Bonneville America Forums Forums Rider Safety Forums Legislation Lane splitting

Any one know of a way to get the laws changed on this. I used to ride in CA where it was legal, but Im back in Sweet Home Alabama, where such activity is frowned upon. Not looking to split between at 70mph, just kinda roll past at traffic jams.

I think lane splitting should be illegal, I know here in PA it will get you killed. In traffic jams in PA it is legal for a bike to ride up the shoulder as long as it is done safely. There is an old law still on the books here allowing a bike to do that because of the air cooled engine. Can't just sit still for a long time or you over heat.

The cooling is my main issue, Im usually not in a hurry to get anywhere, but is gets f'n hot during the summer months down here. In CA I did take off one guys mirror but i pilled over and got his info and bought him a new one the very next day. Lotsa traffic out there and never had any problems besides the mirror, and i actually knew better, too narrow of a passage that time. But the roads here are wide as a crap, u could drive a tank in between the cars.

Matt, sorry to tell ya, but you're just gonna have to learn to live with that mentality back East, 'cause they will NEVER "get it" back there....EVER!!! Just read Ian's opinion about this, and you'll see what I'm talkin' about here.

It's the same here in Arizona, dude. Yep, it took this ex-Californian here time to adjust to the "backward" and uninformed(due to their lack of experience in this regard) Arizona mindset that "lane-splitting is dangerous".

Though in Ian's defense, I think most of his rationale is primarily based on the idea that all the "Good Ol' Boys" and all the "Gombas" back there somehow think "y'all is cheatin' by bein' able to split 'tween our cars with y'alls motorsickles! And so if'n I catches ya doin' it, I'ma gonna open up my car door on y'all's ass! Or, at the very LEAST, I'ma gonna try 'n run y'all's ass off this here road!"

Yep, it's kind a "manly/insult thing" to them back there, I guess!

SOOOOOOO, as I was sayin' here, just get used to it Bro, 'cause they'll NEVER "get it"...EVER!!! Yep, my advice is to just do what that old sayin' says one should do..."When in Rome, do as the Romans do!"

(...of course in Rome, they lane-split ALL the time THERE...but then again, them "eye-talians" over there actually KNOW HOW TO DRIVE..as compared to the average 'Merican!!!!)

Cagers don't the BASIC laws like stop and yield signs never mind any NEW laws!!! They don't know how to use their rear view mirrors when they're texting, putting on make-up or reading the sports section(once when I use to commute up in Boston, one guy was reading a hard cover novel)

Yep Steven. I remember I rented a car once in Boston...and ONCE was ENOUGH!!!!

Yep dude, Bostonians are the absolute WORST drivers I've ever seen in my LIFE!!! And yep, I just chalked THAT all up to the idea that Bostonians have always seemed to be extremely "proud" of their "traditions" back there.

(...and so, yeah, the idea of adhering to some "NEW" laws would OF COURSE go against their nature back there!!!)

I actually asked once a long time ago when it mattered to me. The explanation was simple. How many 100 times have we been in traffic and seen a guy open a door to spit because he was dipping. Or, to get out to take off a sport coat.

Picture a motorcycle at 25-35MPH hitting the leading edge of a door. Your arm and leg would pretty much be gone.

That is why the shoulder was alright to use instead. I am with Ian on this one. Then again we come from the same area of the country.

For those that do split, do you agree that anybody that opens a door, it would still be your fault? IMHO it would be as all lanes were stopped.

Yea, It seems to be "T!t for tat" "You cut me off, so I'll cut you off BEFORE you cut me off!!attitude and it sucks. Try driving a truck in traffic, everybody wants to get in front of you(they think you drive slow, were as they drive slower)

Well Ron, the ONLY answer I've got for ya here is that for over 40 years I lane-split in that "Carmageddon", otherwise known as the "mean streets and especially the FREEWAYS of Los Angeles California", and NEVER ONCE did ANYBODY ever open their friggin' car door on ME!!!!

In fact, the vast majority of cagers in L.A. will actually move their car over in their lane and allow ya a little extra space to pass 'em IF they see ya in their rear view mirrors comin' up between the lanes while they're stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic. OR, they just looked over and admired my motorcycle whenever I pulled up next to 'em at the front of the line of cars at red lighted intersection. REALLY, they DID! I kid you NOT!

(...though admittedly THAT might all have been the "Last Vestige" what used to be called that "California Laid-Back Mentality", which otherwise seems to have all but disappeared out there since around the time The Beach Boys had their last Number-1 hit on The Charts!)

This is a California lane split. click this

Is this how you did it Dwight?

I am just not brave enough.

