Lane splitting rules in California

[cbdtran_imp]

Without taking a position on the issue, lane splitting does NOT reduce congestion for anyone other than the lane splitter.

Now, to take a position on the issue... Lane dividers are there for dividing the lanes. Shocking, I know, but they really are. Riding between lanes gets the rider going where he wants to go faster, but faster is not the goal. Orderly movement is the goal. To the extent that the government can increase the speed of that movement while maintaining order, they will do so. Allowing some vehicles to behave differently than others creates disorder and risk. Sometimes government feels that the benefits of allowing some vehicles special consideration outweighs the risk--buses allowed to ride on the shoulder and trucks having different speed limits are examples. However, lane splitting is (or would be) the only such exception that would effectively allow two vehicles to occupy the same lane at the same time (although bikes are allowed to pair up at traffic signals). I am not convinced that the benefit to riders of riding in another vehicle's lane is an acceptable break in the orderly move,net of vehicles on the highway.

About now, someone is saying to themselves (probably aloud) "No one is saying that bikes should be allowed to ride in a car's lane...we want to SPLIT lanes". Except that you are only "splitting" lanes if your bike is on the lane marker with no part of the bike or rider in or hanging over the lanes on either side. Otherwise you are, by definition, riding in one or the other of the adjacent lanes. "But, that's just a technicality; we are only just barely coming into the adjacent lanes and there's plenty of extra room there." That is true, but it is also true that a driver of a car or truck could make the exact same argument for entering a biker's lane to, for example, move around a bicyclist or a stopped police vehicle. If we're ok with a minor violation of the car's lane, then we need to be ok with the car violating our lanes. I'm not ok with the latter so I don't support the former.

As the late great Patrick Swayze said "This is MY dance space..."

I think driver and rider should protect their space and surrounding for personal safety, when I ride, I want no car to share lane with me when i move to the right side to make a right turn, sometime they do

I don't mind rider share lane with me (driver), as long as I can see / hear them coming from behind. In CA, if driver change lane and hit a vehicle (car / motorcycle) he/she is responsible for the damage.

[Toddman_imp]

I live in OK where "lane splitting" isn't supposed to be legal. If the traffic is stopped on the freeway, I'm going to slowly proceed between the cars and it infuriates drivers. I've had them turn into me and act as if they are going to open the door. Life in the fast lane I suppose...

Ride at your own risk and ride as if you're invisible.

[Randy B]

I live in OK where "lane splitting" isn't supposed to be legal. If the traffic is stopped on the freeway, I'm going to slowly proceed between the cars and it infuriates drivers. I've had them turn into me and act as if they are going to open the door. Life in the fast lane I suppose...

Ride at your own risk and ride as if you're invisible.

There are laws against this here and if someone does it (and gets caught) THEY are the one that will be in trouble with the law, not the rider.

[treytexag_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.

there is nothing more frightening than sitting in your car and a very loud motorcycle screams by at more than 30 MPH than traffic. As a driver I never like lane splitting so as rider I never lane split. It is a matter of choice, I treat my bike like a car and ride as such

These are my sentiments too. Had a couple of riders blast by me (lanesplitting) while I was in San Fran and LA last summer. Scared the bejesus out of me!!

[furious_blue_imp]

I live in OK where "lane splitting" isn't supposed to be legal. If the traffic is stopped on the freeway, I'm going to slowly proceed between the cars and it infuriates drivers. I've had them turn into me and act as if they are going to open the door. Life in the fast lane I suppose...

Ride at your own risk and ride as if you're invisible.

My guess would be that those same infuriated drivers don't see anything wrong with passing a bicycle rider in the bicycle rider's lane. If they truly believed in the sanctity of the lane they would slow down to 10 mph behind the bicycle rider and wait until it is safe to pass in another lane...

They don't mind it when they get the advantage over a bicyclist, but they do mind it when the motorcyclist has the advantage over them..

[Pterodactyl_imp]

Lane splitting, or filtering, is legal in NSW. See this link:

http://roadsafety.transport.nsw.gov.au/s...filtering/

As Cormanus says in his post it is also legal in Queensland. The rules in QLD differ slightly to NSW, being, from the riders point of view, more liberal.

http://www.qld.gov.au/transport/safety/r...otorcycle/

I love it. If nothing else it helps me to get out of the "rear end zone".

Cheers.

[Cormanus]

I love it when you're on the freeway and the traffic has ground to a halt. You can move onto the shoulder and cruise past them.

[furious_blue_imp]

I love it when you're on the freeway and the traffic has ground to a halt. You can move onto the shoulder and cruise past them.

In California, it turns out that it's illegal to ride a motorcycle on the shoulder, one has to be within an actual lane (ask me how I found out :-( )..

[the Ferret]

Startled me when I was on my bike last summer, startled me when I was driving the rental car this summer. We just don't expect anything to come blasting past when you are just sitting there in bumper to bumper.

[kevbroce_imp]

Remember the very first time you drove a car on the road and things like driving alongside parked cars, driving at freeways speeds, driving near semi trucks, or driving on an undivided 2 lane road with oncoming traffic freaked you out? Before long you get used to it, now you don't think twice about it.

Lane splitting is just the same. I feel if you drive in California and you are uncomfortable around filtering you shouldn't be driving in California. I'm sure I'm the minority on that one...