Lane sharing

[pawtracks]

I'll wait til it's legalized and the public becomes aware of it and then i won't be at fault if something happens.

+1 on waiting until the public becomes aware of it more for your safety

but...

I think if something happens the fault will still heavily lean towards the motorcyclist unless it is obviously malicious like opening a car door, etc...

Comes down to a do at your risk, proceed with caution, know when to use your head.

 

[FlyingLow]

FJRChick, you make a great point, about Texas cagers not being trained to deal with this.

If you ever get a chance, ride out to CA, where the freeway traffic jam was invented. Then go ride in a freeway traffic jam. You will be pleasantly surprised .

Besides being legal, the vast majority of cars let you right on through, giving you some extra space if they see you coming in time. A "thank you" hand gesture on my part adds to the goodwill .

 

[L8RG8R]

FJRChick, you make a great point, about Texas cagers not being trained to deal with this.If you ever get a chance, ride out to CA, where the freeway traffic jam was invented. Then go ride in a freeway traffic jam. You will be pleasantly surprised .

Besides being legal, the vast majority of cars let you right on through, giving you some extra space if they see you coming in time. A "thank you" hand gesture on my part adds to the goodwill .

I have started to do what I call the "quasi-split" I wouldn't quite say its lane splitting per say. Instead of shooting up the middle while two vehicles are side-by-side, I wait until they are slightly staggered and move gently up the middle and slightly into the lane safely in front of the rearward staggered car. So far it has worked well. Not quite as efficient as you Californians, but you can really squeeze through a lot traffic that way.

 

[Woodstock]

FJRChick, you make a great point, about Texas cagers not being trained to deal with this.

If you ever get a chance, ride out to CA, where the freeway traffic jam was invented. Then go ride in a freeway traffic jam. You will be pleasantly surprised .

Besides being legal, the vast majority of cars let you right on through, giving you some extra space if they see you coming in time. A "thank you" hand gesture on my part adds to the goodwill .

I have started to do what I call the "quasi-split" I wouldn't quite say its lane splitting per say. Instead of shooting up the middle while two vehicles are side-by-side, I wait until they are slightly staggered and move gently up the middle and slightly into the lane safely in front of the rearward staggered car. So far it has worked well. Not quite as efficient as you Californians, but you can really squeeze through a lot traffic that way.

+1

I was trying to figure out how to describe this, it's not so much of a "split" as a "weave". The one thing you can't (easily) do, though, is get to the front at a light.

 

[L8RG8R]

I was trying to figure out how to describe this, it's not so much of a "split" as a "weave". The one thing you can't (easily) do, though, is get to the front at a light.

I agree. Loooooooonnnnnnggggggg lines at red lights would really be the ultimate in making progress through thick traffic. Plus, all the clutching gets really old. (And no, I'm not trading in my Priller for an AE )

 

[chipset]

All of this makes me wish I could ride in Japan. Not only is lane splitting allowed, they have two stopping lines in Tokyo. One for cars and a line ahead of that for motorcycles to stop. As they can accelerate faster, they move to the front of the pack. They filter through and it makes traffic much easier for them... I wish I had the chance to ride when I was there.

I am moving to Texas, and would love for them to pass the lane sharing law. The place I am building in Frisco has a bit of traffic until the road contruction is completed...

 

[leebunyard]

Saw an item in the paper this a.m. that another Sacramento area motorcyclist was killed yesterday while lane splitting on I-5 in downtown Sacramento. Apparently clipped a small truck and went down, became entangled under the rear end of a large truck and was run over. 40 year old HD rider. This is at least the 4th mc rider in the Sacramento area to die while lane splitting within the last 8-9 months--must be a jinx of some kind for motorcyclists in that area.

Lee in the Mountains of Northern California

 

[evil_henchman]

Saw an item in the paper this a.m. that another Sacramento area motorcyclist was killed yesterday while lane splitting on I-5 in downtown Sacramento. Apparently clipped a small truck and went down, became entangled under the rear end of a large truck and was run over. 40 year old HD rider. This is at least the 4th mc rider in the Sacramento area to die while lane splitting within the last 8-9 months--must be a jinx of some kind for motorcyclists in that area. Lee in the Mountains of Northern California

My co-worker had to drive through the immediate aftermath of that one. Said it was gruesome. It really makes you think when the stats start adding up like that. Reports point to the rider lost control, sad day for everybody. :huh:

 

[L8RG8R]

Saw an item in the paper this a.m. that another Sacramento area motorcyclist was killed yesterday while lane splitting on I-5 in downtown Sacramento. Apparently clipped a small truck and went down, became entangled under the rear end of a large truck and was run over. 40 year old HD rider. This is at least the 4th mc rider in the Sacramento area to die while lane splitting within the last 8-9 months--must be a jinx of some kind for motorcyclists in that area.

