Lane splitting (sharing) interview

[the Ferret]

Good point MG and I don't know.

PTero no one can make me lane split, that's true, but I liken this to a helmet law. Are my responsible for your head? Or your safety at all? Not really. But I am asked to vote on helmet laws, and while the vast majority of motorcyclists, at least in this country, are against a helmet law, and I am personally pro choice with regards to gear, I feel a helmet law is in the best interest of motorcycling. Certainly a safety issue, just as proponents of lane splitting proclaim. See another subject I am torn on.

[Randy B]

That "study" that was released from Berkeley has been tossed around a lot during the discussions in the CA legislature and a lot of the conclusions have been found to be inaccurate for various reasons. It was also found that the study was not necessarily unbiased in nature and thus the finding skewed.
I'm not saying that there is no good information in it, just that you need to take it with a grain of salt. It is what it is.

[mattmcuomo@yahoo.com]

Ride your own ride....

Sent from me......

[Ulvetanna_imp]

Lane-sharing is not against the law now in California; the current efforts underway are to educate the public about it to make it safer for everyone.

The two main factors are:

a) We have many more motor officers than ever before and their motorcycles allow them to be first responders to some of the bad stuff we have happening nowadays. Motor cops are allowed and encouraged to take their motorcycles home so they are available to them at all hours. That's why the officer was going home on his motor. These guys constitute a very important first line of defense and response; if motorists are educated to expect lane-sharing and to look for it in traffic, our officers are safer and able to do their jobs, which might save one or more lives.

b) Motorcycles are considered fuel-efficient and can use carpool lanes in California. They are populous and are not going to go away, and after these many years of being part of the traffic pattern, the notion of banning lane-sharing would be preposterous. We'd just keep doing it anyway. One thing I did not see mentioned is that it is not as much a problem of the bike overheating in traffic as the RIDER overheating. Heat exhaustion and dehydration are big problems in the desert southwest; a biker needs to keep moving to keep himself AND his bike cool.

These efforts are to educate new drivers as to the reality of how motorcycles fit into the traffic flow and what is acceptable, and how to anticipate it.

[emptysea]

It's all well and good to educate the public on lane-sharing. IF it's going to be allowed, then an educated motorist is vitally important. I just can't get past the liability questions. Who's at fault if a car moves to the leftmost portion of his lane and hits a rider whose handlebars and grips are in the motorist's lane? Is that portion of the motorist's lane now the biker's? When is that determined--only when the bike chooses to occupy that lane or is it all the time, thereby narrowing the motorist's lane by a foot or two on each side? My guess, and it is only a guess, is that in Cali, if a motorist moves over, within his own lane, and strikes a biker, the motorist is at-fault. This strikes me a problematic. I'm all for moving along, avoiding collisions, staying cool, and the biker's overall safety. I just think that if they want to have a narrow lane exclusive to bikers, it should be along the shoulders of the road and not in between the car lanes.

[Randy B]

The problem with making a narrow lane just for bikes along the shoulder is the road debris that accumulates there. I have seen accident debris on the side of a roadway sit there for a month even though it should have been cleaned up by the tow truck that picked up the wreck in the first place.
And as to the idea of a motorist moving to one side or the other within their lane that can be construed as weaving even if they don't actually leave their lane of travel and if observed by an officer they could be pulled over. It shows a lack of concentration on the road or impairment of the driver in that they could either be paying attention to a cell phone and not watching the road, or even be drunk. In either of those cases, a car driver weaving withing their lane like that and hitting someone on a motorcycle while splitting, it would be the drivers fault.
You have to realize that this is not something that just goes on in California, but parts of Australia and most of Europe and Asia do it as well. This is something that law enforcement agencies and insurance companies around the world deal with every day. There are good and bad lane splitters just like there are good and bad drivers in general. It would be something that the public would have to get used to if it were made legal in other states, but I have a feeling that that would be far off at this point.

[the Ferret]

The problem with making a narrow lane just for bikes along the shoulder is the road debris that accumulates there. I have seen accident debris on the side of a roadway sit there for a month even though it should have been cleaned up by the tow truck that picked up the wreck in the first place.
And as to the idea of a motorist moving to one side or the other within their lane that can be construed as weaving even if they don't actually leave their lane of travel and if observed by an officer they could be pulled over. It shows a lack of concentration on the road or impairment of the driver in that they could either be paying attention to a cell phone and not watching the road, or even be drunk. In either of those cases, a car driver weaving withing their lane like that and hitting someone on a motorcycle while splitting, it would be the drivers fault.
You have to realize that this is not something that just goes on in California, but parts of Australia and most of Europe and Asia do it as well. This is something that law enforcement agencies and insurance companies around the world deal with every day. There are good and bad lane splitters just like there are good and bad drivers in general. It would be something that the public would have to get used to if it were made legal in other states, but I have a feeling that that would be far off at this point.

