Lane splitting rules in California

[LARIDER_imp]

Washington State recently enacted legislation that was supposed to allow lane splitting, but at the last minute it was re-written by a non-motorcyclist into something ridiculous and unsafe -

"The operator of a motorcycle shall not overtake and pass in the same lane occupied by the vehicle being overtaken, except on the left-hand side of a vehicle traveling in the left-most lane of traffic on a numbered state highway identified in chapter 47.17 RCW that has two or more lanes of traffic in each direction if the operator of the motorcycle is traveling at a rate of speed no more than ten miles per hour over the speed of traffic flow and not more than twenty-five miles per hour."

By the way, I've spent a lot of time on California highways, and it's my observation that 75% of riders lane split in an idiotic and unsafe manner. I'm always pleasantly surprised when I see someone doing it right. Several times I've been "dive bombed" by some idiot with open pipes screaming by at 90 MPH and it can be a frightening experience.

I lived in Spain for several years and found that lane splitting is a way of life. The car drivers even spread out to make way when they see you in the mirrors! My commute to work in a car was 40 minutes, lane splitting cut it down to 15 minutes on my BMW R1150R.

I agree with that. I've been dumbfounded when I've seen riders doing 30-50 mph faster than the traffic. That's Darwin hard at work. They really make the rest of us look bad.

I learned to lane split in LA by watching the CHP & LAPD bike officers. I figured those guys ride hours and hours a day and rarely have accidents, so I simply copied them. I used to actually get behind lane splitting bike cops and just mimic them. (keeping a safe distance of course)

I rarely split over 30 unless it's an emergency (drunk driver, idiot driver or avoiding a potential accident)

But I also lane split because my both of my bikes are air cooled.

There is one other thing I rarely see mentioned and that is that bikers should always first check for other bikes before they start splitting. I've had more than one motorcyclist just magically appear in front of me because he checked for everything except another bike. I also learned that from watching a CHP officer who would let out a little toot on his siren as a safety warning every time he was about to pass or overtake another bike.

Also, a lot of the bikers seem to be blissfully(arrogantly?) unaware that they are no match for a car.....especially one with an enraged moron behind the wheel that hates lane splitting. This biker chastised a driver for being on the phone and the driver responded by sideswiping the rider off of his bike, all captured on video:

http://abc7.com/news/video-driver-runs-o...ng/763675/

be careful out there kids!