Lee in the Mountains of Northern California

My co-worker had to drive through the immediate aftermath of that one. Said it was gruesome. It really makes you think when the stats start adding up like that. Reports point to the rider lost control, sad day for everybody. :huh:

Mr. Henchman,

your avatar freaks me out...... :blink:

 

[evil_henchman]

Mr. Henchman,
your avatar freaks me out...... :blink:

Appropriate choice of an emoticon L8RG8R though the wrong eye's buggin... :lol:

 

[SoCalMike]

Ditto on all the positives for lane splitting .It amazes me how people can just sit there, rotting in rush hour traffic on the 405, watching us cut through and/or travelling freely in the less congested car pool lane, and not want to get a bike and get in on this.

This is EXACTLY the reason I got a motorcycle... I decided that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!

 

[Feejer/Weejer man]

Unless you were there and saw the biker was lane splitting, reality says he could have just been changing lanes like a lot of riders do, fast and dangerous. The media wants everyone to think all accidents on the Ca. highways are from irresponsible bikers land splitting so they can squash this practice.

The reason Ca. put in and allowed lane splitting was for the fact of air cooled bikes. It was killing the motors idleing in heat and slow traffic.

 

[L8RG8R]

The reason Ca. put in and allowed lane splitting was for the fact of air cooled bikes. It was killing the motors idleing in heat and slow traffic.

I wasn't aware that anyone put in anything about lane splitting in CA?!?! I thought its just not ILLEGAL.

 

[FlyingLow]

Semantics; doesn't really matter either way. We're allowed to do it, we do it, we get away with it. More power to us.

 

[Woodstock]

I "heard" (in other words, take this with a grain of salt, I have no idea how accurate it is)...

That the reason lane splitting was legal in CA was that CHP bikes needed to be able to move up the freeway (or, rather, they weren't going to sit in stationary traffic on their bikes), and that you couldn't have special rules for cops in non-emergency situations.

Again, I'm not asserting this is in any way true, just something I heard when I lived in LA.

 

[evil_henchman]

The reasons(s) for allowing lane sharing are probably lost in urban legend I'm afraid. I don't care why they allow it, I'm just glad they do.

 

[twowheelnut]

As an update to Sen. Lowenthal's evil scheme to introduce legislation prohibiting us from sharing lanes...

Canyon Dancer did finally have a discussion with the ****-tar, er, Senator. Basically, his reason was that of safety/E-room cost savings - pure bullshit, but the CHP basically told him they'd shut it down. They have enough problems getting around on Cali highways without the potential of another 600,000 (the total number of registered motorcycles in the state, according CD - I'll take his word for it.) vehicles waiting in line and adding to the congestion.

However, though not said, CD was left with the impression that Lowenthal may make another attempt to intro the leg, next year.

Stay tuned...

 

[pawtracks]

I will never complain about San Diego traffic again!

I went up to Ojai Monday night and ended up lane sharing for ~90 miles through LA traffic.

I could have left later in the day/evening but I didn't think it would've been as bad as it was.

Hindsight is always 20/20

The thing that surprised me most was I was one of maybe 8 bikes I saw along my trip through the parking lot of I-5 & the 101.

All those cagers, just sitting and :dribble:

 

[colin]

All of this makes me wish I could ride in Japan. Not only is lane splitting allowed, they have two stopping lines in Tokyo. One for cars and a line ahead of that for motorcycles to stop. As they can accelerate faster, they move to the front of the pack. They filter through and it makes traffic much easier for them... I wish I had the chance to ride when I was there.
I am moving to Texas, and would love for them to pass the lane sharing law. The place I am building in Frisco has a bit of traffic until the road contruction is completed...

There are two lines here? I have never seen that. In the UK, you could filter up to the bicycle area, and sorta get away with that. But the UK laws allow a lot more.... (remember that both Japan and UK drive on the left side of the road):

In the UK, it is illegal to filter on the LEFT side of the cars, so the space between the sidewalk and traffic. In Japan, that is what you HAVE to do. It is illegal here to cross the center line.

I'm not sure of the legality of going in between the lanes of traffic here....I do it, but most do not. I also cross the center line to move to the front, as I feel safer doing that. Haven't been pulled for it, will play dumb foreigner for all it's worth if it happens (and hope for the best).

I really don't like filtering in slow highway traffic. cars move too fast to switch lanes, jumping across to the open space. Of course, I do it, but I much prefer blowing through cars at speed, which I've done in many countries.... though only in Poland and Czech did I do it at speeds over 100mph. Drivers are nuts there, it is actually a lot of fun! but 40-70mph is a great speed to fly through cars, especially in countries like Japan, where lane discipline is shit.

I suspect the US would be just as much fun, because lane discipline is even shittier.