Lane filtering approved in Utah

[flynrider]

Our state Governor just signed the bill into law today:

Under these conditions you may now lane filter in Utah:
383 (5) An individual may engage in lane filtering only when the following conditions
384 exist:
385 (a) the individual is operating a motorcycle;
386 (b) the individual is on a roadway divided into two or more adjacent traffic lanes in the
387 same direction of travel;
388 © the individual is on a roadway with a speed limit of 45 miles per hour or less;
389 (d) the vehicle being overtaken in the same lane is stopped;
390 (e) the motorcycle is traveling at a speed of 15 miles per hour or less; and
391 (f) the movement may be made safely.

In general this won't do much for most of us in this state. The roads where I live, when they do back up all have speed limits above 45 MPH so it won't be legal to filter. Most 45mph roads around here are secondary roads between neighborhoods and main arteries and freeways where speed limits are usually 55mph or higher....that's where the real traffic problems develop when construction isn't involved.

Sounds like it would be most useful on big city surface streets. I can see where such a law would be beneficial here in Phoenix. Traffic tends to back up on the surface streets at rush hour. It's not unusual to come to a stop a good half mile from the next traffic light.

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

Certainly not GO. They are either in the cellar with the Cellarmaster or hunting with Sir Ferret.

lol - I am trying imagine the hunt.

Two images come to mind:

1) The "Disney" view where all are behaved when the prey has been located and everyone rejoices for all what life is.

2) The darker view when the RLETs get to the prey first and there is no discipline.

 

[the Ferret]

Buddy of mine on the ST forum from California recorded this yesterday. Check it out at 2:50 and 3: 30

 

[Randy B]

That could on the rider being way too focused on how fast he was going, and not the amount of room he had to proceed.
There is the possibility that the driver in #1 moved over to pinch him out and did it too late. Either way people need to pay attention when they are driving. This was 100% avoidable.

Splitting is a safe maneuver when people are paying attention and don't get the thought that "they are cutting in line!! I NEED to stop them!!!" stuck in their heads.

 

[pekingduck]

Buddy of mine on the ST forum from California recorded this yesterday. Check it out at 2:50 and 3: 30

Too bad the guy on the bagger (dirt-bagger?) following him couldn't be bothered to stop, either as a witness or to help the stuck rider. At least he didn't appear badly injured.

When I'm splitting lanes and a bike or two comes up behind me, I pull into a lane and let them pass (as the ST camera bike did). You need to focus entirely ahead of you - any distraction from behind eats up some of that precious forward focus.

 

[Django]

After standing for a while far behind in the line in the sun before Zion National Park, I passed the line of cars and pulled in before the gate in front of a RV. The driver of the RV was indeed a little mad about me. I guess filtering has not completely arrived in Utah yet. I raised my hand and waved to greet him and calm him down a bit.

 

[SportsterDoc]

Buddy of mine on the ST forum from California recorded this yesterday. Check it out at 2:50 and 3: 30

For those not famaliar with lane splitting in CA, notice how most vehicles in the number one lane are far left for the motorcyclist to easily pass.

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

Buddy of mine on the ST forum from California recorded this yesterday. Check it out at 2:50 and 3: 30

The host seemed to handle the opportunity quite well and fairly. Too bad about the event at the end of the flick, but other than that, it looked reasonably productive.

 

[the Ferret]

Well if you look at the bottom of the video, Bob was running about 40-45 mph. He said the 3 came up behind him very quickly and were running he said double his speed but I think more like 20 mph faster than he was, so they were splitting at maybe 65 or so. Certainly no expert on lane splitting, but even 45 between cars seems fast to me, 65 seems absurd. At least Bob stopped to check on the rider, who was ok.

 

[egleaves_imp]

I split similar traffic every day to and from work and I've had plenty of other riders run up on my tail like that. 45 is my top splitting speed.....and only if the conditions are right. I prefer to top out at 35-40 and I aim for a max delta of 10-15.

65 is too fast no matter how you look at it, but I see people do it almost daily. It's not my skills keeping me from splitting faster, it's my sense of self preservation. If you're splitting 45mph traffic at 65+ your delta is way too high and there is simply no time to react to cars changing lanes. If you're splitting 65mph traffic at 65+ you're just riding like an a-hole. Outside of evasive maneuvers there just isn't any justifiable reason to split lanes at that speed. Well....unless you're an a-hole with a death wish.

It hasn't happened yet, but I'm waiting for the day that a rider blows past me, splitting way too fast, and I find them downed a couple of miles up the road.