I have split too Dwight. I think if you get hit its pretty much on the rider though. Unless some felon opens a door on purpose on you. Have not heard too much about that.

Oh yeah! But, I HOPE you realize that THAT moron was lane-splitting WAY too friggin' fast, and thus THAT moron is the reason lane-splitting sometimes gets a "bad rap".

And I HOPE said moron received the traffic violation that he so richly deserved, WHICH he should AND could receive by any CHP officer who would have shown up at that accident scene.

(...ya see, this video once again just proves that some of our fellow riders ruin it for the rest of us...but what say we don't get into that thing about runnin' open pipes right now, OKAY?!)

We were typing at the same time. I added another video called Lane Splitting in LA. Scared me to death.

Yeah, I've watched your second link after you edited your last posting.

And yep....there's ya just ANOTHER moron, alright!

Once again, in both cases, accident or not, either one of the above shown morons could AND should receive a ticket for their riding like that, even in CA.

(...and once again, THIS all goes back to my strongly held belief that IF one wishes to live a long and healthy life, then their BEST course of action is "Moderation in All Things"...or in THIS case, the practice of lane-splitting done with moderation!)

They should just add a bike only lane(s)

That second vid speed was doubled, Dwight, I don't know what the actual speed he was riding at but is it 5 MPH faster than traffic that going 35 MPH or slower?

That's a wonderful idea alright, Steven...BUT you do realize don't ya that the chances of THAT ever happening are far less than the chances of the Gumbas and Good Ol' Boys back there ever understanding that when a motorcycle lane-splits past 'em that it ISN'T an "insult" to them, or that ISN'T being "discourteous" to others, OR realizing that it IS in fact one measure at our possible disposal which can be used to ALLEVIATE congestion on the road they're stuck on.

(...in other words, "fat chance of ANY of that ever happenin'"!)

Yes, you are correct. It will never happen in the NE U.S. Somebody will open a door just for kicks IMHO>

The police have even just about stopped lane splitting. With a siren in the area people instinctively pull right. Not good for a lane splitting motorcycle cop.

Ok, my opinions, and I do filter through traffic/lane split which is built into the Highway Code

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Picture a motorcycle at 25-35MPH hitting the leading edge of a door. Your arm and leg would pretty much be gone

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25-35MPH is WAY too fast when traffic is stationary

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This is a California lane split. click this

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The guy seemed to be going too fast for the conditions, but it could have been the camera, but going by the damage (front wheel ripped off) maybe not. Also, he should have been ready for that at the gap, which is why I'd have pulled into it a bit

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Is this how you did it Dwight?

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I can't really comment as the clip is shown at twice the actual speed

Save your keystrokes, Bryn. It's like I was sayin' all along here...IF there has never been a "culture" of lane-splitting ingrained in the local population, then there is NO way that a change TO that kind of culture will, or maybe even SHOULD, ever take place...because that "culture" is "foreign" to them.

Oh and btw, you were right the first time. BOTH of the morons in those videos were goin' WAY too fast while performing this maneuver!

(...but then again, what else WOULD ya expect from those crazy folks out there in California, eh?!)

http://bikeweek.com/phoenix/blog.cfm/post/4465/motorcycle-lane-splitting-to-be-legalized-by-arizona

I think maybe I don't understand what you mean. When traffic is stopped or almost stopped you are talking about riding about 5-10MPH faster than them weaving through.

We did that with regularity until they started giving us tickets. Then they said we could use the shoulder so another habit was established. Would the shoulders not be safer if available?

Everything I see on youtube from California is just balls to the wall crazy stuff. I guess that also forms opinions.

You are right, it would never pass in the Northeast.

Yep, exactly Ron! 5-10MPH faster than than traffic IS what I'm talkin' about here, NOT to mention how much SAFER it is to be able to run up between cars at a red-lighted intersection, and then take off and leave all this possible hazards(cars) in your dust when the light changes to green. This second example is especially a good reason to allow lane-splitting...it provides far less instances of being caught in a cager's blind spot, AND less chance of being rear-ended at a stop light or stop sign. Coincidentally, something of which I recall has happened to a couple of our fellow members here at BA.com within the last year.

And re passing on the right shoulder: That is illegal in CA because the idea is that cagers would not think to look in their outside right rear-view mirror if they're already in the right lane, and thus they could turn right into a motorcyclist traveling on that section of road when the cager would wish to either exit the Freeway, OR on a surface street, if he were going to make a right turn. One can NOT count on cagers using their turn-indicators all time, ya know. And, that in CA, the right shoulder is considered solely for the use of disabled vehicles.

