Education Center, University of California, Berkeley, and was done in 2015. They studied almost 6,000 motorcycle accidents. About 1,000 of there were LSM (lane splitting motorcyclists). Here's a comment from the Abstract.Lane-splitting appears to be a relatively safe motorcycle riding strategy if done in traffic moving at 50 MPH or less and if motorcyclists do not exceed the speed of other vehicles by more than 15 MPH. A significant number of motorcyclists lane-split in fast-moving traffic or at excessive speed differentials. These riders could lower their risk of injury by restricting the environments in which they lane-split and by reducing their speed differential when they do choose to lanesplit. [Emphasis is mine]
http://www.ots.ca.gov/pdf/Publications/Motorcycle-Lane-Splitting-and-Safety-2015.pdf