 

[Gone in 60]

I can see what could have happened in that video, based on having seen it happen too many times. If someone is splitting at a speed they are comfortable with, and another splitting bike comes up from behind, the lead rider has two choices - either continue at his speed, wait for a large enough gap between cars to duck in and let the faster bike pass, or start to move faster so as not to upset the bike behind him, thereby splitting lanes at a speed that he is probably uncomfortable with, and will lead to him making a bad judgement call, such as clipping a mirror or glancing off of a car if the gap is too narrow.

Watching the video, the camera bike had three splitters behind him, and he moves to an open space to the right, and the three faster bikes move past him. Pretty much what I'd do in that situation.

The bagger was following the middle bike, and that bike may have made a bad judgement call due to going faster than he was comfortable with that bike behind him. The gap between the red and blue cars was pretty narrow.

I've ridden up on the scenario pictured in the video. I've also come across a situation where the following rider has become impatient, and has tried to swing around the slower bike on the left during a gap, which can lead to problems as well.

I glance in my mirror every ten seconds or so while splitting to watch for faster riders, as I'm very conservative in my splitting speed. As the rider approaches, I'll drop into a gap between cars and let that guy speed past. This gets him off my tail, and provides a rider in front of me to help part the way between cars - I'll have a wider gap to ride in thanks to him, and he will have put drivers in front of me on a higher sense of alert.

And, if his wads himself up a mile up the road, I can stop and help him when I get there.

 

[pdedse]

I'm just grateful that rarely do I have to ride in traffic where I would be tempted to lane-split.

 

[Gone in 60]

I’m just grateful that if I need to live somewhere with gawdawful traffic that it’s a place where splitting is part of the culture and I can get where I need to go with relative ease and safety as long as I’m careful.

 

[pekingduck]

If I'm splitting traffic between the 1 & 2 lanes, and I see traffic coming up behind me, I'll put my turn signals on so I can get out of their way as quickly as safely possible. They appreciate the gesture, usually with a quick wave.

But I've also had riders so impatient when I can't get over fast enough, bounce their engines off the rev limiters. Some will even go around between the 2 & 3 lanes.

To me, any potential time saving has to be weighed against the risk of accident/injury.

 

[flynrider]

After standing for a while far behind in the line in the sun before Zion National Park, I passed the line of cars and pulled in before the gate in front of a RV. The driver of the RV was indeed a little mad about me. I guess filtering has not completely arrived in Utah yet. I raised my hand and waved to greet him and calm him down a bit.

Unlike normal traffic situations, when there is a line waiting for a specific purpose (i.e. park entrance), it would be considered bad form to just cut to the front of the line. Same as it would be for a line waiting to get into an event or a movie.

 

[Gone in 60]

I was kinda thinking the same thing, Flynrider. My wife and I went to Zion recently and sat in line waiting to pay. There were two entry lanes, and one was open, the other was coned off. A driver came up the closed lane and tried to cut in on the open lane toward the entry. He almost got a beat-down by the two cars he was cutting in front of.

Peking, love the angry over-revving "I need to be in front of you right now" riders who fly up behind. Last Saturday, heading to LA on the 5, I got a quick siren blip from behind while splitting. It was an LAPD officer on his bike, and apparently I wasn't splitting fast enough for his taste either. A siren will stand the hairs on the back of your neck a bit quicker than a squid on a Ninja.

 

[SportsterDoc]

The west entrance of Zion is usually a line.
Frequently, I plan a trip to enter from the east from Mt Carmel Junction.

When not practical and on a bike, I would pull into a coned off lane then step behind the vehicle I had been following and advance on foot while removing gloves to access wallet for my senior pass.

Good opportunity to stretch legs, especially on a bike with slightly rearset pegs.

 

[LongRanger_imp]

In European cities, it's acceptable and expected that motorcyclists will filter to the front of the line at traffic stops. This way, when the light turns green, they can scoot ahead of the four-wheeled traffic.

Traffic patterns in my area are humorous. The impatient drivers immediately merge into the #1 lane when they enter the freeway. Before long, everyone is in the #1 lane and it backs up. I just stay in the #2 or #3 lane and whiz right past them.

 

[SportsterDoc]

In European cities, it's acceptable and expected that motorcyclists will filter to the front of the line at traffic stops. This way, when the light turns green, they can scoot ahead of the four-wheeled traffic.

Traffic patterns in my area are humorous. The impatient drivers immediately merge into the #1 lane when they enter the freeway. Before long, everyone is in the #1 lane and it backs up. I just stay in the #2 or #3 lane and whiz right past them.

That is a major peeve, especially when those drivers continue at or under the speed limit...and drive past "slower traffic keep right" signs.

 

[MM300_imp]

Awesome UT, good for you. I live in PA where all of this is illegal. 30 years of riding and I’ve lane split every time I ever needed to. Po's people off but, oh well.