And yep, re your "forming opinions": Those kinds of videos DO tend to give the ERRONEOUS impression to people who aren't familiar with the idea of lane-splitting that it's "dangerous"...which, as I mentioned above, it can sometimes actually be more safe a maneuver than strictly adhering to "Lane Discipline", IF once again, it is performed correctly.

(...and the very reason I called those guys with the cameras on their helmets, "MORONS"!)

Ya know folks, I can talk about this issue until I'm blue in the face OR express it here until my friggin' FINGERS start bleedin', BUT the BOTTOM LINE here is that Matt, down there in Meridianville Alabama, will JUST have to learn to deal with the local "culture" in regard to lane-splitting.

(...'cause once again, THEY'LL NEVER UNDERSTAND IT!!!!)

Oh, AND, the next time ANOTHER one of these "Lane-Splitting" threads is started around here(and it WILL happen alright, you can COUNT on it), ALL I'm gonna do is link THIS thread to it, 'cause...I CAN'T FRIGGIN' EXPLAIN IT ANY BETTER THAN I'VE DONE IN THIS THREAD!!!!!

I got all that Dwight except a few things that need clarification

Don't folks in the left lane change to the right lane thus needing to use the right mirror and signal too?

Hippie

Yep! That was the point, Ron. Thus, they're much more likely to indeed check those mirrors and use their turn signals(okay, well, at least maybe do that first thing anyway), than they would be to check their mirrors if they were in the right-most lane.

Hard Ass

Dwight I invite you to try lane splitting here and see how long you last before some pissed off NYer cuts you off on purpose. They even try when riding the shoulder.

Not before I posted that I just finished it.I still say you wouldn't last a day.Good ol' boys wouldn't care , the gang bangers and city people do

THOSE would be the "Gumbas", Ian.

(...however, I gots me a feelin' that there probably ARE some "Good Ol' Boys" back there that "might" find their "culture" threatened a mite IF somebody would have the "audacity" to lane-split 'round THEIR locations TOO!...I ain't THAT naive, ya know!)

When I was in California last fall I worked up to lane splitting but nothing like the guys on those skinny little mid sized sport bikes. The handlebars on the BA are at least twice as far across as theirs.

I took the coast highway from Long Beach to Santa Monica Blvd and went through Beverly Hills on my way back to my buddies house in Alhambra. I got stuck in a traffic jam just East of Rodeo Drive and couldn't get more than a few feet every several minutes for about half an hour. Luckily I had the oil temp gauge to tell me that the hot smell was certainly me. I had to shut off the engine each time I stopped and only started it long enough to move with traffic and then stopped it again. I couldn't lane split because of the narrowness on the street, I couldn't get off the street because there were no cross streets for a space and I couldn't park because all the spots were full. When I finally got off Santa Monica and stated moving again the bike took forever to cool down. I would vote for lane splitting in a second. The drivers in California seemed to be fine with it as well. Here in the Midwest it would take them a little while to get used to the idea.

Now what your saying Dwight, is that "You can't teach an old dog new tricks?"



Disclaimer: This does not imply anything toward Dog_33

Yep, ya see Larry! It's just like that New Yorker Woody Allen said in "Annie Hall":

"There's only ONE positive thing that California has ever added to the American Culture, and that was being able to make a right turn on a red light!"

(..of course, that scrawny little New York egghead who evidently likes 'em REAL young, never rode a motorcycle as far as I know, so apparently he was unaware of this SECOND "contribution to American Culture" known as Lane-Splitting...though, as I've mentioned before here, apparently America isn't ready for THIS "contribution"!!!)

Only good thing about CA is it may eventually fall into the ocean!

Here in Oregon, a few pro-motorcycle groups have been trying for several years to legalize lane-splitting. ODOT and Oregon State University did studies on lane splitting (using California and the U.K for their examples) with positive results. Unfortunately, with the "we have to protect you from yourself" mentality and "we must restrict everything that may be positive and give you freedom of choice" attitude of the government, it'll never happen (as much as I wish it would).

When I lived in California (1981 through 1983) I split the lane all the time, and I was riding a 1980 Honda Goldwing. It was much safer splitting the lane than staying in the flow of traffic. Several times if I hadn't moved in between the lanes I would have been rear ended. Back then it wasn't people talking or texting, but rather reading the morning paper, a book or putting their makeup on.

Splitting the lane in city traffic was the best. I could get anywhere in half the time, plus I spent 90% of my riding time with no traffic around me. When cars were around me they were all stopped. It's very hard to get hit by a car if it isn't moving.

Almost every European country allows Lane Splitting or as they call it Filtering, and the traffic in most of those countries is much worse than anything you could experience in the Northeastern US.

Tom