Really? and a motorcycle weaving back and forth between 2 lanes of cars and popping in and out of lanes without the benefit of using turn signals would NOT be construed as weaving? or illegal lane change?

so if a hole in traffic opens up and a motorcyclist who is splitting pops in from the left without signaling. while a car seeing the hole, signals and pops in from the right, and the two collide in the middle, who would be at fault?

Just trying to understand.

I agree with Sea, wouldn't a motorcycle exclusive lane be the safer way to do it all around?

[emptysea]

I am aware that other countries do it. Insurance works differently in Europe than in the US as do their court systems. That's fine for them. I also am aware of debris on the shoulder and that would involve some extra work on the part of the people maintaining the roads.

Weaving is not the issue. Moving from one side of the lane to the other to avoid, say, a dead animal, is not weaving. Nor is moving from one side to the other to give the driver a better sight line around another vehicle. It happens all the time. It happens on your motorcycle (or it should).

Look, LOL, I'm not sure why I keep commenting on these threads. I really could not care less if any of you split lanes. It doesn't bother me when I'm riding and only bothers me when I'm driving if the splitter is being an idiot about it. I have split lanes once or twice and I have filtered to the front of the line at a stop light several times. When I do so, I know I am violating the traffic laws in my state and am willing to risk a ticket or being considered at-fault for any accident that may result from my actions. Because I know that I'm violating the traffic laws, I am much more careful about when and where I do it. I think that helps keep me from becoming that idiot I mentioned earlier.

Educate the public. I'm all for it.

[Randy B]

The problem with making a narrow lane just for bikes along the shoulder is the road debris that accumulates there. I have seen accident debris on the side of a roadway sit there for a month even though it should have been cleaned up by the tow truck that picked up the wreck in the first place.
And as to the idea of a motorist moving to one side or the other within their lane that can be construed as weaving even if they don't actually leave their lane of travel and if observed by an officer they could be pulled over. It shows a lack of concentration on the road or impairment of the driver in that they could either be paying attention to a cell phone and not watching the road, or even be drunk. In either of those cases, a car driver weaving withing their lane like that and hitting someone on a motorcycle while splitting, it would be the drivers fault.
You have to realize that this is not something that just goes on in California, but parts of Australia and most of Europe and Asia do it as well. This is something that law enforcement agencies and insurance companies around the world deal with every day. There are good and bad lane splitters just like there are good and bad drivers in general. It would be something that the public would have to get used to if it were made legal in other states, but I have a feeling that that would be far off at this point.

Really? and a motorcycle weaving back and forth between 2 lanes of cars and popping in and out of lanes without the benefit of using turn signals would NOT be construed as weaving? or illegal lane change?

so if a hole in traffic opens up and a motorcyclist who is splitting pops in from the left without signaling. while a car seeing the hole, signals and pops in from the right, and the two collide in the middle, who would be at fault?

Just trying to understand.

I agree with Sea, wouldn't a motorcycle exclusive lane be the safer way to do it all around?

Really? and a motorcycle weaving back and forth between 2 lanes of cars and popping in and out of lanes without the benefit of using turn signals would NOT be construed as weaving? or illegal lane change?

so if a hole in traffic opens up and a motorcyclist who is splitting pops in from the left without signaling. while a car seeing the hole, signals and pops in from the right, and the two collide in the middle, who would be at fault?

Just trying to understand.

I agree with Sea, wouldn't a motorcycle exclusive lane be the safer way to do it all around?
First of all I'm not yelling or berating here, just stating.

If a motorcycle is weaving he's not splitting, he's weaving. That can be, and is ticketed here because it is dangerous.
If a motorcycle moves into a gap and a car comes over from the other lane, weather they signaled or not, the rider will most likely get out of the way so he doesn't get run over. An opening in a lane between two other lanes is a possibility for all types of vehicles and I don't care who you are, you had better be paying attention when you do it or you are risking an collision.
If the rider is in the position of being ahead of the driver when moving into the lane then it would be his lane to occupy. If the driver were ahead, then it would be his. It's the same idea as if the rider were coming from the lane next to the open one....merge with caution and be aware of the other vehicle around you. It's not rocket science.

[emptysea]

There are designated bicycle only lanes all over Chicago. Some are just a paint strip on the side of the street, but others are segmented off from motorized traffic. They seem to work.

Why not a motorcycle only lane? It would be safest to have them along the shoulder, but heck, you could put it smack in between the center and left lanes, if you wanted to. Maybe it's not a through lane at all. Rather, maybe it's a "motorcycle passing lane" where bikes are only supposed to be in it when passing between vehicles and then return to either of the adjacent lanes. Something like that would help educate the public and would eliminate my "stay out of my lane" concern.